CALL FOR PEACE IN CHECHNYA AND IVORY COAST

VATICAN CITY, DEC 26, 1999 (VIS) - After praying the angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square, the Pope made a call for peace in Chechnya and the Ivory Coast:

"During this period, when the Christmas spirit calls upon men and women to become better and more fraternal, we must pray for those peoples who live amidst great suffering.

"In particular, we feel close to the inhabitants of Chechnya, nor can we forget the many peoples of Africa, among whom I would like to mention the citizens of the Ivory Coast who are traversing a difficult moment in their history.

"To all those who work on the road to harmony and peace I say: Have the courage of faithful and enduring dialogue in order that the fraternity, which Jesus made man came to offer as a gift to all humanity, may finally become a reality for everyone."

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PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF THE FAMILY AND OF LIFE

VATICAN CITY, DEC 26, 1999 (VIS) - In the angelus today, feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth, John Paul II stated that this moment offered him "a suitable occasion, at the start of the Holy Year 2000, to renew an appeal in support of the rights of the family, of life and of infancy."

"The family," he reminded pilgrims who had gathered in St. Peter's Square, "is a community of life and love, that comes into being when a man and a woman totally give themselves the one to the other in matrimony, ready to accept the gift of children. The fundamental right to life pertains to man from the moment of conception. This is in keeping with the essence of natural law and the tradition of the great religions, as well as with the spirit of article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

The Holy Father highlighted that "the union between the mother and the newborn and the irreplaceable role of the father necessitate that the child be welcomed into a family that guarantees, as far as possible, the presence of both parents. The specific contribution they offer to the family and, through that institution, to society, is worthy of the highest respect."

"The family today," he concluded, "requires special protection from the public authorities, who not infrequently are placed under pressure by interest groups to admit as a right that which in reality is the fruit of an individualistic and subjective mentality. ... May God enlighten legislators, politicians and all people of good will to promote the effective protection of the rights of the family, of life and of children."

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OPENING OF THE HOLY DOOR AT ST. JOHN LATERAN

VATICAN CITY, DEC 25, 1999 (VIS) - At 6 p.m. this evening the Holy Father travelled from the Vatican to St. John Lateran. There, he opened the Holy Door of the basilica and presided at the celebration of the second vespers of the birth of the Lord.

At the start of his homily, the Holy Father affirmed that "God entered human history, He came to follow the paths of this world in order to give to all the capability of becoming children of God."

John Paul II recalled that the Lateran Basilica is the "mother and head of all Roman Churches throughout the world, as well as being the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome. Here in 1300, Pope Boniface VIII solemnly inaugurated the first Holy Year in history. Here in the Jubilee of 1423, Pope Martin V first opened the Holy Door."

"We have passed through that door," he continued, "which represents Christ Himself. In fact, He alone is the Savior sent by God the Father, who makes us pass from sin to grace, and introduces us to the full communion that unites Him to the Father in the Holy Spirit. We give thanks to God, rich in mercy, who gave his only Son as man's Redeemer."
The Pope concluded by underlining that the Holy Year "invites us to respond with joy and generosity to the call to sanctity, in order (for us) to become an ever greater sign of hope in modern society, as it heads towards the third millennium."

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TAIZE COMMUNITY MEETS IN WARSAW

VATICAN CITY, DEC 28, 1999 (VIS) - Made public today was a message from the Pope to Frere Roger, prior of the Taize community, on the occasion of that organization's 22nd European meeting. The event is being held in Warsaw, Poland, from December 28, 1999 to January 1, 2000.

In the message, dated November 30 and written in French, John Paul II expresses the hope that the meeting of young people in Poland "be a privileged moment of mutual greeting and fraternity, of prayer and contemplation, that brings about a greater openness to God and to others."

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PRESS BRIEFING ON OPENING CEREMONY FOR JUBILEE 2000

VATICAN CITY, DEC 23, 1999 (VIS) - Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls held a briefing this afternoon for journalists on several aspects of the ceremony at St. Peter's Basilica tomorrow evening during which Pope John Paul will open the basilica's Holy Door and inaugurate the Jubilee Year 2000.

He recalled that, as the Pope wrote in the Bull of Indiction for the Holy Year, "we are getting ready to cross the threshold of the Third Millennium." He added that the Holy Father's thoughts and prayers tomorrow night - as well as those of 1.7 billion people in the world who believe that Christ is the Son of God - will be on Christ and the start of a year long celebration marking the 2,000th anniversary of His birth.

Navarro-Valls also underscored the "signs" which the Pope believes should mark this Jubilee, such as the moratorium on the death penalty and the forgiveness of debts of poorer countries.

Then, turning to the ritual of opening the Holy Door, he briefly reviewed the process outlined on December 14 by Bishop Piero Marini, master of papal liturgical ceremonies. He recalled that the Holy Father will join a procession in the atrium of St. Peter's Basilica, stop in prayer when he arrives at the Holy Door where the Gospel of Luke will be read, as well as several verses from Psalms, then proceed to simply push open the two bronze panels of the Holy Door. He said a "dress rehearsal" had been held on opening the door.

Among those in the atrium will be the cardinal, archbishop and bishop concelebrants of the Mass as well as the Orthodox Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II of Istanbul, who wished to be present for this ceremony as he could not attend the ecumenical service on January 18 at St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls.

The procession will continue inside the Vatican Basilica until it reaches the papal altar where John Paul II will proclaim the start of the Jubilee Year. The Christmas vigil Mass will then start.

Navarro-Valls pointed out that, at the moment that the Pope proclaims the Jubilee open in St. Peter's, Latin patriarch Michel Sabbah will, in the grotto in Bethlehem, proclaim open the Jubilee in the Holy Land.

The only head of State who will be present at tomorrow's opening door rite and Mass will be Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.

The director then gave some statistics for tomorrow evening's ceremony: 8,200 people will be seated in St. Peter's Basilica where television monitors will allow them to better see the actual opening of the Holy Door; 40,000 will be seated in St. Peter's Square where there will be mega-screens; 58 countries will provide live television coverage, including Cuba. He pointed out that poorer countries unable to provide satellite linkup will be helped financially by the Knights of Columbus.

As is customary, said Navarro-Valls, the Holy Father will spend some time after Christmas at the residence at Castelgandolfo.

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