VATICAN CITY, MAY 2, 1995 (VIS)

Pope John Paul's Apostolic Letter "Orientalis Lumen," addressed to bishops, priests and the faithful and occasioned by the centenary of Pope Leo XIII's "Orientalium dignitas" was made public today.

Following are some excerpts from the 56-page document, translated into Italian,- French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Ukranian and Polish, with an introduction and two chapters.

"The Light of the East... inspired my predecessor Pope Leo XIII to write the Apostolic Letter 'Orientalium dignitas' in which he sought to safeguard the significance of the Eastern traditions for the whole Church.

On the century of that event.. I wish to send to the Catholic Church a similar appeal, which has been enriched by the knowledge and interchange which has taken place over the past century."

"My thoughts turn to our brothers and sisters of the Eastern Churches:

'We have this common task:

We must say together from East to West:

A particularly close link already binds us.

We have almost everything in common; and above all, we have in common the true longing for unity."

"Going beyond our own frailties, we must turn to him, the one Teacher, sharing in his death so as to purify ourselves form that jealous attachment to feelings and memories, not of the great things God has done for us, but of the human affairs of a past that still weighs heavily on our hearts.

May the Spirit clarify our gaze so that together we may reach out to contemporary man who is waiting for the good news.

If we make a harmonious illuminating, life-giving- response to the world's expectations and suffering, we will truly contribute to a more effective proclamation of the Gospel among the people of our time."

(structured in 10 chapters).

"In contemplating it (the Christian East), before my eyes appear elements of great significance for a fuller and more thorough understanding of the Christian experience.

These elements are capable of giving a more complete Christian response to the expectations of the men and women of today."

"The East expresses in a living way the reality of tradition and expectation.

All its liturgy, in particular, is a commemoration of salvation and an invocation of the Lord's return."

"Therefore I will look to monasticism in order to identify those values which I feel are very important today for expressing the contribution of the Christian Era to the journey of Christ's Church towards the Kingdom.

While these aspects are at times neither exclusive to monasticism nor to the Eastern heritage, they have frequently acquired a particular connotation in themselves.

Besides, we are not seeking to make the most of exclusivity, but of the mutual enrichment in what the one Spirit has inspired in the one Church of Christ.

as the place where the Word becomes Flesh and Blood; it is also what anticipates the relationship of men and things to the heavenly Jerusalem."

"The monk's life is evidence of the unity that exists in the East between spirituality and theology...

One draws close to this presence above all by letting oneself be taught an adoring silence, for at the culmination of the knowledge and experience of God is his absolute transcendence...

(Structured in 3 chapters).

"After the important steps taken by Pope Paul VI, I have wished the path of mutual knowledge in charity to be continued.

I can testify to the deep joy that the fraternal meeting with so many heads and representatives of Churches and Ecclesial Communities has given me in recent years."

"We have increasingly learned that it was not so much an historical episode or a mere question of pre-eminence that tore the fabric of unity, as it was a progressive estrangement, so that the other's diversity was no longer perceived as a common treasure, but as incompatibility."

"Thus it is urgently necessary to become aware of this most serious responsibility: today we can co-operate in proclaiming the Kingdom or we can become the upholders of new divisions

"The Eastern Churches which entered into full communion with Rome... did not at all intend to deny their fidelity to their own tradition, to which they have borne witness down the centuries with heroism and often by shedding their blood.

"The children of the Catholic Church already know the ways indicated by the Holy See for achieving this objective
( of improving our knowledge of one another )

• to know the liturgy of the Eastern Churches

• to deepen their knowledge of the spiritual traditions of the Fathers and doctors of the Christian East

• to follow the example of the Eastern Churches for the inculturation of the Gospel message
  

• to combat tensions between Latins and Orientals and to encourage dialogue between Catholics and the Orthodox

• to train in specialized institutions theologians, liturgists, historians and canonists for the Christian East, who in turn can spread knowledge of the Eastern Churches

• to offer appropriate teaching on these subjects in seminaries and theological faculties, especially to future priests.

These remain very sound recommendations on which I intend to insist with particular force."

May Christ, the 'Orientale Lumen', soon, very soon, grant us to discover that in fact, despite so many centuries of distance, we were very close, because together, perhaps we were walking towards the one Lord, and thus towards on another."

Thus shall we offer ourselves to God with the pure hands of reconciliation, and the people of the world will have one more well-founded reason to believe and to hope."

"May the people of the third millennium be able to enjoy this discovery, finally achieved by a word that is harmonious and thus fully credible, proclaimed by brothers and sisters who love one another and thank one another for the riches which they exchange.

LIT/ORIENTALE LUMEN/... VIS 950502 (120)

VATICAN CITY, MAY 2, 1995 (VIS)

Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls made the following declaration on today's visit by the President of the Ukraine:

"This morning Pope John Paul II received in audience the President of the Republic of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma, accompanied by his wife, the foreign affairs minister and an entourage.

President Kuchma then met Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano.

"In their conversation they reviewed the current situation in the Ukrainian nation after having achieved its independence.

They also spoke of relations between the Holy See and the Ukraine, in particular of questions concerning ecclesiastical goods and places of worship.

The Holy See gave assurances that the forthcoming celebrations of the 400 years of the union of Brest will go forward in the greatest spirit of ecclesial unity."

OP/VISIT PRESIDEMT/UKRAINE:KUCHMA VIS 950502 (150)

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