Benedict XVI Speechs 2006
Good Friday, 14 April 2006
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We have accompanied Jesus on the "Way of the Cross". We have accompanied him here, on the route of the martyrs, in the Colosseum where so many suffered for Christ and gave their life for the Lord, where in so many, the Lord himself has suffered once again.
Thus, we have understood that the "Via Crucis" is neither something of the past nor of any specific point of the earth. The Lord's Cross embraces the world; his "Via Crucis" crosses continents and epochs.
In the Way of the Cross, we cannot merely be spectators. We too are involved, so we must seek our place: where are we?
In the Way of the Cross, it is impossible to remain neutral. Pilate, the sceptic intellectual, tried to be neutral, to remain uninvolved; but precisely in this way he took a stance against justice, because of the conformism of his career.
In the mirror of the Cross we have seen all the sufferings of humanity today.
In the Cross of Christ we have seen the suffering of abandoned and abused children; the threats to the family; the division of the world into the pride of the rich who do not see Lazarus at the door and the misery of the multitudes who are suffering hunger and thirst.
But we have also seen "stations" of consolation.
We have seen the Mother, whose goodness stays faithful unto death and beyond death. We have seen the courageous woman, who stood before the Lord and was not afraid to show solidarity with this Suffering One. We have seen Simon the Cyrenian, an African, who carried the Cross with Jesus.
Finally, we have seen, through these "stations" of consolation, that consolation, just as suffering, is never-ending.
We have seen that on the Way of the Cross, Paul found the zeal of his faith and kindled the light of love. We have seen how St Augustine found his way: as well as Francis of Assisi, St Vincent de Paul, St Maximilian Kolbe and Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
So it is that we too are invited to find our place, to discover with these great, courageous saints, the way with Jesus and for Jesus: the way of goodness and truth; the courage of love.
We have understood that the "Way of the Cross" is not simply a collection of the obscure and sad things of the world. Nor is it a form of moralism, ineffective in the end. It is not a cry of protest that changes nothing.
The Way of the Cross is the way of mercy, the way of mercy that puts a limit on evil: this is what we learned from Pope John Paul II. It is the way of mercy, hence, the way of salvation.
Thus, we are invited to take the way of mercy and with Jesus, put a limit on evil.
Let us pray to the Lord to help us be "infected" by his mercy.
Let us pray to the Holy Mother of Jesus, the Mother of Mercy, that we too can be men and women of mercy, and thereby contribute to the world's salvation, to the salvation of creatures: to be men and women of God.
Amen!
ON OCCASION OF THE 2759th ANNIVERSARY OF THE "BIRTH OF ROME"
'Auditorium-Parco della Musica'
Friday, 21 April 2006
Mr President of the Republic and Distinguished Authorities,
Mr Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I accepted with great joy the invitation to come to this concert in the new Auditorium and I feel duty bound to address warm thanks to Mr Mayor, who promoted the initiative. As I offer him my cordial greetings, I also express sincere gratitude to him for the respectful words he has addressed to me on behalf of all those present. My cordial greetings then go to the President of the Italian Republic, who has honoured me by his presence, together with the other Authorities who are gathered here.
Lastly, I address special thanks to Prof. Bruno Cagli, Director of the National Academy of St Cecilia, to the orchestra and choir conducted by Maestro Vladimir Jurowski, and to Laura Aikin, the soprano, who have performed famous passages and arias by that musical genius, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
I very gladly accepted the invitation to be present at this evening's performance. Various reasons have combined to make it a solemn but at the same time a family celebration.
On this very day the Birth of Rome is celebrated in memory of the traditional anniversary of the City's foundation, a historical event which, thinking back to the origins of the City, becomes a favourable opportunity for a better understanding of Rome's vocation to be the beacon of civilization and spirituality for the entire world.
Thanks to the convergence of its traditions with Christianity, Rome has fulfilled a special mission down the centuries and still today continues to be an important reference point for the many visitors who are attracted by its rich artistic heritage, closely associated with the City's Christian history.
The concert this evening is also intended to commemorate the first anniversary of my Pontificate. One year ago, after the death of the beloved and unforgettable John Paul II, the Catholic community of Rome was entrusted by divine Providence, surprisingly I must say, to my pastoral care.
At my first Meeting with the faithful gathered in St Peter's Square on the evening of 19 April last year, I personally experienced how generous, open and welcoming the Roman People are. Other occasions have subsequently brought me further encounters with this special human and spiritual warmth.
How can I fail to recall, for example, the embrace with so many people that is renewed every Sunday at the traditional Midday Meeting for Prayer? I also take this opportunity to express my gratitude for the warmth by which I am surrounded and which I gladly reciprocate.
This evening I want to address a heartfelt "thank you" to the community of the City which has desired to combine the commemoration of Rome's Birthday with the anniversary of my election as Bishop of Rome. Thank you for this gesture, which I deeply appreciate.
Thank you too for selecting a musical programme taken from the works of Mozart, a great composer who left an indelible mark on history. This year is the 250th anniversary of his birth, and various initiatives have accordingly been planned throughout 2006, which has also rightly been named the "Mozartian year".
The compositions performed by the orchestra and choir of the National Academy of St Cecilia are marvellous passages by Mozart which are very famous, including some of remarkable religious inspiration. The Ave Verum, for example, which is often sung at liturgical celebrations, is a motet with deeply theological words and a musical accompaniment that moves the heart and invites us to prayer.
Thus, by raising the soul to contemplation, music also helps us grasp the most intimate nuances of human genius, in which is reflected something of the incomparable beauty of the Creator of the universe.
I once again thank those who in various capacities have made possible today's event of high artistic value, in particular the performers and musicians and those who work in this Auditorium. I assure each one of my remembrance in prayer, strengthened by a special Blessing which I now gladly impart to you all, extending it to the whole of the beloved City of Rome.
Vatican Basilica
Saturday, 22 April 2006
Dear Fathers and Brothers of the Society of Jesus,
I meet you with great joy in this historical Basilica of St Peter's after the Holy Mass celebrated for you by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, my Secretary of State, on the occasion of combined jubilees of the Ignatian Family. I address my cordial greeting to you all.
I greet in the first place the Superior General, Fr Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, and thank him for his courteous words expressing your common sentiments to me. I greet the Cardinals with the Bishops and priests and all those who have desired to participate in this event.
Together with the Fathers and Brothers, I also greet the friends of the Society of Jesus present here, and among them, the many men and women religious, members of the Communities of Christian Life and of the Apostolate of Prayer, the students and alumnae with their families from Rome, from Italy and from Stonyhurst in England, the teachers and students of the academic institutions and the many collaborators.
Your visit today gives me the opportunity to thank the Lord with you for having granted your Society the gift of men of extraordinary holiness and exceptional apostolic zeal, such as St Ignatius of Loyola, St Francis Xavier and Bl. Peter Faber. For you they are the Fathers and Founders: it is therefore appropriate that in this centenary year you commemorate them with gratitude and look to them as enlightened and reliable guides on your spiritual journey and in your apostolic activities.
St Ignatius of Loyola was first and foremost a man of God who in his life put God, his greatest glory and his greatest service, first. He was a profoundly prayerful man for whom the daily celebration of the Eucharist was the heart and crowning point of his day.
Thus, he left his followers a precious spiritual legacy that must not be lost or forgotten. Precisely because he was a man of God, St Ignatius was a faithful servant of the Church, in which he saw and venerated the Bride of the Lord and the Mother of Christians. And the special vow of obedience to the Pope, which he himself describes as "our first and principal foundation" (MI, Series III, 1P 162), was born from his desire to serve the Church in the most beneficial way possible.
This ecclesial characteristic, so specific to the Society of Jesus, lives on in you and in your apostolic activities, dear Jesuits, so that you may faithfully meet the urgent needs of the Church today.
Among these, it is important in my opinion to point out your cultural commitment in the areas of theology and philosophy in which the Society of Jesus has traditionally been present, as well as the dialogue with modern culture, which, if it boasts on the one hand of the marvellous progress in the scientific field, remains heavily marked by positivist and materialist scientism.
Naturally, the effort to promote a culture inspired by Gospel values in cordial collaboration with the other ecclesial realities demands an intense spiritual and cultural training. For this very reason, St Ignatius wanted young Jesuits to be formed for many years in spiritual life and in study. It is good that this tradition be maintained and reinforced, also given the growing complexity and vastness of modern culture.
Another of his great concerns was the Christian education and cultural formation of young people: hence, the impetus he gave to the foundation of "colleges", which after his death spread in Europe and throughout the world. Continue, dear Jesuits, this important apostolate, keeping the spirit of your Founder unchanged.
In speaking of St Ignatius, I cannot overlook the fact that the fifth centenary of St Francis Xavier's birth was celebrated last 7 April. Not only is their history interwoven through long years in Paris and Rome, but a single aspiration - one might say, a single passion - stirred and sustained them, even in their different human situations: the passion for working for the ever greater glory of God-the-Trinity and for the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ to the peoples who did not know him.
St Francis Xavier, whom my Predecessor Pius XI, of venerable memory, proclaimed the "Patron of Catholic Missions", saw as his own mission "opening new ways of access" to the Gospel "in the immense Continent of Asia". His apostolate in the Orient lasted barely 10 years, but in the four and half centuries that the Society of Jesus has existed it has proven wonderfully fruitful, for his example inspired a multitude of missionary vocations among young Jesuits and he remains a reference point for the continuation of missionary activity in the great countries of the Asian Continent.
If St Francis Xavier worked in the countries of the Orient, his confrere and friend since the years in Paris, Bl. Peter Faber, a Savoiard who was born on 13 April 1506, worked in the European countries where the Christian faithful aspired to a true reform of the Church.
He was a modest, sensitive man with a profound inner life. He was endowed with the gift of making friends with people from every walk of life and consequently attracted many young men to the Society.
Bl. Faber spent his short life in various European countries, especially Germany, where, at the order of Paul III, he took part in the Diets of Worms, Ratisbon and Speyer and in conversations with the leaders of the Reformation. He consequently had an exceptional opportunity to practise the special vow of obedience to the Pope "regarding the missions" and became a model to follow for all future Jesuits.
Dear Fathers and Brothers of the Society, today you look with special devotion at the Blessed Virgin Mary, remembering that on 22 April 1541, St Ignatius and his first companions made their solemn vows before the image of Mary in the Basilica of St Paul Outside-the-Walls.
May Mary continue to watch over the Society of Jesus so that every member may carry in his person the "image" of the Crucified Christ, in order to share in his Resurrection. I assure you of my remembrance in prayer for this, as I willingly impart my Blessing to each of you present here and to your entire spiritual family, which I also extend to all the other Religious and consecrated persons who are present at this Audience.
Monday 24 April 2006
Dear Brother Bishops,
In these days of joyful celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, I welcome you, the Bishops of Ghana, on the occasion of your pilgrimage to Rome for your visit ad Limina Apostolorum. Through you I offer my warm affection to the priests, Religious and lay faithful of your Dioceses. In a special way, I thank Bishop Lucas Abadamloora for the kind words of greeting he offered me on your behalf. I wish to recognize in particular Ghana's native son, Cardinal Peter Poreku Dery, who recently joined the ranks of the College of Cardinals, and I also take this opportunity to greet Cardinal Peter Turkson, Archbishop of Cape Coast. You have all come to Rome, this city where the Apostles Peter and Paul gave of themselves completely in imitation of Christ: Peter just a short distance from where we are today and Paul along the Ostian way. As good and faithful servants of the Gospel, it is my constant prayer that, like the Princes of the Apostles, "God may make you worthy of his call, and may fulfil every good resolve and work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in him" (2Th 1,11-12).
Your country has made great strides in recent years to deal with the scourge of poverty and to strengthen the economy. Notwithstanding this laudable progress, much still remains to be done to overcome this condition which impedes a large portion of the population. Extreme and widespread poverty often results in a general moral decline leading to crime, corruption, attacks on the sanctity of human life or even a return to the superstitious practices of the past. In this situation, people can easily lose trust in the future. The Church, however, shines forth as a beacon of hope in the life of the Christian. One of the most effective ways in which she does this is by helping the faithful gain a better understanding of the promises of Jesus Christ. Accordingly, there is a particular and pressing need for the Church, as a beacon of hope, to intensify her efforts to provide Catholics with comprehensive programmes of formation which will help them to deepen their Christian faith and thus enable them to take their rightful place both in the Church of Christ and in society.
An essential part of any adequate formation process is the role of the lay catechist. It is appropriate, therefore, that I offer a word of gratitude to the many committed men and women who selflessly serve your local Church in this way. As Pope John Paul II noted in his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa: "in the midst of the Christian community the catechists' responsibility is to be acknowledged and held in respect" (cf. 91). I know that these faithful men and women are often impeded in their task by a lack of resources or hostile environments, and yet they remain undaunted messengers of Christ's joy. Mindful of how grateful local Churches are for the assistance offered by catechists, I encourage you and your priests to continue to do all you can to ensure that these evangelists receive the spiritual, doctrinal, moral and material support they require to carry out their mission properly.
In many countries, including your own, young people constitute almost half of the population. The Church in Ghana is young. In order to reach out to today's youth it is necessary that the Church address their problems in a frank and loving way. A solid catechetical foundation will strengthen them in their Catholic identity and give them the necessary tools to confront the challenges of changing economic realities, globalization and disease. It will also assist them in responding to the arguments often put forward by religious sects. Consequently, it is important that future pastoral planning at both national and local levels carefully takes into account the needs of the young and tailors youth programmes to address these needs appropriately (cf. Christifideles Laici CL 46).
