OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, DEC 22, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Bishop Aloisio Hilario de Pinho F.D.P., of Tocantinopolis, Brazil, as bishop of Jatai (area 62,698, population 380,000, Catholics 359,000, priests 27, permanent deacons 19, religious 62), Brazil.

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AUDIENCE

VATICAN CITY, DEC 22, 1999 (VIS) - This evening, the Holy Father is scheduled to receive Cardinal Jozef Tomko, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

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LIVE THE CHRISTMAS EVENT OF SALVATION WITH INTENSITY

VATICAN CITY, DEC 22, 1999 (VIS) - In today's general audience, which was held in the Paul VI Hall, John Paul II spoke about Christmas, recalling that Holy Night marks the start of the Great Jubilee of the year 2000, "for which the Church has been preparing itself over a considerable time."

The Pope said, "from this moment, let us ready ourselves to live the Christmas event of salvation with profound involvement, starting the Holy Year with deep joy. In the poverty of the manger, let us recognize the great 'event' of the Incarnation: God made himself man in order to meet each of us. Let us allow this great mystery to transform our lives during the hold period of grace of the Jubilee."

"May the Virgin Mary," he continued, "who was the first to prepare a worthy home for the promised Messiah, and who still today presents Him to the world, teach us to open, indeed to throw wide open, the doors of our heart to the Christmas message of light and peace."

The Holy Father wished a happy Christmas to everyone and recalled those who are suffering, those "who must support the burdensome consequences of war and those who are facing special difficulties."

At the end of the audience, John Paul II addressed some special remarks to his fellow Poles who, every year, exchange greetings with the Pope on the eve of Christmas.

"For my native land," he said, speaking Polish, "I hope that the spirit of the Great Jubilee may pervade all hearts with the sacred fire of love. May mercy, goodness and human solidarity reign in our homes."

"I embrace in prayer the Church in Poland, together with all her pastors led by the Cardinal primate, and our entire society, without exception. I would like to be close to each of you, to each Polish family, to each Polish home, especially where there is suffering and pain, where the loneliness and embitterment of abandonment are felt."

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IN MEMORIAM

VATICAN CITY, DEC 22, 1999 (VIS) - The following prelates died in recent weeks:

- Archbishop Cyrille Emmanuel Benni, emeritus of Mossul of the Syrians, Iraq, on December 9, at the age of 78.
- Archbishop Augustin Fataki Alueke, emeritus of Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on December 15, at the age of 87.
- Bishop Manuel Menendez, emeritus of San Martin, Argentina, on December 15, at the age of 84.
- Bishop Gustavo Posada Pelaez M.X.Y., emeritus of Istmina-Tado, Colombia, on December 8, at the age of 82.
- Archbishop Enea Selis, emeritus of Cosenza e Bisignano, Italy, on December 14, at the age of 89.
- Bishop Alois Stoger, former auxiliary of Sankt Polten, Austria, on December 12, at the age of 95.
- Bishop Joseph Vu Duy Nhat of Bui Chu, Vietnam, on December 11, at the age of 88.

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HOLY FATHER EXTENDS CHRISTMAS GREETINGS TO ROMAN CURIA

VATICAN CITY, DEC 21, 1999 (VIS) - This morning at 11:30 in the Clementine Hall, Pope John Paul met with members of the College of Cardinals and the Roman Curia, and reminded them that today is the last time this century and millennium that they meet for this traditional exchange of Christmas greetings.

"We wish to live this encounter," he began his talk, "in the awareness that we constitute a most special community, that of the closest collaborators of the Bishop of Rome, the successor of the Apostle Peter. ... If the vocation of the Successor of Peter, surrounded by his collaborators, has a particular meaning in the Church, it is precisely because it is a ministry, a service. Christ said to Peter: 'Confirm your brothers'."

In St. Luke's account, continued the Holy Father, "Peter emerges in all his fragility. The power 'to confirm' does not therefore come from his own capacities: it comes from the power of Christ, who prays for Him. And it is thanks to the power of Christ that he can sustain his brothers notwithstanding his personal weakness. It is necessary to keep in mind this truth about the 'ministerium petrinum'. He who is the Successor of Peter and exercises such a ministry can never forget this, and those who, in whatever capacity, participate in this ministry must never forget it."

"May today's meditation (on the petrine ministry) cross the threshold of the third millennium and be received by those who will come after us, who after us will assume, as Successors of Peter and their collaborators, the 'ministerium petrinum', to exercise it according to the will of Christ."

Pope John Paul then reviewed the three-year period of preparation for the now imminent Great Jubilee of the year 2000. He highlighted initiatives in churches, at both the local and universal levels, including the five continental synods and the consignment in 1999 of two Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortations ("Ecclesia in America" and "Ecclesia in Asia").

Other important events of this past year, he added, include his trips to Mexico City, St. Louis, Romania, Poland, India and Georgia. On the ecumenical level, he underscored the trips to Romania and Georgia, and the signing of the document on justification with the Lutherans. He also mentioned initiatives in the area of inter-religious dialogue, emphasizing the October meeting in St. Peter's Square with representatives of other religions.

"The announcement of salvation," remarked Pope John Paul, "cannot fail to be accompanied by an active witnessing to charity." And he underlined the Holy See's efforts "to support the path of the People of God who, in their local pastoral realities in a thousand ways are charged with caring for the person and being at the service of the most needy."

"May this Christmas which starts the Jubilee Year celebrations," the Pope said in closing, "be for each of us an ascent to the mountain of the Lord. ... Yes, with faith we will hasten our steps towards the extraordinary Jubilee Year, full of grace and especially expressed by the gift of the indulgence."

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