Pope receives pilgrims from Antioch patriarchate.

Vatican--John Paul II seemed deeply moved on November 23, when he received Catholics from sorely tried countries who belong to the Syrianrite Catholic Church of Antioch.

At the end of the meeting, the Holy Father told the Lebanese, Iraqi and Syrian pilgrims: "When you return to your homes, tell your Christian brothers of your dioceses that I am close to them in prayer and encourage them, knowing that at times they have difficult trials to endure."

Virtually as old as the Gospels, the Church of Antioch was the vital centre and point of reference of the early communities of believers including Syrian, Phoenician, Arabic, Cilician and Mesopotamian--who were witnesses of the sacking of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 A.D.

It is a Church with a strong determination for unity, the Pope said when he received the pilgrims, who came to Rome accompanied by Patriarch Ignace Moussa I Daoud.

The Holy Father also mentioned that it was in Antioch where Jesus' followers were first called "Christians," and he recalled the figure of St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, martyred in Rome in the year 107, who was one of the first to be concerned about "the unity of the Church." In his Letter to the Romans, St. Ignatius said that the Church in Rome presided over the communion of Christians in charity.

According to an ancient tradition, all heads of the Syrian Catholic Church of Antioch have Ignatius' name as a first patriarchal title. It is a way of expressing "the same attachment to the See of Peter in Rome which presides over the communion of Christians in charity."

This Church, whose patriarchate since 1920 has been located in Beirut, Lebanon, embraces Catholics living in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. They are united by the Arab language but also, in some regions of Syria and northern Iraq, by Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus.

On November 26, the Pope officially appointed Patriarch Ignace Moussa I Daoud, aged 70, of Antioch of the Syrians, as prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Oriental Churches.

The new Vatican prefect, who has also been created a cardinal, is replacing Cardinal Achille Silvestrini, who resigned at the age of 77.

With the appointment of His Beatitude, a primary representative of the ancient and glorious Oriental Churches once again occupies the office of Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.

This Vatican congregation has the task of being a unifying link with the Eastern Catholic Churches to foster their growth, safeguard their rights, and maintain the Eastern Christian tradition alive and whole in the Catholic Church, along with the liturgical and spiritual patrimony of the Latin Church.