It is also the Church's task to assist Christian families to live faithfully and generously as true "domestic churches" (cf. Lumen Gentium LG 11). In fact, sound catechesis relies on the support of strong Christian families which are never selfish in character, constantly directed toward the other and founded upon the Sacrament of Matrimony. In reviewing your Quinquennial Reports, I noted that many of you are concerned about the proper celebration of Christian marriage in Ghana. I share your concern and therefore invite the faithful to place the Sacrament of Matrimony at the centre of their family life. While Christianity always seeks to respect the venerable traditions of cultures and peoples, it also seeks to purify those practices which are contrary to the Gospel. For this reason it is essential that the entire Catholic community continue to stress the importance of the monogamous and indissoluble union of man and woman, consecrated in holy matrimony. For the Christian, traditional forms of marriage can never be a substitute for sacramental marriage.
The gift of self to the other is also at the heart of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Those who receive this sacrament are configured in a particular way to Christ the Head of the Church. They are therefore called to give of themselves completely for the sake of their brothers and sisters. This can only happen when God's will is no longer seen as something imposed from without, but becomes "my own will based on the realization that God is in fact more deeply present to me than I am to myself" (cf. Deus Caritas Est 17). The priesthood must never be seen as a way of improving one's social standing or standard of living. If it is, then priestly gift of self and docility to God's designs will give way to personal desires, rendering the priest ineffective and unfulfilled. I therefore encourage you in your continuous endeavours to ensure the suitability of candidates for the priesthood and to guarantee proper priestly formation for those who are studying for the sacred ministry. We must strive to help them discern Christ's will and nurture this gift so that they may become effective and fulfilled ministers of his joy.
My dear Brothers, I am aware that this year is a special Jubilee for the Church in Ghana. In fact, just yesterday, April 23rd, was the Hundredth Anniversary of the arrival of missionaries in the northern part of your Country. It is my special prayer that missionary zeal will continue to fill you and your beloved people, strengthening you in your efforts to spread the Gospel. As you return to your homes, I ask that you take consolation from the words the Apostle Peter offered to the early Christians: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1P 1,3). Commending your ministry to Mary, Queen of the Apostles, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing to you and to all those entrusted to your pastoral care.
Hall of Popes
Thursday, 27 April 2006
Your Eminence,
Dear Members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission,
It gives me great joy to meet you at the end of your Annual Plenary Meeting. I remember each one of you with affection since I became personally acquainted with you during my years as President of this Commission. I would like to share with you my gratitude and appreciation of the important work you are doing at the service of the Church and for the good of souls, in harmony with the Successor of Peter.
I thank Cardinal William Joseph Levada for his greeting and for his summary of the topic that has been the object of your attentive reflection during the meeting.
You have gathered once again to examine a very important subject: The relationship between the Bible and morals. This topic not only concerns the believer but every person as such. And it concerns us, particularly at a time of cultural and moral crisis. Indeed, man's first impulse is his desire for happiness and for fulfilment in life. Today, however, many people think that this should be achieved absolutely autonomously, without any reference to God or to his law.
Some have reached the point of theorizing on the absolute sovereignty of reason and freedom in the context of moral norms: they presume that these norms constitute the context of a purely "human" ethic, in other words, the expression of a law that man makes for himself by himself. The advocates of this "secular morality" say that man as a rational being not only can but must decide freely on the value of his behaviour.
This erroneous conviction is based on the presumed conflict between human freedom and every form of law. In fact, the Creator, because we are creatures, has inscribed his "natural law", a reflection of his creative idea, in our hearts, in our very being, as a compass and inner guide for our life.
For this very reason, Sacred Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church tell us that the vocation and complete fulfilment of the human being are not attained by rejecting God's law, but by abiding by the new law that consists in the grace of the Holy Spirit. Together with the Word of God and the teaching of the Church, it is expressed in "faith working through love" (Ga 5,6).
And it is precisely in this acceptance of the love that comes from God (Deus caritas ), that the freedom of man finds its loftiest realization. There is no contradiction between God's law and human freedom: God's law correctly interpreted neither attenuates nor, even less, eliminates man's freedom. On the contrary, it guarantees and fosters this freedom because, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us, "freedom... attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude" (n. 1731).
The moral law established by God in creation and confirmed in the Old Testament revelation reaches fulfilment and greatness in Christ. Jesus Christ is the way of perfection, the living and personal synthesis of perfect freedom in total obedience to God's will. The original function of the Decalogue is not abolished by the encounter with Christ but is led to this fullness.
An ethic that in listening to revelation also seeks to be authentically rational, finds its perfection in the encounter with Christ, who gives us the new Covenant.
A model of this authentic moral action is the behaviour of the Incarnate Word himself. He makes his will coincide with the will of God the Father in the acceptance and carrying out of his mission: his food is to do the Father's will (cf. Jn Jn 4,34). He always does the things that are pleasing to the Father, putting his words into practice (cf. Jn Jn 8,29-55); he says the things that the Father asked him to say and to proclaim (cf. Jn Jn 12,49).
In revealing the Father and his way of acting, Jesus at the same time reveals the norms of upright human action. He affirms this connection in an explicit and exemplary way when, in concluding his teaching on loving one's enemies (cf. Mt Mt 5,43-47), he says: "You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Mt 5,48).
This divine, divine-human, perfection becomes possible for us if we are closely united with Christ, our Saviour.
The path marked out by Jesus with his teaching is not an externally imposed regulation. Jesus himself took this path and asks no more of us than to follow him. Moreover, he does not limit himself to asking: first of all, through Baptism, he allows us to participate in his own life, thereby enabling us to understand his teaching and put it into practice.
This appears with increasing evidence in the New Testament writings. His relationship with the disciples was vital, not an external teaching. He called them "little children" (Jn 13,33 Jn 21,5), "friends" (Jn 15,14-15), "brothers", "brethren" (Mt 12,50 Mt 28,10 Jn 20,17), and invited them to enter into communion of life with him and to accept in faith and joy his "easy" yoke and his "light" burden (cf. Mt Mt 11,28-30).
In the quest for a Christologically inspired ethic, it is therefore necessary always to bear in mind that Christ is the Incarnate Logos who enables us to share in his divine life and sustains us with his grace on the journey towards our true fulfilment.
What man really is, appears definitively in the Logos made man; faith in Christ gives us the fulfilment of anthropology. Consequently, the relationship with Christ defines the loftiest realization of man's moral action. This human action is directly based on obedience to God's law, on union with Christ and on the indwelling of the Spirit in the believer's soul. It is not an action dictated by merely exterior norms, but stems from the vital relationship that connects believers to Christ and to God.
While I hope that the continuation of your reflection will be fruitful, I invoke upon you and your work the light of the Holy Spirit, and as confirmation of my trust and affection I impart the Apostolic Blessing to you all.
May 2006
Monday, 1 May 2006
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
It is a comfort to be with you today to recite the Holy Rosary at this Shrine of Our Lady of Divine Love, where the faithful express the devout affection for the Virgin Mary that is rooted in the soul and history of the Roman people.
Special joy springs from the thought of thus renewing the experience of my beloved Predecessor John Paul II, who, on the first day of the month of May in 1979, exactly 27 years ago, made his first Visit to this Shrine as Pontiff.
I greet with affection the Rector, Mons. Pasquale Silla, and thank him for his cordial address. With him, I greet the other Priests Oblates Sons of Our Lady of Divine Love and the Sisters Daughters of Our Lady of Divine Love who are joyfully and generously devoted to serving in the Shrine and the whole range of its different good works. I greet the Vicar, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, and the Auxiliary Bishop of the Southern Sector of Rome, Bishop Paolo Schiavon, and all of you, dear brothers and sisters, who are here in large numbers.
We have recited the Holy Rosary going through the five "Joyful" Mysteries, which portray to the eyes of the heart the beginnings of our salvation, from Jesus' conception in the Virgin Mary's womb, brought about by the Holy Spirit, until he was found in the temple of Jerusalem when he was 12 years old, listening to the teachers and asking them questions.
We have repeated and made our own the Angel's words: "Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you!", and also the words with which St Elizabeth welcomed the Virgin who went with haste to help and serve her: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!".
We have contemplated the docile faith of Mary, who trusted in God without reserve and put herself entirely in his hands. Like the shepherds, we too have felt close to the Child Jesus lying in the manger and recognized and adored him as the eternal Son of God who, through love, became our brother, hence, our one Saviour.
We too entered the temple with Mary and Joseph, to offer the Child to God and to carry out the rite of purification: and here, together with salvation, we felt ourselves anticipating, in the words of the elderly Simeon, the contradictory sign of the Cross, and of the sword that beneath the Cross of the Son was to pierce the Mother's soul, thereby making her not only the Mother of God but also Mother of us all.
Dear brothers and sisters, in this Shrine we venerate Mary Most Holy with the title "Our Lady of Divine Love".
Thus, full light is shed on the bond that united Mary with the Holy Spirit from the very beginning of her existence when, as she was being conceived, the Spirit, the eternal Love of the Father and of the Son, made their dwelling within her and preserved her from any shadow of sin; then again, when the same Spirit brought the Son of God into being in her womb; and yet again when, with the grace of the Spirit, Mary's own words were fulfilled through the whole span of her life: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord"; and lastly, when, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary was taken up physically to be beside the Son in the glory of God the Father.
"Mary", I wrote in the Encyclical Deus Caritas Est, "is a woman who loves.... As a believer who in faith thinks with God's thoughts and wills with God's will, she cannot fail to be a woman who loves" (n. 41). Yes, dear brothers and sisters, Mary is the fruit and sign of the love God has for us, of his tenderness and mercy. Therefore, together with our brothers in the faith of all times and all places, we turn to her in our needs and hopes, in the joyful and sorrowful events of life. My thoughts go at this moment, with deep sympathy, to the family in the Island of Ischia, hit by yesterday's disaster.
In the month of May an increasing number of people come here as pilgrims from the parishes of Rome and also from many other districts, to pray and to enjoy the beauty and restful tranquillity of these places. From here, from this Shrine of Divine Love, we therefore expect powerful help and spiritual support for the Diocese of Rome, for myself, its Bishop, and for the other Bishops my collaborators, for the priests, for families, for vocations, for the poor, the suffering and the sick, for the children and for the elderly, for the entire beloved Italian Nation. We are expecting in particular the inner energy to fulfil the vow made by the Roman People on 4 June 1944, when they solemnly asked Our Lady of Divine Love that this City be preserved from the horrors of war, and they were heard: the vow and the promise, that is, to correct and improve one's own moral conduct to bring it more into line with that of the Lord Jesus. Today too, there is a need to convert to God, to God who is Love, so that the world may be freed from war and terrorism. We are unfortunately reminded of this by the victims, such as the service men who fell last Thursday in Nassiriya in Iraq, whom we entrust to the motherly intercession of Mary, Queen of Peace.
Dear brothers and sisters, from this Shrine of Our Lady of Divine Love, I therefore renew the invitation I expressed in the Encyclical Deus Caritas Est: "To practise love and in this way to cause the light of God to enter into the world" (n. 39). Amen!
Saint Peter's Square
Thursday, 4 May 2006
I am pleased to offer my cordial greetings to you all, dear friends, former Swiss Guards and participants in the special "march" organized on the occasion of the 500th Anniversary of the descent on Rome of the first 150 "Gwardiknechte".
Following the same route taken 500 years ago, passing through Milan, Fidenza, Lucca, Siena and Acquapendente, you have reached Rome and here you are now in St Peter's Square, so well-known to you. Here to welcome you and offer you his greeting is the Successor of Pope Julius II, whose name is inseparably linked to the praiseworthy Pontifical Swiss Guard Corps.
Dear former Swiss Guards, with this important event that started in Bellinzona on 7 April and ends here in Rome today, you have wished to honour your predecessors, and at the same time you have been able to thank the Lord for having been personally a member of the Swiss Guard Corps, thus strengthening your bond with this "family" also at the end of your service.
You wanted to undertake this long journey as a "pilgrimage", following the famous "Via Francigena", a way travelled by pilgrims in the Middle Ages, on the route from France to Rome.
During the days of your journey, on which you have covered approximately 720 km., you were able to cross through many villages and towns and tell the people your story, and thus make them acquainted with the spirit that enlivens the Swiss Guard Corps.
In a certain way you have been able to share the sentiments of the first 150 Swiss Guards who, on 21 January 1506, upon reaching the Eternal City, dressed immediately in the yellow- and red-striped uniform, the colours of the Della Rovere family.
The following day, they left off from the Porta del Popolo and crossed the Campo de' Fiori, arriving at the Vatican Hill. It was 22 January 1506, the day on which the Pontifical Swiss Guard was created.
Dear friends, I rejoice with you in this beautiful initiative that commemorates the courage of the 150 Swiss citizens who with great generosity defended the Sovereign Pontiff unto death, writing with their sacrifice an important page in the history of the Church.
Looking back at these last five centuries, let us give thanks to God for the good done by your predecessors and for the valuable contribution that the Pontifical Swiss Guard still continues to offer to the Holy See today.
As we entrust those who died to Divine Mercy, let us invoke upon the members who make up your large and worthy Former Swiss Guards' Association the constant protection of the Lord.
May he continue to guide your steps and support with his grace all your actions, and may he enliven with his spirit the many initiatives that you took to perpetuate and accomplish your own special experience in the Eternal City, at the service of the Apostolic See! ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Clementine Hall
Friday, 5 May 2006
Dear Friends in Christ,
In this joyful season as we offer thanks and praise to God for Christ’s victory over sin and death, I am pleased to greet you, the members of the Papal Foundation, on your annual pilgrimage to Rome. "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (Ph 1,2).
Our Easter faith gives us hope that the risen Lord will truly transform the world. In his Resurrection we recognize the fulfilment of God’s promise to the exiled people of Israel: "I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you home into the land of Israel" (Ez 37,12). Truly, the risen Christ gives renewed hope and strength to many in our world today who suffer injustice or deprivation and who long to be able to live with the freedom and dignity of the children of God.
