Vatican City, Mar 2, 2005 / 22:00 pm
In a letter released by the Vatican today, John Paul II thanked Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and discipline of the Sacraments for his work to encourage growth of the Christian community strengthened by the Eucharist.
The letter, signed this morning in Rome's Gemelli hospital, where the Pope has been since last week, was also addressed to participants in the congregation’s plenary session, which concludes tomorrow in the Vatican.
The Holy Father expressed his gratitude to Cardinal Arinze for his "words of affection and the assurance of a special prayer, which you conveyed to me in everyone's name, and for the generous dedication with which you guide the dicastery."
The Pope particularly thanked the congregation “for having quickly complied with the indications of the Encyclical 'Ecclesia de Eucharistia' and of the Apostolic Letter 'Mane nobiscum Domine', preparing first the Instruction 'Redemptionis Scaramentum' and then the 'Suggestions and Proposals' for the year of the Eucharist.”