INAUGURATION OF ST. PIUS X INSTITUTE OF CANON LAW

VATICAN CITY, DEC 22, 2003 (VIS) - Made public today was Pope John Paul's
Message to the patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Angelo Scola, on the occasion
of the inauguration of the St. Pius X Institute of Canon Law.  The Pope
notes that 2003 marks the centenary of the election of Pius X, patriarch of
Venice from 1893 to 1903, to the papacy and that this new institute, erected
by the Congregation for Catholic Education and linked to the Canon Law
Faculty of Holy Cross Pontifical University, is one of the initiatives to
mark that anniversary.

  "The new institute," he writes, "is part of the 'Studium Generale
Marcianum', an initiative through which the Church in Venice wishes to study
more deeply and to promote the educational and cultural dimension that is
intrinsic to the work of evangelization. . Through the 'Studium Generale
Marcianum' the faithful can offer their contributions in scientific
research, in teaching and in studies at various levels of education, in an
open and constructive dialogue with all social and cultural interlocutors."

   "I hope," concludes the Message, "that, at the current time in which the
new Europe seeks to give itself an identity, the work of 'Studium Generale
Marcianum' can impress upon and show everyone that every culture has man as
its centerpiece: 'Culture is that for which man, as man, becomes ever more
man'." May faith continue to make fertile the fields of the world to allow a
civilization to grow that is ever more human."