Christ promised to send the Holy Spirit to enkindle the hearts of believers, moving them to love their brothers and sisters as Christ loved them, and to witness through their charitable activity to the Father’s love for all humanity (cf. Deus Caritas Est 19). The fruit of that gift of the Spirit can be clearly seen in the assistance that the Papal Foundation gives in Christ’s name to developing countries, in the form of aid projects, grants and scholarships. I am most grateful for your support and for the help you give me in carrying out my mission to care for Christ’s flock in every corner of the world.
I assure you that your love of the Church and your dedication to the practice of Christian charity is deeply appreciated. As we prepare to celebrate the great outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost, I encourage you to continue in your generous commitment, so that the flame of divine love may continue burning brightly in the hearts of believers everywhere. Commending you to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing to you and to your families as a pledge of joy and peace in the Risen Savior.
Monday, 8 May 2006
Your Eminence,
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Presbyterate,
Dear National Directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies,
I address my warm greeting to each one of you, with a special thought for Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe - I am grateful for his words on your behalf - and for Mons. Henryk Hoser, President of The Pontifical Mission Societies. Welcome to this meeting, which is taking place on the occasion of the Annual Ordinary General Assembly of your Superior Council.
Your presence witnesses to the Church's missionary commitment on the various continents, and the "Papal" character that marks your Association emphasizes the special ties that bind you to the See of Peter. I know that after an intense effort of "updating", you have completed the draft of your new Statutes and obtained their approval. I hope that they will contribute to offering broader prospects to the task of missionary animation and assistance to the Church in which you are involved.
At your General Assembly you intend to reflect on the missionary mandate that Jesus entrusted to his disciples. This urgent pastoral need is felt by all the local Churches, mindful of the words of the Second Vatican Council, that missionary commitment is essential to the Christian community.
By placing themselves at the service of evangelization, the Pontifical Mission Societies, since their establishment in the 19th century, have pointed out that missionary action consists ultimately in communicating God's love to the brothers and sisters as it is revealed in the plan of salvation.
Knowing and accepting this saving Love is indeed fundamental for our lives - I wrote in the Encyclical Deus Caritas Est - and gives rise to crucial questions about who God is and who we are (cf. n. 2).
Through interventions of effective and generous charity, the Societies of the Propagation of the Faith, of St Peter the Apostle and of the Holy Childhood have spread the proclamation of the Good News and helped to found and to consolidate the Churches in new territories.
The Missionary Union for the Clergy has encouraged the clergy and Religious to pay increased attention to evangelization.
All this has inspired in the Christian people a reawakening of faith and love, combined with great missionary enthusiasm.
Dear friends of the Pontifical Mission Societies, thanks also to the missionary animation you carry out in parishes and Dioceses, prayers and material support for the missions are today regarded as an integral part of every Christian's life.
Just as the early Church sent the "aid" collected in Macedonia and Achaia to Jerusalem for the Christians of that Church (cf. Rom Rm 15,25-27), so today a responsible spirit of sharing and communion involves the faithful of every community in supporting the needs of the mission lands.
Your Statutes, highlighting that the mission, God's work in history, is not a mere instrument but an event that puts everyone at the disposal of the Gospel and of the Spirit (cf. art. 1), encourage you to work to enable Christians to grow in the knowledge that missionary commitment involves them in the spiritual dynamic of Baptism, gathering them together in communion around Christ to participate in his mission (cf. ibid.).
This intense missionary dynamic that involves Ecclesial Communities and individual members of the faithful has developed in recent years into a promising missionary cooperation.
You are important witnesses of it, because everywhere you help to nourish that universal missionary spirit which was the badge of your birth as Mission Societies and has been the strength of your development.
Continue to carry out this precious service to the Ecclesial Communities, encouraging their reciprocal cooperation. Harmony of intentions and the hoped-for unity of evangelizing action grow to the extent that the reference of every activity is God who is Love and the pierced Heart of Christ in which this love is supremely expressed (cf. Deus Caritas Est 12).
In this way, dear friends, none of your actions will ever be reduced to mere organizational efficiency or linked to individual interests of any kind, but will always be revealed as a manifestation of divine Love.
Moreover, the fact that you come from different Dioceses makes it even clearer that the Pontifical Mission Societies, "Although they are the Societies of the Pope... belong to all the Bishops and to the entire People of God" (Cooperatio Missionalis, n. 4).
Dear National Directors, I address my thanks to you especially, for all you do to meet the needs of evangelization. May your commitment be an incentive to all who benefit from your aid to accept the invaluable gift of salvation and to open their hearts to Christ, the one Redeemer.
With these sentiments, as I invoke the motherly assistance of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, I impart a special Apostolic Blessing to you who are present here and to the particular Churches you represent.
Clementine Hall
Thursday, 11 May 2006
Dear Brothers in the Episcopate,
I am pleased to welcome you, Pastors of the Church in the ecclesiastical region of Quebec who have come to make your ad limina visit and to share your worries and hopes with the Successor of Peter and his collaborators.
Our meeting is an expression of the deep communion that unites each one of your Dioceses with the See of Peter. I thank Bishop Gilles Cazabon, President of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Quebec, for presenting the sometimes difficult context in which you carry out your pastoral ministry. Through you, I would also like to greet warmly the members of your Dioceses, the priests, deacons, men and women religious and lay people, with appreciation for the part that many play in the life of the Church. May God bless the generous efforts made to proclaim to all the Good News of the Risen Lord!
With the three other groups of Bishops from your Country, I will have the occasion to continue my Reflection on important topics for the Church's mission in Canadian society, marked by pluralism, subjectivism and increasing secularism.
In 2008, when Quebec will be celebrating its fourth centenary, your region will host the International Eucharistic Congress. I would also like first of all to invite your Dioceses to a renewal of the meaning and practice of the Eucharist, through a rediscovery of the essential place that "the Eucharist, the gift of God for the life of the world" must have in the life of the Church. In fact, in your quinquennial reports, you have stressed the notable decline in religious practice in recent years, noting in particular that few young people go to Eucharistic gatherings. The faithful must be convinced that it is vital to take part regularly in Sunday Mass if their faith is to increase and be expressed coherently.
Indeed, the Eucharist, source and summit of Christian life, unites us and conforms us to the Son of God. It also builds the Church and strengthens her unity as the Body of Christ; no Christian community can be established if it is not founded and centred in the Eucharistic celebration.
In spite of the ever greater difficulties that you are experiencing, it is the duty of Pastors to offer to all the effective possibility of fulfilling the Sunday precept and to invite them to participate. Gathered in church to celebrate the Pasch of the Lord, the faithful draw from this Sacrament light and strength in order to live their baptismal vocation to the full.
Furthermore, the meaning of the Sacrament does not end with the celebration. In "receiving the Bread of Life, the disciples of Christ ready themselves to undertake with the strength of the Risen Lord and his Spirit the tasks which await them in their ordinary life" (Dies Domini, n. 45). Having lived and proclaimed the presence of the Risen One, the faithful will have at heart to be evangelizers and witnesses in their daily life.
However, the decline in the number of priests, which sometimes makes the celebration of Sunday Mass impossible in certain places, disconcertingly calls into question the place of sacramentality in the life of the Church. The needs of pastoral organization must not compromise the authenticity of the ecclesiology that is expressed in it. The central role of the priest, who teaches, sanctifies and governs the community in persona Christi capitis, must not be minimized. The ministerial priesthood is indispensable to the existence of an ecclesial community. The importance of the role of lay people, whose generous service to the Christian communities I acknowledge, must never overshadow the ministry of priests, which is absolutely indispensable to the life of the Church. Thus, the ministry of the priest cannot be entrusted to others without damaging the authenticity of the very existence of the Church. Furthermore, how can young men desire to become priests if the role of the ordained ministry is not clearly defined and recognized?
Nonetheless, it is always necessary to point out as a real sign of hope the thirst for renewal that is making itself felt among the faithful. The World Youth Day events in Toronto have had a positive impact on many young Canadians. The celebration of the Year of the Eucharist has made a spiritual awakening possible, especially through the development of Eucharistic Adoration. The worship of the Eucharist outside of the Mass but strictly linked to the celebration, is also of great value for the life of the Church, for it aspires to sacramental and spiritual communion. As John Paul II wrote, "If in our time Christians must be distinguished above all by the "art of prayer', how can we not feel a renewed need to spend time in spiritual converse, in silent adoration, in heartfelt love before Christ present in the Most Holy Sacrament?" (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, n. 25). From this experience we cannot but receive strength, comfort and support.
The life of prayer and contemplation founded on the Eucharistic mystery is also at the heart of the vocation of consecrated people who have chosen the path of the sequela Christi, to give themselves to the Lord with an undivided heart in an ever more intimate relationship with him. By their unconditional attachment to Christ and to his Church, they have the special mission to reminding everyone of the universal vocation to holiness.
Dear Brothers in the Episcopate, the Church is grateful to the Institutes of Consecrated Life of your Country for the apostolic and spiritual commitment of their members. This commitment is expressed in many ways but especially through contemplative life, which causes a ceaseless prayer of praise and intercession to rise to God, and also in the generous service of the catechetical and charitable activities of your Dioceses and closeness to the most underprivileged members of society, thus manifesting the Lord's bounty to the humble and the poor. It is through this daily commitment that the search for holiness, which consecrated people wish to live, matures, particularly through a way of life different from that of the world and the surrounding culture.
However, through these commitments it is of paramount importance that while having an intense spiritual life, consecrated men and women proclaim that God alone can give fullness to human existence.
To help consecrated people live their specific vocation in authentic fidelity to the Church and to her Magisterium, I therefore ask you to pay special attention to strengthening relations of trust with them and with their Institutes. Consecrated life is a gift of God for the benefit of the entire Church and for the service of life in the world. It is therefore necessary that it develop in solid ecclesial communion.
The challenges that confront the consecrated life can only be faced by showing profound unity among its members and with the whole of the Church and her Pastors. I therefore invite consecrated people, men and women, to increase their sense of Church and their concern to work ever more closely with the Pastors, accepting and spreading the Church's teaching in its integrity and completeness.
Ecclesial communion, which is based on the person of Jesus Christ himself, also demands fidelity to the Church's teaching, especially through a correct interpretation of the Second Vatican Council: in other words, as I have said before, in "the "hermeneutic of reform', of renewal in the continuity of the one subject-Church which the Lord has given to us" (Christmas Address to the Roman Curia, 22 December 2005; L'Osservatore Romano English edition, 4 January 2006, p. 5). Indeed, if we read and receive the Council in this way, "It can be and can become increasingly powerful for the ever necessary renewal of the Church" (ibid., p. 6).
The renewal of priestly and Religious vocations must also be a permanent concern for the Church in your Country. True pastoral care for vocations will draw strength from the lives of men and women who witness to passionate love for God and for their brethren, in faithfulness to Christ and the Church. And one cannot overlook the essential place of confident prayer in order to create a new sensitivity in the Christian people that will enable the young to respond to the Lord's call. A primordial duty for you and for the entire Christian community is to fearlessly transmit the Lord's call, inspire vocations and accompany young people on the path of discernment and commitment in the joy of giving themselves in celibacy. In this spirit, it is your task to be attentive to the catechesis provided for children and young people, to enable them to know the truth of the Christian mystery and to have access to Christ.
On this topic I therefore invite the entire Catholic community of Quebec to renew its adherence to the truth of the Church's teaching with regard to theology and morals, two inseparable aspects of being Christians in the world. The faithful cannot subscribe to the ideologies that are spreading in society today without losing their own identity.
Dear Brothers in the Episcopate, at the end of our meeting I would like to encourage you warmly in your ministry at the service of the Church in Canada. May the Risen Christ give you joy and peace as you lead the faithful on the paths of hope, so that they may be authentic Gospel witnesses in Canadian society. I wholeheartedly impart the Apostolic Blessing to you all.
Hall of Blessings
Thursday, 11 May 2006
Your Eminences,
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I meet you today with great joy on this 25th anniversary of the foundation of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at the Pontifical Lateran University. I greet you all with affection and I thank you for the great affection that I have encountered. I warmly thank Mons. Livio Melina for his kind words and also for his briefness. We will be able to read what he wished to say, while more time will be left for friendly exchanges.
The beginning of your Institute is connected with a singular event: on that day, 13 May 1981, my beloved Predecessor John Paul II suffered the well-known serious attack on his life during the Audience at which he was to have announced the creation of your Institute.
This event has special importance at this commemoration, which we are celebrating a little more than a year after his death. You have wished to emphasize it with the fitting initiative of a Congress on The legacy of John Paul II on marriage and family: loving human love.
You rightly feel that this legacy of yours is very special, since the vision that is one of the structural centres of his mission and reflections was addressed to you and you are its perpetuators: God's plan for marriage and the family.
This bequest is not merely a collection of doctrines or ideas but first and foremost a teaching endowed with enlightening unity on the meaning of human love and life. The presence of numerous families at this Audience - therefore not only the students of the present and the past but above all the students of the future - is a particularly eloquent testimony of how the teaching of this truth has been received and has born fruit.
As a young priest, Karol Wojty³a already had the idea of "teaching how to love". It was later to fill him with enthusiasm when, as a young Bishop, he confronted the difficult times that followed the publication of my Predecessor Paul VI's prophetic and ever timely Encyclical Humanae Vitae.
It was then that he realized the need for a systematic study of this topic. It was the basis of this teaching which he later offered to the entire Church in his unforgettable Catechesis on human love.
Thus, two fundamental elements were highlighted that in recent years you have sought to examine more deeply and that give novelty to your Institute as an academic reality with a specific mission in the Church.
The first element concerns the fact that marriage and the family are rooted in the inmost nucleus of the truth about man and his destiny. Sacred Scripture reveals that the vocation to love is part of the authentic image of God which the Creator has desired to impress upon his creature, calling them to resemble him precisely to the extent in which they are open to love.
