POPE SPEAKS OF CHRISTIAN UNITY, RELEASES DOVES FOR PEACE

VATICAN CITY, JAN 25, 2004 (VIS) - Pope John Paul, addressing the thousands of faithful assembled in St. Peter's Square to pray the Angelus, reflected on the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and the World Day of Leprosy and greeted the young people of Italian Catholic Action who, in the New Year, traditionally come to St. Peter's Square on their "Caravan of Peace" to conclude the Month of Peace.

Before the Angelus, the Pope noted that "today, feast of the conversion of the Apostle Paul, concludes the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity during which, in every corner of the world, Christians prayed together for the full realization of their unity according to the will of the Lord, 'Ut unum sint, that they may be one'. Christ's ardent invocation in the Cenacle continues to remind Christian communities that unity is a gift to welcome and develop in an ever deeper way." He underscored that "Christian unity has been a constant concern of my pontificate and continues to be a demanding priority of my ministry." Christ's wish "is an imperative that obliges us, the strength that sustains us, a salutary rebuke for our lethargy and narrow-mindedness."

After reciting the Angelus, the Holy Father pointed out that "this afternoon, in the basilica of St. Paul's-Outside-the-Walls there will be the traditional ecumenical celebration for the closing of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. I invite everyone to unite themselves spiritually to this event."

He also underscored that today is the World Day of Leprosy and invited the faithful to pray for those with Hansen's disease.

John Paul II was then joined at his study window by two young people from Catholic Action of Rome who represented the thousands of ACR members gathered in St. Peter's Square. They read a message of affection to the Pope, thanking him for his commitment to world peace and then, joined by the Holy Father, they released two white doves, one of whom refused to fly away and sat calmly on the window sill. In off-the cuff-remarks, a visibly delighted Pope thanked the young people for their words and told them he too loved them.
ANG/CHRISTIAN UNITY:PEACE/CATHOLIC ACTION VIS 20040126 (360)

ISLAMIC-CATHOLIC COMMITTEE ASKS PRAYERS FOR PEACE

VATICAN CITY, JAN 24, 2004 (VIS) - The Islamic-Catholic Liaison Committee, which held its ninth meeting in the Vatican January 19-20 on the theme "Human Dignity and Humanitarian Rights in Armed Conflicts," issued a press release today in which the members appealed "for continuous prayer for peace" and affirmed "that justice and peace are the basis of relations and of interaction among human persons."

Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue and head of the Vatican delegation, and Prof. Hamid bin Ahmad AL-Rifaie, president of the International Islamic Forum for Dialogue in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia head of the Islamic delegation, signed the communique.

The document stated that the theme of the meeting "was treated from a religious point of view according to the teaching of our two religious traditions." In addition to an appeal for prayer for peace, the press release appealed for "an immediate end to all conflicts, including all forms of armed conflict, as well as forms of aggression against the security and stability of peoples. We affirm the rights of peoples to self-determination, so that human life be spared, especially that of innocent people, children, women, the elderly and the disabled.

"We appeal for the full respect for humanitarian law and for the rights of civilians ... and prisoners during armed conflict, ... for the preservation of infrastructures, ... for respect for the sacred character of places of worship and for their protection in time of war and in peace. We affirm the right to religious freedom and the practice of our religions according to their peculiarities."

"We are convinced," concludes the document, "that violence generates violence, and that this vicious circle should end. We declare that dialogue is the best way for treating conflicts and wars and for realizing justice and peace among human beings and societies."
CON-DIR/ISLAMIC-CATHOLIC COMMITTEE/... VIS 20040126 (300)

MESSAGE FOR THE 51ST WORLD DAY OF LEPROSY

VATICAN CITY, JAN 25, 2004 (VIS) - On the occasion of the Fifty-first World Day of Leprosy, which takes place today, Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry, sent a message to bishops who have been entrusted by their episcopal conferences with this pastoral ministry and to all those who are involved in the fight against leprosy.

Cardinal Lozano recalls that "according to data published at the beginning of 2003 by the World Health Organization and referring to 2002, 620,000 new cases of leprosy were reported: 48,248 in Africa; 39,939 in the Americas; 4,665 in the East Mediterranean; 520,632 in South East Asia (of which 78% were in India); 7,154 in the Western Pacific, and 34 in Europe."

Notwithstanding this data, "the successes obtained in recent times in the treatment of Hansen's disease have provided grounds for satisfaction and have generated hope that a definitive solution will be achieved over the next five years, and at the same time have led international and national health care institutions to launch a new approach to the effects of this pandemic."

The president of the council for health care ministry affirms that "scientific research, pharmacological forms of treatment, improvements in conditions of hygiene and community medicine, acting together can finally foster the uprooting of this disease, which has accompanied the history of mankind for many years. This is a praiseworthy action that can certainly be supported."

In terms of practical conclusions, as regards doctrine, "we should encourage and accompany scientific research by pointing out to specialists the contents, at the level of values, that must be respected in every individual aspect of epidemiological, biological and pharmacological research so that the unity and the dignity of the person is not lost from sight, above all in experimentation. The ethical criteria that guide good clinical practice constitute moral principles that must be respected always and everywhere so that no person, above all if he or she is gravely ill, can be used a mere instrument of research."
.../WORLD DAY LEPROSY/LOZANO VIS 20040126 (340)

ARTISTS MUST REFLECT GOD WITH THEIR WORK

VATICAN CITY, JAN 25, 2004 (VIS) - After praying the Angelus today, John Paul II received in the Clementine Hall a group from the Artistic and Cultural Formation Center from Poland whose purpose is to "promote creativity in life, especially among young people" and to help poor and underprivileged youths.

