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Skriven 2005-03-13 12:56:38 av Marc Lewis (1:396/45)
Ärende: Vatican Information Service (Press Release)
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              The following press release is Copyrighted by the
                        Vatican Information Service.
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                               VIS-Press releases

POPE WELCOMES TANZANIAN PRELATES ON "AD LIMINA" VISIT

VATICAN CITY, MAR 11, 2005 (VIS) - Made public this afternoon was a Message
from Pope John Paul to Cardinal Polycarp Pengo, archbishop of Dal-es-Salaam and
Bishop Severine Niwemugizi of Rulenge, Tanzania, who is also the president of
the Episcopal Conference of Tanzania, who were welcomed by the Pope at 12:30
p.m. today in Gemelli Hospital. The prelates are in Rome for their "ad limina"
visit.

"I greet you from Gemelli Hospital," writes the Holy Father, "where I offer my
prayers and my sufferings for you: in these days I feel especially close to
you." He says he wishes, in his Message, to underscore "three integral parts of
your pastoral ministry; care of the family; care of the clergy and care for the
common good of society in your region."

"The world can learn much," the Pope writes, "from the high value that is
placed upon the family as a building block of African society." The Church must
give "special priority to the pastoral care of the family, because of the great
cultural changes taking place in the modern world. ... For example, the unjust
practice of linking programs of economic assistance to the promotion of
sterilization and contraception must be strenuously resisted" as they are
"affronts to the dignity of the person and the family."

The Pope says marriage is "sacred, ... one and indissoluble by nature" and "has
to remain open to the generation of new life. ... The promotion of genuine
family values is all the more urgent on account of the terrible scourge of AIDS
afflicting your country and so much of the African continent. Fidelity within
marriage and abstinence outside it are the only sure ways to limit the further
spread of infection. ... It especially grieves me to consider the many
thousands of children left as orphans in the wake of the merciless virus."

Turning to care for the clergy, John Paul II indicates that a bishop must be "a
father, brother and a friend" to his closest collaborators. He urges prelates
to help priests "grow in holiness and in single-hearted commitment to
discipleship" and "to enkindle within them a genuine longing for the Kingdom of
God. Continue to encourage them in their gifts, sustain them in their
difficulties and form them to meet the demands of priestly life today. I know
that you appreciate the importance of seminary formation and the need to assign
your best priests to this task."

On the question of the Church's care for the common good, the Holy Father
underlines the steps taken by the episcopal conference "to combat the material
deprivation afflicting so many of your people" and says that "cooperation
between Church and State on such matters of great social concern deserves to be
commended." He also notes Tanzania's contributions "to building peace and
stability in East Africa" and its generosity "in providing a home for thousands
of refugees fleeing persecution in their own countries."

He closes his remarks by stressing the challenge "to maintain and strengthen
respectful relations with the Muslim community" and the "serious commitment to
inter-religious dialogue."
AL/.../TANZANIA:GEMELLIVIS 050311 (500)

SUMMARY

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