Consequently, the sexual difference that distinguishes the male from the female body is not a mere biological factor but has a far deeper significance. It expresses that form of love with which man and woman, by becoming one flesh, as Sacred Scripture says, can achieve an authentic communion of people open to the transmission of life and who thus cooperate with God in the procreation of new human beings.
A second element marks the newness of John Paul II's teaching on human love: his original way of interpreting God's plan precisely in the convergence of divine revelation with the human experience. Indeed, in Christ, fullness of the revelation of the Father's love, is also expressed the full truth of the human vocation to love that can only be found completely in the sincere gift of self.
In my recent Encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, I wanted to emphasize that it is precisely through love that "the Christian image of God and the resulting image of mankind and its destiny" (n. 1) shines forth.
In other words, God used the way of love to reveal the intimate mystery of his Trinitarian life. Furthermore, the close relationship that exists between the image of God-Love and human love enables us to understand that: "Corresponding to the image of a monotheistic God is monogamous marriage. Marriage based on exclusive and definitive love becomes the icon of the relationship between God and his people and vice versa. God's way of loving becomes the measure of human love" (n. 11).
It is here that the duty incumbent on the Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in academic structures overall stands out: to illumine the truth of love as a path to fullness in every form of human life. The great challenge of the new evangelization that John Paul II proposed with such enthusiasm needs to be sustained with a truly profound reflection on human love, since precisely this love is the privileged path that God chose to reveal himself to man and in this love he calls human beings to communion in the Trinitarian life.
This approach enables us also to overcome a private conception of love that is so widespread today. Authentic love is transformed into a light that guides the whole of life towards its fullness, generating a society in which human beings can live. The communion of life and love which is marriage thus emerges as an authentic good for society.
Today, the need to avoid confusing marriage with other types of unions based on weak love is especially urgent. It is only the rock of total, irrevocable love between a man and a woman that can serve as the foundation on which to build a society that will become a home for all mankind.
The importance of the Institute's work in the Church's mission explains its structure: in fact, John Paul II approved a single Institute but with different headquarters located on the five continents, for the purpose of offering a reflection that would display the riches of the one truth in the plurality of cultures.
This unity of vision in research and teaching, embracing the diversity of places and sensibilities, constitutes a value which you must safeguard, developing the riches embedded in each culture. This feature of the Institute has proven to be particularly suited to the study of a reality such as that of the marriage and family. Your work can express how the gift of creation lived in the different cultures was raised to a redeeming grace by Christ's redemption.
To be successful in your mission as the faithful heirs of the Institute's Founder, beloved John Paul II, I ask you to look to Mary Most Holy, Mother of Fair Love. The redeeming love of the Incarnate Word must be transformed into "fountains of living water in the midst of a thirsting world" (Deus Caritas Est, n. 42), for every marriage and in every family.
I offer you all, dear teachers, students of today and yesterday and the staff in charge, as well as all the families who look up to your Institute, my most cordial good wishes, which I accompany with a special Apostolic Blessing.
Friday 12May 2006
Dear Brothers in the Priesthood,
Esteemed members of the Anima College,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The commemoration of the canonical establishment 600 years ago of Santa Maria dell'Anima brings you to the Pope's house today. I therefore offer you a warm welcome here at the Vatican and I greet in particular the Rector and those in charge of this Pontifical Institute.
What began in 1406 with the Bull Piae Postulatio of my Predecessor Innocent VII, has borne abundant fruit down the centuries: the Santa Maria dell'Anima Institute was and is a home for German-speaking Catholics in Rome, for those who visit the Eternal City and especially for the large stable number of German-speaking Christian faithful who live and work here. The name Anima likewise denotes a residential college of priests whose members study at one of the Pontifical Athenaeums for advanced studies located in the city or work in the Roman Curia at the service of the universal Church. I address to you all a cordial "Hello!", together with my thanks for your faithfulness to the Successor of Peter, whom you desire to strengthen with this meeting!
The dell'Anima Institute has been marked from the outset by two distinctive features: veneration for Mary, Mother of God, and its special ties with the Holy See to which it is subordinate. The fact that the Blessed Virgin is venerated with the special title of "Santa Maria dell'Anima", Mother of souls, in your Institute and in your community highlights two aspects: Mary keeps her precious hand on the souls of the numerous pilgrims who walk the path of life and, for Rome, Santa Maria dell'Anima has become an important, and in many cases crucial, stopping place.
At the same time, this title of Mary reminds us of the deceased whom in our language we call "poor souls" and whose memory makes us aware of our mortality and our eternal destination to a life in the infinity of God's light and love. May Mary, our heavenly Mother, keep her protective hand upon the parish life of the Anima community and upon the members of the Collegiate!
Ever since 1859, when my Predecessor, Bl. Pope Pius IX entrusted to the Anima Foundation the management of a college for priests, this Institute has rendered a special liaison service in the Church. The priests and seminarians who live at the Anima are able to understand the greatness and beauty of the universal Church and her catholicity, and find pleasure in the "romanitas Ecclesiae". I hope that the orientation of this German and at the same time Roman Institution will communicate to its residents and its guests special love for the Successors of the Apostle Peter and for the Holy See.
The German-speaking community of Rome finds its homeland in the Church of Santa Maria dell'Anima. This Church offers Catholics from the German-speaking countries the possibility of praying, singing and receiving the sacraments in their own language. I ask the priests and all who are responsible for it always to give priority in the dell'Anima community to sacramental life rather than to any of the other activities; for wherever German-speaking Catholics in Rome seek and find their own spiritual homeland, Jesus Christ, Lord of the Church, will desire to feel at home in their hearts. If the Lord is the centre of your parish life, your community will increasingly become an apostolic and missionary community that shines out in its surroundings and especially among the numerous visitors to this Church.
Dear friends, the commemoration of the 600th anniversary of the canonical establishment of Santa Maria dell'Anima must be a fruitful spiritual jubilee for you. As I thank you for your affection, through the intercession of Mary, the Blessed Virgin and Mother of God, I impart my heartfelt Apostolic Blessing to you all.
Saturday 13 May 2006
Mr Ambassador,
I am pleased to welcome you, Your Excellency, on the occasion of the presentation of the Letters accrediting you as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Bulgaria to the Holy See.
I thank you for your warm good wishes for the first anniversary of my Pontificate and the greetings you have brought to me from H.E. President Georgi Parvanov, and I would be grateful if you would kindly reciprocate by conveying to him my cordial good wishes for him and for the whole of the Bulgar People. In particular, I am praying to the Lord for the population recently tried by the serious floods, that they may soon return to normal life and enjoy the solidarity of the international community.
As you mentioned, Your Excellency, still today the example of the two brothers, Sts Cyril and Methodius, the first evangelizers of your Country, is a model of dialogue between cultures. It was thanks to their apostolic zeal that the Good News of Christ reached the inhabitants of Central and Eastern Europe in their own language, and a new culture, nourished by the Gospel and the Christian Tradition, was born and was able to develop under their guidance through the liturgy, the law and the institutions, until it became the common good of the Slav peoples.
These two apostles, overcoming the rivalry and dissent of the epoch, have shown us the paths of dialogue and unity to be built ceaselessly, and they therefore also became the Patron Saints of Europe. Each year, on the occasion of their feast, a delegation from your Country pays a visit to the Bishop of Rome to commemorate them and to continue to weave, after their example and in their footsteps, ties of brotherhood and peace.
Today, Mr Ambassador, your Country is preparing to join the European Union. Because of its history and culture, the Bulgar People, which continues to make its Christian heritage fruitful, is asked to play an important role in helping to restore to our Continent the spiritual enthusiasm which it often lacks.
I am thinking in particular of the situation of the youth of our countries, who readily witness to their noble aspirations at the time of important gatherings such as the World Youth Days, but who have difficulty in finding their place in our societies that are too exclusively centred on the consumption of material goods and the sometimes individualistic search for well-being, while young people need spiritual and moral values in order to build their personality and to prepare to participate in the construction of society.
Your Country will be able to contribute its special stone to the common building, so that it is not only a great market for the exchange of more and more abundant material goods but also has a soul, a true spiritual dimension that reflects the heritage of so many witnesses of the past and may be a fertile terrain for life and creativity to produce the Europeans of the future.
Thus, the young generations will be able to rediscover trust in the future and engage without fear in long-term projects, giving birth to new families solidly founded upon marriage and open to welcoming children, learning to serve the common good of society through political, financial and social activity, and also showing solidarity with the least privileged and with immigrants who come from other spheres in search of shelter or another chance.
In our uncertain and troubled world, Europe can become a witness and messenger of the necessary dialogue between cultures and religions. Indeed, the history of the Old Continent, deeply marked by divisions and fratricidal wars but also by its efforts to overcome them, invites it to carry out this mission as a response to the expectations of so many men and women in many countries of the world who are still aspiring to development, democracy and religious freedom.
As you know, the Holy See never ceases to act within its own province to encourage true dialogue between nations and between religious leaders. It is primarily a matter of discouraging violence, dangerously on the rise today, mainly by breaking down the barriers of ignorance and distrust that can give rise to it.
Moreover, since Europe cannot withdraw into itself, it is right to foster equality in the distribution of wealth in the world and to bring about the real development of Africa, which can correct the injustices of the current imbalance between North and South, a factor of tension threatening peace. I am sure that your Government will be able to become a messenger of tolerance and mutual respect in the concert of nations, as you yourself stressed.
Mr Ambassador, I am glad to be able to greet through you the Catholic community residing in Bulgaria. It cherishes the memory of Bl. Pope John XXIII who was an appreciated Apostolic Delegate in your Country, and the memorable visit of my Predecessor, Pope John Paul II.
I know the important part that the Catholic Church is playing in the development of the Country, especially thanks to the social assistance directed by Caritas, and I encourage one and all to continue to do their utmost to serve the common good of the Nation.
I ask the Catholic faithful, united around their pastors, to take pains to collaborate whenever possible with their brethren of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, whose Pastors I likewise greet, so that God's Gospel may be diffused. May they know that they can count on the encouragement and prayer of the Successor of Peter, so that they may find ever renewed joy and vitality in the witness they bear to Christ!
Mr Ambassador, at the time when your mission to the Holy See is officially beginning, I express my best wishes to you for its success. Rest assured that you will always find among my collaborators an attentive welcome and cordial understanding.
Upon you, Your Excellency, upon your family, your collaborators at the Embassy and the whole of the Bulgar People, I wholeheartedly invoke an abundance of divine Blessings.
Clementine Hall
Saturday, 13 May 2006
Your Eminences,
Reverend Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
It gives me great pleasure to meet you at the end of the Plenary Session of the Pontifical Council for the Family, created by my Venerable Predecessor, John Paul II, on 9 May 1981, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary in these days. I address my cordial greeting to each one of you with a special thought for Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, whom I thank for having interpreted your common sentiments.
This meeting has given you an opportunity to examine the challenges and pastoral projects concerning the family, rightly considered a domestic church and a sanctuary of life. It is a vast, complex and delicate field of apostolate to which you devote energy and enthusiasm, with the intention of promoting the "Gospel of the family and of life". In this regard, how can we forget the broad and far-sighted vision of my Predecessors and especially of John Paul II, who have courageously promoted the cause of the family, considering it a decisive and irreplaceable value for the common good of the peoples?
The family, founded on marriage, is the "patrimony of humanity", a fundamental social institution; it is the vital cell and pillar of society and this concerns believers and non-believers alike. It is a reality that all States must hold in the highest regard because, as John Paul II liked to repeat, "the future of humanity passes by way of the family" (Familiaris Consortio FC 86).
In the Christian vision, moreover, marriage, which Christ raised to the most exalted dignity of a sacrament, confers greater splendour and depth on the conjugal bond and more powerfully binds the spouses who, blessed by the Lord of the Covenant, promise each other faithfulness until death in love that is open to life.
For them, the Lord is the centre and heart of the family. He accompanies them in their union and sustains them in their mission to raise children to maturity. In this way the Christian family not only cooperates with God in generating natural life, but also in cultivating the seeds of divine life given in Baptism. These are the well-known principles of the Christian view of marriage and the family. I recalled them once again last Thursday, when I spoke to the members of the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family.
In today's world, where certain erroneous concepts concerning the human being, freedom and love are spreading, we must never tire of presenting anew the truth about the family institution, as God has desired it since creation. Unfortunately, the number of separations and divorces is increasing.
They destroy family unity and create numerous problems for children, the innocent victims of these situations. In our day it is especially the stability of the family that is at risk; to safeguard it one often has to swim against the tide of the prevalent culture, and this demands patience, effort, sacrifice and the ceaseless quest for mutual understanding. Today, however, it is possible for husbands and wives to overcome their difficulties and remain faithful to their vocation with recourse to God's support, with prayer and participating devotedly in the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. The unity and strength of families helps society to breathe the genuine human values and to be open to the Gospel. The apostolate of many of the Movements called to work in this context in harmonious understanding with the dioceses and parishes contributes to this.
Furthermore, a particularly sensitive topic today is the respect due to the human embryo, which ought always to be born from an act of love and should already be treated as a person (cf. Evangelium Vitae, EV 60). The progress of science and technology in the area of bioethics is transformed into a threat when human beings lose the sense of their own limitations and, in practice, claim to replace God the Creator. The Encyclical Humanae Vitae reasserts clearly that human procreation must always be the fruit of the conjugal act with its twofold unitive and procreative meaning (cf. n. 12).
The greatness of conjugal love in accordance with the divine plan demands it, as I recalled in the Encyclical Deus Caritas Est: "Eros reduced to pure "sex', has become a commodity, a mere "thing' to be bought and sold, or rather, man himself becomes a commodity.... Here we are actually dealing with a debasement of the human body" (n. 5).
