(24 Jan 1996) Spanish/Nat

A group of Venezuelan nuns have started the task of making 200-thousand communion wafers for Pope John Paul II to consecrate during his visit to the country next month.

The nuns, who began their task last week, have already tripled their production to 15-thousand wafers per day.

The holy bread will be distributed during two masses planned for February 10th and 11th.

Venezuela's Catholics are getting ready for Pope John Paul II's visit next month.

Four nuns from the Congregation of Augustinian Recollect Sisters of the Heart of Jesus are making tons of communion wafers.

The wafers are to consecrated by the pontiff during his trip to Venezuela.

He's visiting as part of a Latin American tour which will also take him to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.

The nuns are expected to make 200-thousand communion wafers.

SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"We are in charge of making 200-thousand communion wafers for the Pope's visit to Venezuela. We make 10-thousand daily, which means 50-thousand per week. We've planned this to get the 200-thousand in a month, by getting 10-thousand weekly."
SUPER CAPTION: Sister Elizabeth Coello, Member of Congregation

Although they've recently tripled their daily production to 15-thousand wafers, the four nuns are working frantically day and night to ensure they meet their deadline.

Most of the holy bread will be distributed at a mass celebrated by the Pope on February 11.

Over one (m) million people are expected to attend the mass which will be held at a military base east of Caracas.

The rest will be used at the inauguration of the National Sanctuary of Our Lady of Coromoto in Guanare - 425 kilometers ( 265.6 miles) southwest of Caracas.

The Roman Catholic Church says the Virgin Mary appeared before an Indian chief from the Coromoto tribe in 1652.

The Congregation of Augustinian Recollect Sisters of the Heart of Jesus was founded in 1901 by Mother Maria de San Jose, the first Venezuelan beatified by the Vatican in May 1995.

The nuns have made communion wafers for nearby dioceses at no cost for decades.

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