CARTA DE SU SANTIDAD JUAN PABLO II
AL CARDENAL GANTIN ACEPTANDO SU RENUNCIA
A LA FUNCIÓN DE DECANO
DEL COLEGIO CARDENALICIO

Al señor cardenal
BERNARDIN GANTIN
Decano del Colegio cardenalicio
Venerado y querido hermano:

He retenido largo tiempo la carta que me dirigió, para reflexionar y pedir luz a Dios en la oración.

Deseo, ante todo, asegurarle que han tenido gran eco en mi corazón los sentimientos de devoción que me ha expresado en ella una vez más con gran confianza. Se lo agradezco sinceramente, señor cardenal, consciente de que son la confirmación, de acuerdo con su lema episcopal:  "In tuo sancto servitio", de toda una vida consagrada al servicio del Señor, en profunda comunión de pensamiento y afecto con el Sucesor de Pedro, primero como secretario de la Congregación para la evangelización de los pueblos, luego como presidente de la Comisión pontificia Iustitia et pax y presidente del Consejo pontificio "Cor unum", y por último como prefecto de la Congregación para los obispos.

LETTER OF JOHN PAUL II
ON THE OCCASION OF THE 75th BIRTHDAY
OF CARDINAL ANGELO SODANO

To my Venerable Brother Cardinal Angelo Sodano
Secretary of State

The observance of your impending birthday, Your Eminence, gives me the welcome opportunity of expressing my congratulations and my cordial best wishes to you. I gladly join you in your gratitude to the Lord for the many gifts he has given you, enabling you, in a variety of responsibilities, to perform valuable service to the Church and, in a special way, to this Apostolic See. I am also happy to express my personal gratitude to you as my closest collaborator for the great help that for years you have given me daily in the exacting mission of Secretary of State.

LETTER OF JOHN PAUL II
TO THE SERVANTS OF MARY,
MINISTERS OF THE SICK

Dear Sisters,

I am glad to address a cordial greeting to you, Sisters who represent all the Servants of Mary, Ministers of the Sick. You have been taking part in the work of the XXIII General Chapter which is a sign of the unity of your institute, present in many parts of the world, that enriches the Church with the charism that the Mother Foundress, St Soledad Torres Acosta shared with you more than 150 years ago. It is your task to re-inforce your fidelity to your original spirit and to discern how best to live it today, at the beginning of a new millennium in which the Church feels called in particular to show tangibly "to what length of dedication the Christian community can go in charity towards the poorest" (Novo Millennio ineunte, n. 49).

LETTER OF JOHN PAUL II
TO CHIARA LUBICH,
FOUNDRESS OF THE FOCOLARE MOVEMENT

To Miss Chiara Lubich President of the Work of Mary (Focolare Movement)

1. With joy and affection I address my cordial greeting to you and to the participants in the General Assembly of the Work of Mary taking place at Castel Gandolfo. I thank you for the good wishes you sent me for today's observance, which marks the beginning of the 25th year of my ministry in the See of Peter. I have always felt the spiritual closeness of the members of the Focolare Movement, and have admired their positive apostolic action in the Church and in the world.

LETTER OF JOHN PAUL II
FOR THE NATIONAL LITURGICAL WEEK OF ITALY IN ASSISI
(26-30 AUGUST 2002)

Your Excellency,

The National Liturgical Week that this year will take place in Assisi from 26 to 30 August and is dedicated to the provocative subject: Liturgy, Epiphany of the Mystery is an important annual event for the Church in Italy, since it allows those who are involved in promoting and fostering the liturgy in the Christian community, to pray, reflect together and share their experience.

LETTER OF JOHN PAUL II
TO CARDINAL J. FRANCIS STAFFORD
FOR THE CONSECRATION OF THE NEW CATHEDRAL
DEDICATED TO OUR LADY OF THE ANGELES

To Our Venerable Brother Cardinal James Francis Stafford
President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity

Calling to mind the words of Sacred Scripture that Jesus pronounced, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples" (Mk 11,17), we readily turn our thoughts to the Clergy and faithful People of Los Angeles, who in the coming month of September will have the joy and honour of the inauguration of the new cathedral, that was planned a hundred years ago and has only now been completed.

LETTER OF JOHN PAUL II
TO THE SUPREME COUNCIL
OF THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

To the Knights of Columbus

Once again I offer you my prayerful good wishes on the occasion of the Annual Supreme Convention, being held this year in Anaheim, California. This yearly assembly enables the Supreme Council to commit your Order ever anew to the noble ideals of fraternity and service of the Church laid down by your Founder, the Servant of God Father Michael McGivney. I pray that the meeting will provide inspiration and guidance to all the Knights of Columbus as they strive to bear witness to Christ by working zealously for the spread of his Kingdom on earth.

LETTER OF JOHN PAUL II
TO THE MISSIONARY SISTERS SERVANTS
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ON THE OCCASION
OF THEIR GENERAL CHAPTER

To the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit
on the occasion of their General Chapter

" Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (Rm 1:7). The words of the great Apostle Paul serve to convey to you my heartfelt affection in the Lord and my earnest prayer that the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit will experience the Twelfth General Chapter as a time of renewed joy in your vocation and recommitment to your founding charism. Dedicated as you are to the Holy Spirit, I invoke an abundant outpouring of his gifts upon the members of the Chapter so that in all things they may act for the good of the Congregation, the progress of the Church’s mission, and the glory of the Triune God.

MENSAJE DE SU SANTIDAD JUAN PABLO II
CON OCASIÓN DEL MILENARIO DEL NACIMIENTO
DEL PAPA LEÓN IX

Al señor cardenal
Paul POUPARD
Presidente del
Consejo pontificio para la cultura

1. Hace mil años, el 21 de junio de 1002, nacía en Alsacia Brunon d'Egisheim-Dagsburg, que llegó a ser Papa en 1049 con el nombre de León IX. Con ocasión del milenario de su nacimiento, que se celebra durante estos días en las tres diócesis de Estrasburgo, Metz y Nancy, y que usted presidirá como enviado especial, me uno con el pensamiento y la oración a los fieles congregados en torno a sus pastores. Ojalá que, al dar gracias por las maravillas que Dios realizó en favor de su Iglesia a través de la vida y el ministerio de ese gran Papa, se dejen guiar por el Espíritu Santo para participar en el crecimiento de la Iglesia del tercer milenio.