NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      VATICAN CITY, 19 (NE) "You are and must always be missionaries and evangelizers everywhere." With this words Pope John Paul II addressed the priests gathered late last week in occasion of his traditional Lenten encounter with the Roman clergy. The Holy Father recalled in his words the final stage of the Citizen's Mission promoted by the Church in Rome, this time directed to the world of work and society.

      Concerning the Citizen's Mission, the Pontiff explained that he had widened the area of mission so "that the Gospel of Christ be proclaimed and witnessed to in all circumstances and situations of life."

      "The workplace in some cases is where secularization seems to be more advanced," reflected the Holy Father, "and speaking of God and Jesus Christ can be difficult and almost out of place. However in reality God is never a stranger. Christ is never a stranger", he stated.