Thanks to God, many, especially young people, are rediscovering the value of chastity, which appears more and more as a reliable guarantee of authentic love. The historical period in which we live asks Christian families to witness with courageous coherence to the fact that procreation is the fruit of love. Such a witness will not fail to encourage politicians and legislators to safeguard the rights of the family. Indeed, it is well known that juridical solutions for the so-called "de facto" unions are gaining credibility; although they reject the obligations of marriage, they claim enjoyment of the same rights.
Furthermore, at times there are even attempts to give marriage a new definition in order to legalize homosexual unions, attributing to them the right to adopt children. Vast areas of the world are suffering from the so-called "demographic winter", with the consequent gradual ageing of the population. Families sometimes seem ensnared by the fear of life and of parenthood. It is necessary to restore their trust, so that they can continue to carry out their noble mission of procreation in love.
I am grateful to your Pontifical Council because at various continental and national meetings, it seeks to enter into dialogue with those who have political and legislative responsibility in this regard, as it also strives to set up a vast network of conversations with Bishops, offering the local Churches the opportunity of courses for those with pastoral responsibilities.
Next, I take this opportunity to repeat my invitation to all the diocesan communities to take part with their delegations in the Fifth World Meeting of Families that will take place next July in Valencia, Spain, and in which, please God, I will have the joy of participating.
Thank you again for your work; may the Lord continue to make it fruitful! For this I assure you of my remembrance in prayer while, invoking Mary's motherly protection, I impart to all of you my Blessing, which I willingly extend to families so that they will continue to build their homes on the model of the Holy Family of Nazareth.
Saturday 13 May 2006
Your Eminence,
Dear Mr Ambassador,
Dear Gebirgsschützen,
It gives me joy to greet you during your pilgrimage in honour of the Patrona Bavariae here at the Vatican. Thank you, dear Cardinal Wetter, for your cordial words on behalf of all; since you are Archbishop of Munich and Freising, you have a special link with me as my immediate successor.
Ninety years ago, my Predecessor Pope Benedict XV, at the request of Ludwig III, the last King of Bavaria, confirmed by establishing the ecclesial feast of the Patrona Bavariae the decision of Duke Maximilian of Bavaria, who 300 years earlier, in 1616, had placed his duchy under the protection of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God.
The liturgical feast was celebrated for the first time on 14 May 1916 in Munich.
It was an important sign of encouragement and hope for a Country that feared for its precious cultural and religious heritage in the tumult of the First World War. At the same time this feast, as it were, crowned 12 centuries of Marian veneration in Bavaria. Indeed, when St Corbinian arrived in the year 724, there already was a church dedicated to Mary which was to become the present-day Cathedral of Freising.
With the annual celebration of the day in honour of the Patrona Bavariae, the first Sunday in May, in the midst of the "Bund der Bayerischen Gebirgsschützen-Kompanien", you put yourselves under the protection of the great Patroness of our common Homeland, but also at her service. You are no longer duty bound to defend the Country from foreign enemies with weapons in your hands as in past centuries, but perhaps today the dangers are even more serious, for they are not often recognized as such.
The two World Wars have left many people in a certain way "rootless". They are people who have never known the meaning of a "homeland", nor that belonging to one can give human beings a sense of inner security, for it is something more than a mere geographical fact.
For us it means having roots in the Christian faith that has shaped Bavaria and the whole of Europe from within and at the same time gives our life its authentic meaning. This faith is expressed in our Land, as in other regions, in special forms: from the Baroque style of our churches to the humble rural wayside crucifixes, from the festive Corpus Christi processions to the small pilgrimages to the many shrines, from the great works of sacred music to the popular hymns of the Alpine areas.
You have done your duty in preserving and defending the popular Bavarian culture. With this objective, you have placed yourselves at the service of the Patrona Bavariae. The cultural legacy you desire to protect and care for is not only an end in itself but aims to contribute to restoring people's roots wherever it has disappeared, and lead people back through signs to its content, to what can give their lives support and direction.
In the many ways in which it is expressed, the popular Bavarian culture displays the deep and indestructible joy that Jesus Christ wanted to give us when he said: "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (Jn 10,10).
I would like to encourage you to stay firmly faithful to the Christian values which constitute Bavaria's own special roots. May Mary, the Most Holy Virgin and Mother of God, Patrona Bavariae, keep her protective hand upon you all. Through her intercession, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing to you all.
Clementine Hall
Monday, 15 May 2006
Your Eminences,
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I am pleased to welcome you on the occasion of the Plenary Session of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People. First of all, I greet Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, who I thank for the words with which he introduced our meeting. I also greet the Secretary, the Members and the Consultors of this Pontifical Council and especially those recently appointed, and I address to all a cordial thought with best wishes for the success of your work.
The theme chosen for this Session - Migration and Itinerancy from and towards Islamic Majority Countries - concerns a social reality that is becoming ever more present. Therefore, human mobility with regard to Muslim countries calls for a specific reflection, not only because of the extent of the phenomenon, but above all because the Islamic identity is both religious and cultural. The Catholic Church realizes with increasing awareness that interreligious dialogue is part of her commitment to the service of humanity in the contemporary world. This conviction has become, as one says, "daily bread" especially fit for those who work in contact with migrants, refugees and with different categories of itinerant people.
We are living in times in which Christians are called to cultivate a style of dialogue open to the religious question, without failing to present to the interlocutors the Christian proposal consistent with her own identity. So, one increasingly feels the importance of reciprocity in dialogue, reciprocity that the Instruction Erga migrantes caritas Christi rightly defines as a "principle" of great importance. It treats of a "relationship based on mutual respect", and before that on an "attitude of heart and spirit" (n. 64). The importance and delicacy of this commitment is witnessed by the efforts that are made in many communities to weave relations of mutual awareness and esteem with immigrants, which appear ever more useful to overcome prejudice and a closed mentality.
In its action of reception and dialogue with migrants and itinerant peoples, the Christian community has as its constant reference point Christ, who left to his disciples, as a rule of life, the new commandment of love. Christian love is, by its nature, prevenient. This is why single believers are called to open their arms and their hearts to every person, from whatever nation they come, allowing the Authorities responsible for public life to enforce the relevant laws held to be appropriate for a healthy co-existence.
Continually stimulated to witness the love that the Lord Jesus taught, Christians must open their hearts especially to the lowly and the poor, in whom Christ himself is present in a singular way. Acting in this way, they manifest the most qualifying characteristic of their own Christian identity: the love that Christ lived and continually transmits to the Church through the Gospel and the Sacraments.
Obviously, it is to be hoped that Christians who emigrate to nations with an Islamic majority will also be welcomed and their religious identity respected.
Dear brothers and sisters, I willingly welcome this occasion to thank you for what you do in favour of an organic and efficient pastoral service for migrants and itinerant peoples, putting your time, your competency and your experience at this service. May it escape no one that this is a significant frontier in the new evangelization in the current globalized world. I encourage you to pursue your work with renewed zeal, while, for my part, I follow you with attention and I accompany you with prayer, so that the Holy Spirit may make your initiative fruitful for the good of the Church and the world.
May Mary Most Holy watch over you, she who lived her faith as a pilgrimage in the different circumstances of her earthly life. May the Holy Virgin help every man and every woman to know her Son Jesus and to receive from him the gift of salvation. With this wish I impart my Blessing to all of you and to those dear to you.
Clementine Hall
Thursday 18 May 2006
Your Excellencies,
I am pleased to greet you on the occasion of the presentation of the Letters accrediting you as Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of your Countries: Chad, India, Cape Verde, Moldova and Australia. I thank you for conveying to me the courteous words of your Heads of State and I should be grateful if you would reciprocate by expressing to them my greetings and respectful good wishes for them and for their lofty mission at the service of their Country. Through you, I would like to greet the civil and religious Authorities of your Nations as well as all your compatriots, with a special thought for the Catholic communities.
You belong to the great family of diplomats throughout the world who strive to build bridges between countries, with a view to establishing and strengthening peace and stronger ties between peoples, at the levels of both fraternal solidarity and economic and cultural exchanges, for the well-being of all the populations on earth. This implies, on your part and on the part of the legitimate Authorities of the different countries of the world and of the various international institutions, a resolute will as well as a broad vision in order not to reduce the decisions to be taken to mere emergency measures.
Indeed, it is not enough to opt for peace or collaboration between nations in order to achieve them. Again, each person must be actively committed and concerned not only with the interests of those close to him or her or with one specific class of society to the detriment of the general interest, but must seek first of all the common good of the country's people and, on a wider scale, of the whole of humanity.
In the era of globalization, it is important that political policies should not be guided mainly or solely by economic considerations or by the search for higher profits or a heedless use of the planet's resources to the detriment of the people, especially those who are the least privileged, at the risk of jeopardizing the world's future in the long term.
Likewise, peace is rooted in respect for religious freedom, which is a fundamental and primordial aspect of the freedom of conscience of individuals and of the freedom of peoples. It is important that everywhere in the world every person can belong to the religion of his choice and practise it freely without fear, for no one can base his life on the quest for material well-being alone. The acceptance of this personal and community approach will undoubtedly have beneficial effects on social life. In fact, loving the Almighty and welcoming him is an invitation to each person to serve his brethren and to build peace.
I therefore encourage the Leaders of nations and all people of good will to commit themselves with ever greater determination to building a free, brotherly and supportive world, where attention to people takes precedence over mere economic aspects. It is our duty to accept responsibility for one another and for the functioning of the world as a whole, so that it cannot be said, as Cain did in answer to God's question in the Book of the Genesis: "Am I my brother's keeper?".
At the time when you are beginning your mission to the Holy See, Your Excellencies, may I be permitted to offer you my very best wishes. I ask the Almighty to pour out divine benefits upon you, upon your loved ones, upon your collaborators and upon all your Countries' inhabitants.
Clementine Hall
Thursday 18 May 2006
Mr Ambassador,
I am happy to welcome you, Your Excellency, for the presentation of the Letters accrediting you as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Chad to the Holy See.
I am touched by your kind words and grateful for the cordial greetings you have conveyed to me from H.E. Mr Idriss Deby Itno, President of the Republic, as well as from the Government and the People of Chad. Please reciprocate by assuring His Excellency the President of my best wishes for his happiness and prosperity and for that of all Chadians, while I ask Almighty God to preserve the Nation in peace and concord.
As you stressed, Mr Ambassador, your Country has embarked on consolidating a democratic process. This is a long-term project that in particular requires all to accept a certain number of values, such as the dignity of the human person and respect for human rights and for the common good as the purpose of, and criterion for, the regulation of political and social life (cf. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, n. 407).
In fact, the human person must be the focus of all social life. It is the role of those responsible for the State and of the civil Authorities to serve the citizens, seeking out and putting into practice all that can contribute to the smooth functioning of society in accordance with the principles of justice.
It is consequently essential that the wealth produced by the exploitation of natural resources be managed in an increasingly transparent way, so that they are effectively used for the integral development of the population in solidarity, and for the improvement of people's standard of living.
In referring to the difficult situation that your Country is currently experiencing, Mr Ambassador, you expressed the hope that true peace might be definitively established. Peace is a profound aspiration present in every human heart. Therefore, it is indispensable that all feel involved in achieving it in an authentic and lasting way, basing it on solid and just foundations.
To this end, dialogue and concord between all parties concerned are essential. They foster the common good of the Nation, avoiding recourse to weapons to overcome differences that can never be settled by violence.
Indeed, dialogue is an act of trust in every human being who bears within himself the ability to surpass divisions, and it is when dialogue does not exist that peace is threatened.
The Catholic Church, aware on her part that the commitment to build peace and justice is part of the mission she has received from her Founder, intends to contribute, through her own means, to establishing and consolidating peace in societies and between peoples. For the Church, true peace is only possible through dialogue founded on forgiveness and reconciliation, as well as on respect for the rights of each person.
Nonetheless, she is also convinced that this does not exclude the need to take into account the requirements of justice and truth, which are the conditions for authentic reconciliation.
I therefore warmly hope, Mr Ambassador, that all forms of violence may cease in your Country through a true dialogue between all the parties concerned, and that the time of reconciliation may come so that all Chadians may be granted to live peacefully and to build together a more and more brotherly and supportive society.
In order to succeed, I also hope that all Government Leaders in the region will set at the centre of their concerns a firm and reliable determination to achieve peace and justice for the good of their peoples, and that they encourage good neighbourly relations and solidarity among them.
On this solemn occasion, Mr Ambassador, I would also like to greet through you the Catholic Community of Chad. I appreciate the attention you pay to its spiritual mission and action in society. Together with the Bishops, it witnesses generously to the love disciples of Christ must have for one and all. I ask it to stay united around its Pastors and to work zealously for reconciliation and peace.
At the time when you are beginning your mission to the Holy See, I offer you my best wishes for its success. You may rest assured that with my collaborators you will always find the attentive welcome and cordial understanding that you may need. I wholeheartedly invoke upon you, Your Excellency, upon your collaborators, your family and the Chadian People and their leaders an abundance of divine Blessings.
Clementine Hall
Thursday, 18 May 2006
Your Excellency,
I am pleased to welcome you to the Vatican as you present the Letters by which you are accredited Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India to the Holy See. I thank you most heartily for the greetings which you have brought me from the Indian Government and people, and I ask you kindly to convey my own greetings to President Abdul Kalam, together with the assurance of my prayers for the peace and prosperity of the nation and its citizens.
India’s ongoing efforts to build a democratic and free society are grounded in her conviction of the need to respect the variety of cultures, religions and ethnic groups which make up the nation and shape the aspirations of her sons and daughters. The Indian people are rightly proud of the stability of their political institutions, while at the same time recognizing the formidable challenges involved in promoting justice, combating all forms of violence and extremism, and establishing a climate of serene and respectful dialogue, cooperation and good will between the different components of their vast and diverse society. As the nation continues to enjoy significant economic growth, these democratic values should serve as the inspiration and the sure foundation for sound social policies aimed at enabling all citizens to share in this growth and to enjoy its benefits.