The Pope attended a brief break-dancing performance and then made some remarks. After recalling that "in man, the artist, the image of the Creator is reflected," the Holy Father affirmed: "I say this also so that all artists present here are conscious that this reflection of God implies a great responsibility."

"Above all," he continued, "responsibility for one's self and for one's own talent," received by God, must "not be wasted but developed" in order "to serve one's neighbor and society with it. ... This is the second dimension of the responsibility of artists - the commitment to shape the spirit of societies and peoples. In this perspective," he affirmed, "the third dimension of responsibility is discovered. ... Artists are responsible not only for the aesthetic dimension of the world and of life but also of the moral dimension. If artists are not guided by good in creativity, or even worse , are lead toward evil, they are not worthy of the title of artist."
AC/RESPONSIBILITY ARTIST/... VIS 20040126 (230)

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 26, 2004 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Edgar Hernando Tirado Mazo, M.X.Y., former superior general of the Institute for Foreign Missions of Yarumal and currently pastor of St. John the Baptist of Vitichi in Bolivia, as apostolic vicar of Tierradentro (area 2,087, population 57,000, Catholics 53,000, priests 22, religious 29), Colombia, elevating him at the same time to the dignity of bishop. The bishop-elect was born in Medellin, Colombia in 1939 and was ordained a priest in 1970.

On Saturday January 24, it was made public that the Holy Father:

- Appointed Bishop Joseph Cheng Tsai-fa of Tainan, Taiwan as metropolitan archbishop of Taipei (area 4,590, population 7,100,819, Catholics 82,903, priests 302, religious 708) , Taiwan and apostolic administrator of the Kinmen Islands, Quemoy and Matzu. He succeeds Archbishop Joseph Ti-kang whose resignation from the same archdiocese and as apostolic administrator of the Kinmen Islands, Quemoy and Matzu the Holy Father accepted upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Bishop Bosco Lin Chi-Nan, auxiliary of the diocese of Kaohsiung, as bishop of Tainan (area 2,780, population 1,927,836, Catholics 16,473, priests 66, religious 129), Taiwan.

- Appointed Msgr. Luigi Cantafora, pastor of the parish of St. Dominic in Crotone, Italy, as bishop of Lamenzia Terme (area 915, population 139,750, Catholics 139,300, priests 70, permanent deacons 21, religious 110), Italy. The bishop-elect was born in Scandale, Italy in 1943 and was ordained a priest in 1969. The Holy Father accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese presented by Bishop Vincenzo Rimedio upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed the following prelates as members of the Pontifical Council for Culture:
Cardinals Frederic Etsou-Nzabi-Bamungwabi, archbishop of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dionigi Tettamanzi, archbishop of Milan, Italy, Polycarp Pengo, archbishop of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, Francis Eugene George, archbishop of Chicago, U.S.A., Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, archbishop of Santiago de Chile, Chile, Lubomyr Husar, major archbishop of Lviv of the Ukraines; Archbishop Michael Louis Fitzgerald, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, Bishop Mark Benedict Coleridge, auxiliary of Melbourne, Australia and Bishop Fabio Duque Jaramillo of Armenia, Colombia.

- Appointed the following as consultants to the Pontifical Council for Culture: Msgr. Peter D. Fleetwood, secretary general of the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Europe (C.C.E.E.); Professor Pedro Morande of the Pontifical Catholic University of Santiago de Chile, Chile; Professor Nurukyor Claude Somda of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Alfredo Augusto Garcia Quesada, Peru; Leon Zeches, director of the Catholic daily newspaper "Luxemburger Wort," of Luxemburg; Manuelita Nunez, Culture director for the Episcopal Conferences of Panama; Maria Eugenia Diaz de Pfennich, international president of the World Union of Catholic Womens Organizations - UMOFC, Mexico; Agnes Adjaho Avognon, Cotonou, Benin; Annie Lam Shun-Wai, president of the Association of the Catholic Press in Asia, Hong Kong.

- Appointed Archbishop Angelo Amato, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, as consultant of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

- Appointed Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry, as his special envoy to the celebrations of the XII World Day of the Sick which will take place in Lourdes, France on February 11, 2004.

- Appointed Msgrs. Laszlo Kiss-Rigo, director of the Superior Council of Catholic Schools in Hungary, and Gyorgy Udvardy, vicar general and pastor in Szent Ersebt, Hungary, as auxiliary bishops of the archdiocese of Esztergom-Budapest (area 1,543, population 2,930,000, Catholics 1,258,000, priests 358, religious 872, permanent deacons 17), Hungary. Bishop-elect Kiss-Rigo was born in 1955 in Budapest, Hungary and was ordained a priest in 1981. Bishop-elect Udvardy was born in 1960 in Balassagyarmat, Hungary and was ordained a priest in 1985.
NER:RE:NA:NEA/.../... VIS 20040126 (620)