Excerpts from Pope John Paul II's homily during Saturday's Mass:

Published Sunday, January 25, 1998, in the Miami Herald

Excerpts from Pope John Paul II's homily during Saturday's Mass:

``Lay Catholics . . . have the duty and the right to participate in public debate on the basis of equality and in an attitude of dialogue and reconciliation. Likewise, the good of a nation must be promoted and achieved by its citizens themselves through peaceful and gradual means. In this way each person, enjoying freedom of expression, being free to undertake initiatives and make proposals within civil society, and enjoying appropriate freedom of association, will be able to cooperate effectively in the pursuit of the common good.

``The church, immersed in civil society, does not seek any type of political power in order to carry out her mission; she wishes only to be the fruitful seed of everyone's good by her presence in the structures of society. . . . Christ charged her to bring his message to all peoples, and for this she needs sufficient freedom and adequate means.

``The church is called to bear witness to Christ by taking courageous and prophetic stands in the face of the corruption of political or economic power.

``The Church calls everyone to make faith a reality in their lives, as the best path . . . for attaining true freedom, which includes the recognition of human rights and social justice.

``I wish to send my greetings also to all of Cuba's children, who, in whatever part of the world, venerate Our Lady of Charity . . . asking her, Loving Mother of all, to unite her children once more through reconciliation and brotherhood.''
SOURCE: Associated Press