In this regard, I wish to assure you of the wish of India’s Catholic community to share fully in the life of the nation in a spirit of collaboration and concern for the common good. You have graciously acknowledged the contribution which the spiritual heirs of Saint Thomas the Apostle and Saint Francis Xavier have made to the growth of modern India, especially in the fields of education and human development. The Church sees these works as a fundamental part of her mission of proclaiming the innate dignity and rights of each human person made in the image and likeness of God, as well as an important service to the building of a just, peaceful and pluralistic society. When the gifts and talents of all citizens, men and women, young and old, wealthy and poor alike, are valued and developed, the way is opened to a future of prosperity and social harmony for the whole nation.
I very much appreciate your reference to India’s rich spiritual heritage and commitment to religious tolerance and respect. In view of this commitment, no citizen of India, especially the weak and the underprivileged, should ever have to experience discrimination for any reason, especially based on ethnic or religious background or social position. The recent re-establishment of the National Integration Council and the creation this year of the Ministry for Minority Affairs offer practical means of upholding constitutionally guaranteed equality of all religions and social groups. While protecting the right of each citizen to profess and practise his or her faith, they also facilitate efforts to build bridges between minority communities and Indian society as a whole, and thus foster national integration and the participation of all in the country’s development. The disturbing signs of religious intolerance which have troubled some regions of the nation, including the reprehensible attempt to legislate clearly discriminatory restrictions on the fundamental right of religious freedom, must be firmly rejected as not only unconstitutional, but also as contrary to the highest ideals of India’s founding fathers, who believed in a nation of peaceful coexistence and mutual tolerance between different religions and ethnic groups.
Here I cannot fail to express the Holy See’s appreciation of India’s desire to settle through negotiation and peaceful means the long-standing dispute with neighbouring Pakistan. Last year’s earthquake in Kashmir, with its tragic loss of life and widespread material destruction, showed the urgent need for joint efforts in responding to the emergency, providing relief to the victims and undertaking the immense work of rebuilding. Increased dialogue and cooperation should also prove helpful in meeting a number of other challenges in the region, including the threat of violence linked to political and religious extremism. As experience has shown, this troubling phenomenon, which is often the fruit of situations of poverty, lack of education, and scant respect for the rights of others, is best combated by concerted efforts to resolve these underlying social problems at their roots. Where the innate dignity and freedom of each man and woman is acknowledged, respected and promoted at every level of society, the foundations are laid for a future of justice, freedom and peace.
Your Excellency, as you undertake the mission of representing the Republic of India to the Holy See, please accept my personal good wishes for the success of your important work. Be assured that you may always count on the offices of the Roman Curia to assist and support you in the fulfillment of your high responsibilities. Upon you and your family, and upon all the beloved Indian people, I cordially invoke the abundant blessings of Almighty God.
Clementine Hall
Thursday, 18 May 2006
Mr Ambassador,
I am pleased to welcome you to the Vatican and to accept the Letters accrediting you as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Moldova to the Holy See. I thank you for your words and for the greetings which you bring from your President, Mr Vladimir Voronin. Please convey to him my sincere good wishes and assure him of my continuing prayers for the well-being of your nation.
The Holy See greatly values its diplomatic links with your country, established soon after Moldova gained its independence in 1991, and looks forward to building further on the cordial relations that have developed since that time. Mindful of the challenges involved in achieving a smooth transition to democracy and in establishing a place within the international community for the newly independent state, the Holy See continues to offer encouragement and assistance in any way possible. Although Catholics constitute only a small proportion of the population, they are proud of the rich cultural heritage of their homeland and are eager to play their part in national life, contributing particularly in the area of social assistance. It should be stressed that such activity flows from the very nature and mission of the Church, which include a commitment to promote the dignity of the human person and to come to the aid of those who suffer hardship of any kind. The Church is committed to full respect for liberty of conscience, and as such she encourages governments to take steps to guarantee this precious freedom for all their citizens. The reassurance that you offer in connection with your own Government’s position in this regard is most gratifying. Through you, Mr Ambassador, I would like to greet all the inhabitants of Moldova, and in particular the Catholic community, under the leadership of the Bishop of Chisinau, the Most Reverend Anton Cosa.
In view of her concern for peace and justice, the Church naturally takes to heart the debate over the status of Transdnistria. While fully appreciating the complexity of the question, I urge your Government to persevere in the search for a peaceful solution, and to work in harmony with the organs of the European Union, the Council of Europe and other international organizations in order to resolve the dispute. I pray that your country may continue to make progress towards the noble goal of peace, which corresponds to the deepest yearnings and hopes of people everywhere.
The interest shown by your Government in advancing dialogue with all the States of Europe is welcomed by the Holy See as a sign of hope for the Continent. For too long, Moldova suffered from the imposition of a totalitarian utopia of “justice without freedom”. The West, by contrast, continues to be exposed to the danger of an alternative utopia of “freedom without truth”, issuing from a false understanding of “tolerance”. If the common good of Europe’s citizens is truly to be served, it is essential to avoid both of these harmful partial visions and to rediscover the authentic freedom that proceeds from our shared heritage of faith in Jesus Christ, alive in his Church, the source of hope for Europe (cf. Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Europa, 98). The voice and the experience of your people need to be heard in European debate, so that lessons may be learned from recent experience. In this way a brighter future may be built that is based on a commitment to truth, and this, as I maintained in my Address to the Diplomatic Corps at the start of this year (9 January 2006), is the soul of justice, it is the means whereby the right to freedom is established and strengthened and it opens the way to forgiveness and reconciliation.
Your Excellency, I am confident that the diplomatic mission which you begin today will consolidate the good relations that exist between the Republic of Moldova and the Holy See. In offering you my best wishes for the years ahead, I would like to assure you that the various departments of the Roman Curia are most glad to provide help and support in the fulfilment of your duties. Upon you, your family and all the people of Moldova I cordially invoke God’s abundant blessings.
Clementine Hall
Thursday 18 May 2006
Mr Ambassador,
I am pleased to welcome you, Your Excellency, on the occasion of the presentation of the Letters accrediting you as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Cape Verde to the Holy See.
I thank you for the respectful words you have just addressed to me and for the greetings you bring me from H.E. Mr Pedro Verona Rodrigues Pires, President of the Republic. I would be grateful if you would kindly reciprocate by expressing to him my cordial good wishes for happiness and prosperity for him and the entire People of Cape Verde.
As you emphasized in your address, the Church's presence in the Cape Verde Islands dates back several centuries, making the Christian faith an essential component of the people's culture and spiritual heritage. It is also important that relations between Church and State develop harmoniously with respect for the autonomy of both parties, for in the search for the common good, they are both, if on a different scale, at the service of the personal and social vocation of the same people.
As you know, Mr Ambassador, the Catholic Church is eager to contribute to the integral development of peoples. In fact, the poverty in which so many men and women live cannot but call into question the human conscience. It poses for everyone the dramatic question of justice.
Underdevelopment is not inevitable. It must be faced with determination and perseverance for, as the Magisterium of the Church has frequently recalled, development is not only an aspiration but also a right: "Collaboration in the development of the whole person and of every human being is in fact a duty of all towards all..." (Encyclical Sollicitudo Rei Socialis SRS 32).
It is therefore necessary that authentic solidarity encourage fairer international relations as well as the nations' own human and spiritual development. Indeed, solidarity must not only be practised within each society but also between peoples, for confident and courageous cooperation is indispensable to create a space of peace and stability that makes economic growth and political balance possible.
I eagerly hope, therefore, that international solidarity will have a new impetus, especially in favour of Africa, in order to enable this so-sorely tried Continent to set out with determination on the path of its integral development, reconciliation and peace.
Moreover, the many difficulties that the African Continent is experiencing contribute to accentuating the expansion of the migration phenomenon and the serious issues that stem from it. As you have emphasized, Mr Ambassador, the search for a better standard of living has impelled a large number of Cape Verdeans to emigrate.
It is of course the task of host countries to give immigrants a fraternal welcome and to draft legislation that paves the way to their dignified integration in society, while respecting their legitimate identity.
However, it is also necessary to be aware of social and economic imbalances, of the risk of uncontrolled globalization, or again, of situations of violence and the violation of personal rights, all of which are important factors in migration. International solidarity must enable each person, in his own country, to live in dignity and bring to fruition the gifts he has received from the Creator.
Through you, Mr Ambassador, I would also like to address my cordial greeting to your Country's Bishops as well as to the whole Catholic Community. The recent creation of the Diocese of Mindelo is a sign of its vitality.
I therefore hope that Catholics will courageously persevere in their commitment, beside all their fellow citizens, to build an increasingly just and brotherly society.
Your Excellency, at the time when you are beginning your mission at the Holy See I offer you my very best wishes for the noble task that awaits you. You will always meet with an attentive welcome from my collaborators and the cordial understanding that you may need.
I wholeheartedly invoke an abundance of Blessings from the Most High upon you, Your Excellency, and upon your family, your collaborators, the Cape Verdean People and their Leaders.
Clementine Hall
Thursday, 18 May 2006
Your Excellency,
It is a pleasure for me to extend a cordial welcome to you today as I accept the Letters of Credence by which you are appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Australia to the Holy See. I thank you for the greetings which you bear from the Governor-General, Government, and people of Australia. Please convey to them my heartfelt appreciation and assure them of my prayers for the well-being of the nation.
The steadfast resolve of the Holy See to promote the cause of peace stands at the heart of her diplomatic activity. With firm conviction and in a spirit of service she reminds all people that if peace is to be authentic and lasting it must be built on the bedrock of the truth about God and about man. Consequently, the irrepressible yearning for peace present in the heart of every person – regardless of particular cultural identity – can be satisfied only if it is understood as the fruit of an order planned and willed by the love of God, planted in human society by its divine Founder, and respected by humanity in its thirst for ever more perfect justice (cf. Message for the 2006 World Day of Peace, 3).
Your Excellency, you have rightly indicated that practical commitment to ensuring the rule of justice and promoting peace is a widely recognized trait of your people. Tangible expression of this is found in their leadership of peace-keeping operations, generous assistance with aid projects, and readiness to contribute to the requirements of international stability and security necessary for social and economic advancement across the globe. Australia’s missions in Solomon Islands, East Timor and Afghanistan are highly respected by the international community and bear noble witness to the truth that all people are members of one and the same human family, receiving their essential and common dignity from God and capable of transcending every social and cultural limitation (cf. Centesimus Annus CA 38).
The laudable resolve to work for peace on an international scale must be matched with an equal determination to attain justice at the local level. I know that your Government has assiduously addressed concerns regarding the reception of refugees, in order to ensure that humanitarian considerations are incorporated within immigration detention policy and duly monitored. In regard to the Aboriginal people of your land, there is still much to be achieved. Their social situation is cause for much pain. I encourage you and the Government to continue to address with compassion and determination the deep underlying causes of their plight. Commitment to truth opens the way to lasting reconciliation through the healing process of asking for forgiveness and granting forgiveness - two indispensable elements for peace. In this way our memory is purified, our hearts are made serene, and our future is filled with a well-founded hope in the peace which springs from truth (cf. Address to the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See, 9 January 2006).
Your Excellency, as I welcome you to the Vatican my thoughts turn with joy to the visit I shall make, God willing, to Sydney for World Youth Day 2008. In this regard, I wish to thank the people of Australia, and particularly the Prime Minister and Government, for the enthusiasm with which they have embraced this visit and for the practical assistance already being given to its organization.
More than an event, World Youth Day is a time of deep ecclesial renewal, especially among the young, the fruits of which will benefit the whole of your society. In countries such as yours, where the disquieting process of secularization is much advanced, many young people are themselves coming to realize that it is the transcendent order that steers all life along the path of authentic freedom and happiness. Against the tide of moral relativism which, by recognizing nothing as definitive, traps people within a futile and insatiable bid for novelty, the young generation is rediscovering the satisfying quest for goodness and truth. In so doing they look to both Church and civil leaders to dispel any eclipse of the sense of God and to allow the light of truth to shine forth, giving purpose to all life and making joy and contentment possible for everyone.
It is this same respect for transcendent order that has led Australians to recognize the fundamental importance of marriage and stable domestic life at the heart of society, and to expect that political and social forces - including the media and entertainment industries - recognize, support and protect the irreplaceable value of families. They appreciate that pseudo-forms of ‘marriage’ distort the Creator’s design and undermine the truth of our human nature, confusing a false sense of freedom with the true freedom of choosing the definitive gift of the permanent “yes” which spouses promise to each other. I therefore encourage the people of Australia to continue to take up the challenge of forging a pattern of life, both individually and as a community, in harmony with God’s loving plan for all humanity.
For her part the Catholic Church in Australia continues to support marriage and family life, and to uphold the Christian foundations of civic life. She is much involved in the spiritual and intellectual formation of the young, especially through her schools. Additionally her charitable apostolate extends to immigrant communities and those living on the margins of society and, through her mission of service, she will respond generously to new social challenges as they arise.
Your Excellency, I am sure that your appointment will further strengthen the bonds of friendship which already exist between Australia and the Holy See. As you take up your new responsibilities you will find that the various offices of the Roman Curia are most ready to assist you in the fulfilment of your duties. Upon you, your family and your fellow citizens, I cordially invoke the abundant blessings of Almighty God.
Synod Hall
Thursday, 18 May 2006
Dear Italian Brother Bishops,
I am truly glad to meet you all this morning during your General Assembly. I greet Cardinal Camillo Ruini, your President, and I thank him for his cordial words expressing your common sentiments. I greet the three Vice-Presidents, the General Secretary and each one of you, expressing in turn my heartfelt affection and joy in our reciprocal communion.
The main object of your Assembly concerns the life and ministry of priests, in the perspective of a Church which intends to extend increasingly her fundamental evangelizing mission. Thus, you are continuing the work you began at your Assembly in Assisi last November, at which you focused your attention on seminaries and formation for the priestly ministry. In fact, it is an essential duty for us Bishops to be constantly close to our priests who participate in the apostolic ministry that the Lord entrusts to us through the Sacrament of Orders.
