Each week we endeavor to bring you the most recent words from His Holiness Pope John Paul II in keeping our readers in touch with what Rome is saying for seldom does it filter down to the parishioner level. For this reason, we will bring you the Holy Father's most recent Wednesday General Audience Papal Address, or his Sunday Angelus Address, or a homily or address from a momentous occasion in Rome, especially during this Jubilee Year. When a special document such as an Encyclical, Motu Proprio, Papal Bull, or Apostolic Letter is released we will strive to bring it to you as soon as possible.

    In today's issue we bring you Pope John Paul II's lengthy but pertinent WORLD DAY OF PEACE document for January 1, 2001 on the Solemnity of the Mother of God. In his message, the Pope emphasizes that he considers "urgent to invite believers in Christ, together with all men and women of good will, to reflect on the theme of dialogue between cultures and traditions. The Sovereign Pontiff writes that "Cultural diversity should therefore be understood within the broader horizon of the unity of the human race" and that "Dialogue between cultures ... emerges as an intrinsic demand of human nature itself, as well as of culture. It is dialogue which protects the distinctiveness of cultures as historical and creative expressions of the underlying unity of the human family, and which sustains understanding and communion between them," says the new Papal document. Among other themes, the Pope recalls as well in his message that "human life cannot be seen as an object to do with as we please, but as the most sacred and inviolable earthly reality." He explains all in Part One and Part Two

Explanation of THE VICAR OF CHRIST SPEAKS

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