JOHN PAUL II: VACATION AND UPCOMING PASTORAL TRIPS

VATICAN CITY, JUL 21, 1996 (VIS) - Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls met with journalists this morning before the praying of the Angelus in Pieve di Cadore and answered questions.

One journalist asked for a general report on the Pope's vacation in the Dolomites, which will end the evening of July 23, and if he could recount some significant episode of these days.

Navarro-Valls said that everything is going very well. "The Holy Father takes long walks, in the sun, in the wind ... and on a couple of occasions even under the rain. In short, I would say that it is an immersion in nature, in this beautiful nature of Cadore. During his walks, there have been the inevitable encounters. Just a few days ago, the Pope met a man from former East Germany who spoke with John Paul II in German."

The press office director added that "nonetheless, what most impresses me is the people who wait for the Pope every day - sometimes even for more than an hour, and perhaps in the street - upon his return home between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m., just to see him pass by. And what do they see in the Pope? I think that in him these people see this dimension of mystery that always exists in the life of a pontiff; this man who needs rest as all men do, but who at the same time is the mediator, the intercessor between humanity and God."

From conversations these days, asked another journalist, what is it that most worries the Pope at this time?

"The Pope has spoken at times about his upcoming pastoral trips, to France, to Hungary at the beginning of September, but sometimes, what calls the most attention are his long silences, because they are silences full of eloquence, that is, in some way, one can see in them all the problems of men, of all peoples, that weigh on the heart and in some way also on the shoulders of the Holy Father."

Navarro-Valls was also asked if there is any hope of a meeting between the Pope and the Patriarch Alexei II.

"Yes. The problem is, when is the soonest possible time and where. In these cases there are circumstances that must converge on both parts in order to create the concrete opportunity and be able to meet."

Referring to a possible visit by John Paul II to Sarajevo, Navarro-Valls said that after the September 14 elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina, he could begin to think about a trip. "For now, it is all yet to be organized."
.../INTERVIEW/CADORE:NAVARRO-VALLS VIS 960722 (450)