Summer days: No signs of slowdown as pope prepares for vacation

Published: 2004-07-02

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II may have been packing his bags for a summer vacation, but events at the Vatican showed no sign of winding down in late June and early July. From ecumenical encounters to liturgical celebrations, from political pronouncements to pastoral messages, the Vatican was bubbling over with activity. Passing through the Vatican's doors were groups of U.S. bishops, Jewish leaders, the Spanish prime minister, a Spanish royal couple, the Maltese president and a long line of others. The pope welcomed Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople to the Vatican, where the two embraced, professed the faith and shared a sermon during a liturgy for the distribution of palliums to new archbishops. The pope and patriarch met privately on two other occasions during the week. Meanwhile, the Vatican released a papal letter on sports, a message on globalization, a message on the family and massive documentation from the Vatican's World War II archives. It also issued an unusual public complaint about the arrest of bishops in China.

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