It is necessary first of all to select candidates to the priesthood with care, and to verify their personal aptitude for assuming the commitments that their future ministry involves; next, their formation must be supervised, not only during the seminary years but also in the subsequent phases of life; we must have at heart their material and spiritual well-being; we should exercise our fatherhood to them with a fraternal heart; we should never leave them alone in the tasks of the ministry, in sickness or in old age, or in the inevitable trials of life.
Dear Brother Bishops, the closer we are to our priests, the greater will be the affection and trust they feel for us, they will excuse our personal limitations, they will welcome our words and will feel solidarity with us in the joys and difficulties of the ministry.
Obviously, at the heart of our relationship with priests as well as of our life and of theirs, is our relationship with Christ, our intimate union with him, our participation in the mission that he received from the Father. The mystery of our priesthood consists in that identification with him by virtue of which we, poor and weak human beings, through the Sacrament of Orders can speak and act in persona Christi capitis. The whole journey of our life as priests cannot but aim for this goal: to configure ourselves in the reality of daily life and behaviour, with the gift and mystery that we have received.
Jesus' words must guide and comfort us on this path: "no longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you" (Jn 15,15). The Lord puts himself in our hands, he transmits to us his deepest, personal mystery, he wants us to share in his power of salvation. But this obviously requires in turn that we be truly the Lord's friends, that our sentiments conform to his sentiments, and our will to his (cf. Phil Ph 2,5), and this is an everyday journey.
The horizon of friendship to which Jesus introduces us is the whole of humanity: indeed, he wants to be for everyone the Good Shepherd who lays down his own life (cf. Jn Jn 10,11), and he stresses this strongly in the discourse on the Good Shepherd who came to reunite everyone, not only the Chosen People but all the dispersed children of God.
Our own solicitude, therefore, must be universal. We should certainly first take care of those who, like us, believe and live with the Church - it is very important, even in this dimension of universality, that we first see to those faithful who live their "being Church" every day with humility and love -, and yet we must not tire of going out, as the Lord asks us, "to the highways and hedges" (Lc 14,23) to invite to the banquet that God has prepared those who are not yet acquainted with him or have perhaps preferred not to know him.
Dear Italian Brother Bishops, I join you in saying a big "thank you" to our priests for their constant and often hidden dedication, and I ask them, with a brotherly spirit, to trust in the Lord always and to walk with generosity and courage on the way that leads to holiness, comforting and supporting us Bishops too, on the same journey.
At this Assembly, you have also addressed the National Ecclesial Congress, now at hand, that will be taking place in Verona and at which I too will have the joy of speaking. The Congress, whose theme is: "Witnesses of the Risen Jesus, Hope of the World", will be an important moment of communion for all the members of the Church in Italy. It will be possible to review the path taken in recent years and especially, to look ahead, to face together the fundamental task of keeping alive the great Christian tradition which is Italy's greatest treasure.
To this end, the decision to focus the Congress on the Risen Jesus, a source of hope for all, is particularly felicitous: starting from Christ, in fact, and only from him, from his victory over sin and over death, is it possible to respond to the fundamental need of the human being, which is the need for God, not for a distant and general God, but for the God who revealed himself in Jesus Christ as love that saves. And it is also possible to shine a new and liberating light on the great problems of the present time.
But giving God priority - above all it is we who have need of God - is of great importance.
Consequently, it will be necessary in Verona to concentrate above all on Christ, because in Christ, God is concrete, is present, shows himself and therefore, one must concentrate on the Church's priority mission of living in his presence and making this same presence as visible as possible to all.
On this basis you will rightly examine the various areas of daily life in which the witness of believers must activate the hope that comes from the Risen Christ: in practice, these concern the emotional life and the family, work and rest, sickness and the various forms of poverty, education, culture and social communications, civil and political responsibilities.
In fact, there is no dimension of man that is foreign to Christ. Your attention, dear Brother Bishops, also at this Assembly is addressed in particular to the young. I am glad to recall with you the experience of last August in Cologne, when young Italians, accompanied by so many of you and by your priests, fervently took part in large numbers in the World Youth Day.
It is now a question of starting out on the journey that will lead to the celebration in 2008 in Sydney, making room for the enthusiasm and desire to participate of the young. Thus, they will be able to understand better and better that the Church is the large family in which, living Christ's friendship, one becomes truly free and friends with one another, overcoming the divisions and barriers that extinguish hope.
Lastly, I would like to share with you the concern that motivates you with regard to the good of Italy. As I have had the opportunity to point out in the Encyclical Deus Caritas Est (nn. 28-29), the Church is well aware that "fundamental to Christianity is the distinction between what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God" (cf. Mt 22,21), in other words, the distinction between Church and State, that is, the autonomy of the temporal sphere, as the Second Vatican Council underlined in Gaudium et Spes.
Not only does the Church recognize and respect this distinction and autonomy but she rejoices in it, as a great progress for humanity and a fundamental condition for her freedom itself and for the fulfilment of her universal mission of salvation among all people. At the same time and precisely by virtue of this same mission of salvation, the Church cannot fail to carry out her duty to purify reason through the proposal of her own social teaching, reasoned "on the basis of what is in conformity with the nature of every human being" and of reawakening moral and spiritual forces, opening the will to the authentic requirements of good.
In turn, a healthy secularism of the State indisputably entails the government of temporal realities in accordance with their own norms, to which also belong those ethical elements that are rooted in the very essence of the human being and which, therefore, in the ultimate analysis, refer to the Creator.
In the present circumstances, recalling the value that certain fundamental ethical principles have not only for private but especially for public life rooted in the great Christian heritage of Europe and of Italy in particular, we do not, therefore, commit any violation of the State secularism, but rather contribute to guaranteeing and promoting the dignity of the person and the common good of society.
Dear Italian Bishops, we owe all our brothers and sisters in humanity a clear witness of these values: with it let us not impose on them useless burdens but help them to advance on the path of life and of authentic freedom. I assure you of my daily prayers for you, for your Churches and for the entire beloved Italian Nation, and I impart the Apostolic Blessing with great affection to each one of you, to your priests, to every Italian family and especially to those who are suffering most and feel most acutely the need of God's help.
Clementine Hall
Friday, 19 May 2006
Your Eminence,
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I am pleased to be able to meet you for the first time and I greet you all cordially. I greet in particular Cardinal Attilio Nicora, President of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, as well as Count Lorenzo Rossi di Montelera, President of the Foundation, whom I thank for his words on your behalf. I greet the Bishops present and the priests, your chaplains.
I would like to express to each of you my appreciation and my gratitude for your service to the Successor of Peter and for the generosity with which you support his apostolic activity.
The very name of your Foundation clearly indicates your appreciated goals. Centesimus Annus recalls John Paul II's last great social Encyclical with which the unforgettable Pontiff, summing up 100 years of the Magisterium in this context, planned the Church's advancement by encouraging her to analyze the res novae ["new things"] of the third millennium. Centesimus Annus says further that your committed collaboration assists the Church to carry out her task of spreading the Gospel in a clearly visible way through her social teaching in the various cultural areas of the contemporary world.
The qualification Pro Pontifice stresses in turn your intention to foster a particular closeness to the pastoral role of the Bishop of Rome and engages you, according to your own possibilities, to sustain the concrete instruments he needs in order to enliven and extend the Church's presence throughout the world.
You began your activity in a predominantly Italian context; I now see with joy that you are gradually branching out into other areas of Europe and America. The nature of the Vatican Foundation both prepares you for these wide horizons and orients you towards them.
The Study Convention you have organized on Democracy, institutions and social justice is treating relevant current problems. People sometimes complain of the slowness with which an authentic democracy progresses, yet it continues, if used well, to be the most effective historical instrument for ensuring its own future in a way befitting to human beings.
You have rightly identified two critical points on the way towards a more mature ordering of human coexistence.
In the first place, appropriate, credible and authoritative institutions are needed. They must not merely aim to wield public power, but must be able to encourage different levels of popular participation with respect for the traditions of each nation and with constant concern to preserve their identity.
Equally urgent is a tenacious, on-going and shared effort to promote social justice. Democracy will attain its full actualization only when every person and each people have access to the primary goods (life, food, water, health care, education, work and the certainty of their rights) through an ordering of internal and international relations that assures each person of the possibility of participating in them.
True social justice, furthermore, can only be possible in a perspective of genuine solidarity that commits people to live and work always for one another and never against or to the detriment of others. Thus, to achieve this in practice in the context of the contemporary world is the great challenge of Christian lay people.
Dear friends, through the Centesimus Annus Foundation you contribute with other praiseworthy Associations to increasing the knowledge of the social teaching with which the Church, as I wrote in the Encyclical Deus Caritas Est, intends "to contribute to the purification of reason and to the reawakening of those moral forces without which just structures are neither established nor prove effective in the long run" (n. 29). Each one of you, as a faithful lay person, should live as his own "the direct duty to work for a just ordering of society", since "charity must animate the entire lives of the lay faithful and therefore also their political activity, lived as "social charity'" (ibid.).
Our Meeting today, therefore, serves to strengthen you in this generous undertaking. Returning to your daily responsibilities, may you feel increasingly united in the bond of Catholic communion and live enthusiastically the commitments you have assumed.
I also thank you for the donation your President has presented to me to support the works of my pastoral ministry, and as I invoke the motherly protection of Mary upon you and upon all your families, I cordially bless you all.
Saturday 20 May 2006
Mr Ambassador,
I am pleased to receive the Letters accrediting you as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Spain to the Holy See. I cordially thank you for your words, and likewise for the appreciated greetings from His Majesty King Juan Carlos I, from the Royal Family, from your Government and from the Spanish Nation. Please convey to them my best wishes for prosperity and spiritual well-being for themselves and for all Spaniards, whom I keep very present in my prayers.
On various occasions I have had the opportunity to visit your Country, of which I treasure very pleasant memories both for the friendliness of the people I met and the abundance and great value of the many works of art and cultural expressions scattered throughout the Land.
It is an enviable patrimony that denotes a brilliant history, deeply imbued with Christian values and enriched by the lives of outstanding Gospel witnesses, both inside and outside its frontiers.
This patrimony includes works whose creators expressed in them their own ideals and faith. If this is ignored or glossed over, it will lose a large part of its attraction and meaning, but the works will continue to be, as it were, "speaking stones".
As you said, Your Excellency, the centuries-old diplomatic relations between Spain and the Holy See reflect the constant ties of the Spanish People with the Catholic faith. The great vitality that the Church in your Country has had and still has is, as it were, a special invitation to reinforce these relations and to foster a close collaboration between the Church and public institutions, which is both loyal and respectful of each other's province and autonomy to achieve the integral good of the people who, as citizens of their Homeland, are also to a large extent beloved children of the Church.
An important path for this cooperation was marked out by the Agreements signed by the Spanish State and the Holy See to guarantee the Catholic Church: "the free and public exercise of her own activities, especially those of worship, jurisdiction and teaching" (Art. I of the First Agreement, 3 January 1979).
Indeed, Mr Ambassador, the Church, as you know, impels believers to love justice and to take an honest part in public or professional life with a sense of respect and solidarity, so as "to promote organically and institutionally the common good" (Encyclical Deus Caritas Est 29).
She is also involved in the promotion and defence of human rights because of the high esteem in which she holds the integral dignity of the person, in whatever place or situation he or she may be. Using her own means, she devotes all her commitment to ensuring that none of these rights are violated or suppressed, either by individuals or institutions.
For this reason the Church proclaims wholeheartedly the fundamental right to life from conception to its natural end, the right to be born, to form and to live in a family, and not to let the family be supplanted by other institutions or different forms.
In this regard, the upcoming World Meeting of Families in Valencia, Spain, to which I am very much looking forward, will give me the opportunity to celebrate the beauty and fruitfulness of the family founded on marriage, its exalted vocation and indispensable social value.
The Church also insists on the inalienable right of individuals to profess their own religious faith without hindrance, both publicly and privately, as well as the right of parents to have their children receive an education that complies with their values and beliefs without either explicit or implicit discrimination.
In this regard, it pleases me to note the great demand for the teaching of Catholic religion in Spanish State schools. This means that people recognize the importance of this subject for the personal and cultural growth and training of the young. Its importance to the development of the student's personality is the basic principle of the Agreement between the Spanish State and the Holy See on teaching and on cultural subjects, which establishes that the Catholic religion will be taught "in similar conditions to those of the other basic disciplines" (Art. II).
In her evangelizing mission, charitable activity is also a special task of the Church as well as attention to any needy person who is hoping for a friendly, fraternal and impartial hand to alleviate his or her situation. In present-day Spain, as in its long history, the Church's numerous institutions for social assistance prove that this dimension of her activity has been particularly fruitful, in all areas and with extensive goals.
Furthermore, since she is not inspired by either political or ideological strategies (cf. Encyclical Deus Caritas Est 31 Est 33), the Church encounters on her path people and institutions of any origin who are also responsive to the duty of helping the destitute, whoever they may be.
Founded on this "duty of humanity", collaboration in the area of social assistance and humanitarian aid has reached many places and it is to be hoped that it will be ever further encouraged.
Mr Ambassador, at the end of this Meeting, I repeat to you my best wishes for the success of the lofty mission that has been entrusted to you, so that relations between Spain and the Holy See will be strengthened and progress will be made that reflects the respect and deep affection for the Pope of so many Spaniards.
I also hope that your stay in Rome will bring you fruitful human, cultural and Christian experiences, and that you and your distinguished family will feel at home here but will not forget the beautiful lands in the extreme west of Europe where you come from and where the Gospel very soon took root and spread under the patronage of the Apostle James, contributing to nourish and keep alive Europe's Christian roots.
