To The Most Reverend Seán Brady
Archbishop of Armagh
President of the Irish Episcopal Conference

     On the occasion of the Feast of Pentecost, I extend warm greetings to you and to the Bishops, priests, religious and lay faithful present at the Shrine of Our Lady of Knock for the All-Night Vigil organised by the Irish School of Evangelisation and Evangelisation 2000.

     Giving heartfelt thanks to God for the witness of Ireland's Catholic community which continues to announce in season and out of season the saving death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ,I pray for a fresh outpouring of the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit upon you all. Aware of the uncertainties and doubts which afflict many of our contemporaries, I encourage all taking part in the Vigil to see the two-thousandth anniversary of the birth of the Saviour as a challenging call to evangelise. The men and women of our time, like those of every time and place, need to hear the truth about God, they need to be helped to encounter him and to experience his merciful love at every level of their lives. Above all, they need credible and courageous witnesses who, in the circumstances of modern living, proclaim their Catholic faith and live according to God's commandment of love

   Ireland's history teaches that her impressive heritage of faith and witness arises from the ability to combine a contemplative spirit with missionary zeal. I therefore encourage each one of you to renew your trust in the Lord, to turn to him in prayer, and to become genuine and joyful messengers of his Gospel in the new Millennium. Entrusting the Church in Ireland to the protection of Our Lady of Knock, Queen of Peace, I cordially impart to all present my Apostolic Blessing.