APOSTOLIC JOURNEY
OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II
TO RIO DE JANEIRO, ON THE OCCASION OF THE
2nd WORLD MEETING FOR FAMILIES
(OCTOBER 2-6, 1997)

MEETING WITH THE ECCLESIASTICAL ORGANIZING COMMISSION
AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE STATE OF RIO DE JANEIRO

ADDRESS OF JOHN PAUL II

Your Eminences,
Dear Brother Bishops,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Before returning to Rome I wanted to have this farewell meeting to thank the members of the Ecclesiastical Organizing Commission and the Government of the State of Rio de Janeiro, who so zealously prepared the celebration of the World Day of Families. My congratulations and gratitude also go to all the friends and benefactors who generously contributed their time and resources to the total success of this great event, and in particular to the staff at the Residence in Sumaré. God reward you!

I hope that the ideas and results of the Pastoral Theology Congress on the family will endure. I ask God to grant that by living responsibly in this "sanctuary of life" (Evangelium vitae, n. 6) which is, precisely, the family, the dynamism which derives from it and the demands of totality, uniqueness, fidelity and fruitfulness it requires (cf. Humanae vitae, n. 9), will be an incentive and a constant force to awaken a new dawn of holiness in the context of the Christian family.

I would also like to greet the Bishops present here representing the television network "REDE VIDA" and encourage them to continue in this apostolic work at the service of life and of man. I congratulate Archbishop Antônio Maria Mucciolo of Botucatu for this enterprising project — known as the "family channel", which is already two years old — and his closest collaborators, in the hope that this Catholic television broadcast will always be a powerful tool of evangelization and an effective witness of the Church's presence in Brazil. May God bless all the directors and staff of the Brazilian Institute for Christian Communications!

Lastly, I would like to urge everyone to continue with dedication in their effort to evangelize society and the family, and may the results so far achieved and the Apostolic Blessing, which I wholeheartedly impart encourage you.