I ask you to convey my respects to Their Majesties the King and Queen of Spain, and to the Authorities of this noble Nation, and I invoke abundant Blessings from the Most High upon you, your loved ones and the collaborators of this diplomatic Representation.
Saturday, 20 May 2006
Dear Brother Bishops,
1. "Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord" (1Tm 1,2). With fraternal affection I cordially welcome you, the Bishops of New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. I thank Bishop Lahey for the kind sentiments expressed on your behalf. I warmly reciprocate them and assure you and those entrusted to your pastoral care of my prayers. Your visit ad Limina Apostolorum is an opportunity to give thanks to God for the work of those who have tirelessly preached the Gospel throughout the length and breadth of your country. It is also an occasion to strengthen in faith, hope and charity your bonds of communion with the Bishop of Rome, and to affirm your commitment to make the face of Christ increasingly more visible within the Church and society, through consistent witness to the Gospel that is Jesus Christ himself.
2. Canada enjoys a proud heritage steeped in rich social diversity. Central to the cultural soul of the nation is Christ’s immeasurable gift of faith which has been received and celebrated over the centuries with deep rejoicing by the peoples of your land. Like many countries, however, Canada is today suffering from the pervasive effects of secularism. The attempt to promote a vision of humanity apart from God’s transcendent order and indifferent to Christ’s beckoning light, removes from the reach of ordinary men and women the experience of genuine hope. One of the more dramatic symptoms of this mentality, clearly evident in your own region, is the plummeting birth rate.
This disturbing testimony to uncertainty and fear, even if not always conscious, is in stark contrast with the definitive experience of true love which by its nature is marked by trust, seeks the good of the beloved, and looks to the eternal (cf. Deus Caritas Est 6).
Faced with the many social ills and moral ambiguities which follow in the wake of a secularist ideology, Canadians look to you to be men of hope, preaching and teaching with passion the splendour of the truth of Christ who dispels the darkness and illuminates the way to renew ecclesial and civic life, educating consciences and teaching the authentic dignity of the person and human society. Particularly in districts which also suffer from the painful consequences of economic decline, such as unemployment and unwanted emigration, ecclesial leadership bears much fruit when, in its concern for the common good, it generously seeks to support civil authorities in their task of promoting regeneration in the community. In this regard, I note with satisfaction the success of the anniversary events celebrated last year in the Archdiocese of Saint John’s, marked by a spirit of cooperation with various civic authorities. Such initiatives manifest a recognition of the need for spiritual strength at the heart of society. In fact, "it is quite impossible to separate the response to people’s material and social needs from the fulfilment of the profound desires of their hearts" (Papal Message for Lent 2006).
3. Dear Brothers, your reports clearly indicate the seriousness with which you are responding to the need for pastoral renewal. I understand that with aging clergy and many isolated communities the challenges are great. Yet, if the Church is going to satisfy the thirst of men and women for truth and authentic values upon which to build their lives no effort can be spared in finding effective pastoral initiatives to make Jesus Christ known. Thus it is of great importance that the catechetical and religious education programmes which you are implementing continue to deepen the faithful’s understanding and love of our Lord and his Church, and reawaken in them the zeal for Christian witness which has its root in the sacrament of Baptism. In this regard, particular care must be taken to ensure that the intrinsic relationship between the Church’s Magisterium, individuals’ faith, and testimony in public life is preserved and promoted. Only in this way can we hope to overcome the debilitating split between the Gospel and culture (cf. Evangelii Nuntiandi EN 20).
Of notable importance are your Catechists. They have embraced with great courage the burning desire that was Saint Paul’s: "deliver ... as of primary importance what I also received" (1Co 15,3). Teaching the faith cannot be reduced to a mere transmission of ‘things’ or words or even a body of abstract truths. The Church’s Tradition is alive! It is the permanent actualization of the active presence of the Lord Jesus among his people, brought about by the Holy Spirit and expressed in the Church in every generation. In this sense it is like a living river that links us to the origins which are ever present and which leads us to the gates of eternity (cf. Catechesis of the General Audience, 26 April 2006). Through you, I acknowledge the fine service of the Catechists in your Dioceses and encourage them in their duty and privilege of making known to others the extraordinary "yes" of God to humanity (cf. 2Co 1,20). Further, I directly appeal in a special way to the young adults of your dioceses to take up the rewarding challenge of catechetical service and share in the satisfaction of handing on the faith. Their example of Christian witness to those younger than themselves will strengthen their own faith, while bringing to others the happiness that flows from the sense of purpose and meaning in life which the Lord reveals.
4. Dans votre plan de renouveau pastoral, vous êtes affrontés à la tâche délicate de la réorganisation des paroisses et même des diocèses. Cela ne peut jamais être réalisé de manière appropriée par les simples modèles sociaux de restructuration. Sans le Christ, nous ne pouvons rien faire (cf. Jn Jn 15,5). La prière nous enracine dans la vérité, nous rappelant sans cesse la primauté du Christ et, en union avec lui, le primat de la vie intérieure et de la sainteté. Les paroisses sont donc, à juste titre, considérées avant tout comme des maisons et des écoles de communion. Par conséquent, la réorganisation des paroisses est essentiellement un exercice de renouveau spirituel. Cela exige une promotion pastorale de la sainteté, afin que les fidèles demeurent attentifs à la volonté de Dieu, dont nous partageons la vie véritable, devenant participants de la nature divine (cf. Dei Verbum DV 2). Une telle sainteté, ou une telle communion intime par le Christ et dans l’Esprit, est affermie entre autres par une pédagogie authentique de la prière, par une introduction à la vie des Saints et aux multiples formes de spiritualité qui embellissent et stimulent la vie de l’Église, par une participation régulière au Sacrement de la Réconciliation, et par une catéchèse convaincante sur le dimanche comme "le jour de la foi", "le jour auquel on ne peut renoncer", "le jour de l’espérance chrétienne" (cf. Dies Domini, 29-30; 38).
J’ai la certitude qu’une redécouverte de Jésus Christ, Verbe fait chair, notre Sauveur, conduira à une redécouverte de l’identité personnelle, sociale et culturelle des fidèles. Loin de confondre la diversité et la complémentarité des charismes et des fonctions des ministres ordonnés et des fidèles laïcs, une identité catholique renforcée ravivera la passion pour l’évangélisation, qui est le propre de la vocation de tout croyant et de la nature de l’Église (cf. Instruction Le prêtre, pasteur et guide de la communauté paroissiale, 23-24).
5. Within the universal call to holiness (cf. 1Th 4,3) is found the particular vocation to which God summons every individual. In this regard, I encourage you to remain vigilant in your duty to promote a culture of vocation. Your reports attest to the admiration you have of your priests who labour with great generousity for the Church’s mission and the good of those whom they serve. I pray that their daily journey of conversion and self-giving love will awaken in young men the desire to respond to God’s call to humble priestly ministry in his Church.
Additionally you have with good reason underlined the fine contribution of Religious Sisters and Brothers to the mission of the Church. This deep appreciation of consecrated life is rightly accompanied by your concern for the decline in Religious vocations in your country. A renewed clarity is needed to articulate the particular contribution of Religious to the life of the Church: a mission to make the love of Christ present in the midst of humanity (cf. Instruction Starting Afresh From Christ: A Renewed Commitment to Consecrated Life in the Third Millennium, 5). Such clarity will give rise to a new kairos, with Religious confidently reaffirming their calling and, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, proposing afresh to young people the ideal of consecration and mission. I again assure Religious Priests, Brothers and Sisters of the vital witness they provide by placing themselves without reserve in the hands of Christ and of the Church, as a strong and clear proclamation of God’s presence in a way understandable to our contemporaries (Homily for the World Day of Consecrated Life, 2 February 2006).
6. Dear Brothers, with affection and fraternal gratitude I offer these reflections to you and assure you of my prayers as you seek to shepherd the flocks entrusted to you. United in your proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ, go forward now in hope! With these sentiments I commend you to the protection of Mary, Mother of the Church, and to the intercession of Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse. To you and to the priests, deacons, Religious and lay faithful of your Dioceses, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing.
Paul VI Hall
Monday, 22 May 2006
Your Eminence,
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
It is a great joy for me to meet with you, Superiors General, representatives and those responsible for Consecrated Life. I address my cordial greeting to all.
With fraternal affection I greet in particular Cardinal Franc Rodé, and I thank him for interpreting - together with your other representatives - your sentiments. I greet the Secretary and Collaborators of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, grateful for the service that this Dicastery offers to the Church in the important sector of Consecrated Life.
In this moment, my thought goes with lively gratitude to all of the men and women religious, consecrated persons and members of the Societies of Apostolic Life who spread in the Church and the world the bonus odor Christi (cf. II Cor 2: 15).
I ask that you, Major Superiors, transmit a word of special kindness to those who are in difficulty, the elderly and sick, to those who are living moments of crisis and solitude, to those who suffer and feel lost, and also to the young men and women who still today are knocking at the door of your Houses, asking to be able to give themselves to Jesus Christ in the radicalness of the Gospel.
I wish that this moment of meeting and of profound communion with the Pope may be for each of you one of encouragement and comfort in the fulfilment of a duty that is evermore demanding and at times opposed.
The service of authority demands a persevering presence, able to enliven and take initiative, to recall the raison d'être of consecrated life, to help the persons entrusted to you to correspond with ever-renewed fidelity to the call of the Spirit.
Your duty is often accompanied by the Cross and sometimes by a solitude that requires a profound sense of responsibility, a generosity that does not falter, and continual self-denial. You are called to sustain and to guide your brothers and sisters in a difficult epoch, one marked by numerous temptations.
Consecrated men and women of today have the duty to be witnesses of the transfiguring presence of God in a world that is evermore disoriented and confused, a world where toning down has substituted sharp and distinctive colours.
The ability to look at our time with the gaze of faith means to be able to look at men and women, the world and history in the light of the Crucified and Risen Christ, the only One able to direct "men and women as they strive to make their way amid the pressures of an immanentist habit of mind and the constrictions of a technocratic logic" (Encyclical Letter Fides et Ratio, n. 15).
In these last years, consecrated life has been re-examined with a more evangelical, ecclesial and apostolic spirit; but we cannot ignore that some concrete choices have not offered to the world the authentic and vivifying face of Christ.
In fact, the secularized culture has penetrated the mind and heart of not a few consecrated persons, who understand it as a way to enter modernity and a modality of approach to the contemporary world.
As a result, in addition to an undoubted thrust of generosity capable of witness and of total giving, consecrated life today knows the temptation of mediocrity, of middle-class ways and of a consumeristic mentality.
In the Gospel, Jesus warned us that there are two ways: one is the narrow way that leads to life, the other is wide that leads to destruction (cf. Mt 7,13-14). The true alternative is, and will always be, the acceptance of the living God through obedient, faithful service, or the rejection of him.
One priority condition to the following of Christ, therefore, is abnegation, detachment from all that is not him. The Lord wants men and women who are free, not bound, able to give up everything to follow him and to find in him alone their very all.
Courageous choices must be made, both at the personal and communal levels, which give a new discipline to the life of consecrated persons and bring them to rediscover the all-encompassing dimension of the sequela Christi.
Belonging to the Lord means to be on fire with his incandescent love, to be transformed into the splendour of his beauty: our littleness is offered to him as a sacrifice of sweet fragrance so that it becomes a witness of the greatness of his presence for our epoch, which has great need to be inebriated by the richness of his grace.
Belonging to the Lord: this is the mission of the men and women who have chosen to follow Christ - chaste, poor and obedient - so that the world may believe and be saved. To belong completely to Christ so as to become a permanent confession of faith, an unequivocal proclamation of truth that frees us from the seduction of the false idols that deceive the world.
To belong to Christ means to keep the flame of love always burning in our heart, continually fed by the richness of faith, not only when this brings with it interior joy but also when it is joined to difficulty, aridity and suffering. Prayer is the nourishment for the interior life, intimate conversation of the consecrated soul with the divine Spouse.
Even richer nourishment is daily participation in the ineffable mystery of the divine Eucharist, where the Risen Christ makes himself continually present in his corporeal reality.
To belong completely to the Lord, consecrated persons embrace a chaste lifestyle. Consecrated virginity cannot be inscribed in the framework of worldly logic; it is the most "nonsensical" of Christian paradoxes and it is not given to all to understand and to live it (cf. Mt Mt 19,11-12).
To live a chaste life also means to give up the need to belong, to take on a lifestyle that is sober and modest. Men and women religious are called to show this also in the choice of habit, a simple habit that is a sign of poverty lived in union with the One who, rich as he was, became poor to make us rich with his poverty (cf. II Cor 8: 9).
In this way, and only in this way, can one follow Christ crucified and poor without reserve, immersing oneself in his mystery and making his choices of humility, poverty and meekness one's own.
The theme of the last Plenary Meeting of the Congregation for Institutes of Religious Life and Societies of Apostolic Life was The service of authority. Dear Superiors General, it is an occasion to deepen reflection on the exercise of authority and obedience so that it will be evermore inspired by the Gospel.
The burden of one who is called to accomplish the delicate task of Superior at all levels will be much easier the more consecrated persons know how to rediscover the value of professed obedience - which has Abraham, our father in the faith, as its model - and even more so that of Christ. It is necessary to take refuge from voluntarism and spontaneity to embrace the logic of the Cross.
In conclusion, consecrated men and women are called to be credible and luminous signs of the Gospel and its paradoxes in the world without conforming to the mentality of this world, but to continually transform and renew one's own duty, to be able to discern God's will, what is good, acceptable and perfect to him (cf. Rom Rm 12,2).
This is precisely my wish, dear brothers and sisters; it is a wish upon which I invoke the maternal intercession of the Virgin Mary, unsurpassable model of every consecrated life.
With these sentiments, I affectionately impart the Apostolic Blessing, willingly extending it to all who belong to your numerous spiritual Families.
Benedict XVI Speechs 2006