Speeches 1986 - International Airport of Dacca (Bangladesh), 19 November 1986
I cordially greet the followers of the Hindu and Buddhist traditions, and all men and women of good will.
May the spirit of our meeting be one of harmony, peace and brotherhood.
In fulfilling my responsibilities within the Catholic Church, I come as a witness to the Christian faith and as the guarantor of unity among my Catholic brothers and sisters. In particular it is my mission to confirm the faith of my brother bishops, and of the priests, religious and laity of the Catholic community. In the love of our Lord Jesus Christ I also greet the members of the other Christian communities. In the spirit of fellowship which the Gospel teaches, t encourage all to continue in joyful service of the nation and in responsible collaboration with their fellow citizens in the immense task of development.
4. Before all of you present here, and before the entire Bangladeshi people, I express the fervent hope and prayer that your country may go steadily forward:
– in respect for the dignity of every individual;
– in the health and happiness of your families;
– in the strengthening of the country’s wholesome institutions and social structures;
– in the commitment of all its citizens to the common good;
– and in the worship of the all merciful God in spirit and in truth, in freedom and love.
May the Almighty and Merciful God bless Bangladesh!
Dear Friends,
Distinguished representatives of the religious and public life of Bangladesh,
1. During this brief visit that God is enabling me to make to your country, I am particularly happy to have the opportunity to speak to this gathering of representatives of many different sectors of life in Bangladesh. With profound joy and sentiments of good will I greet each one of you. I truly hope by our meeting to confirm you in the spirit of "Communion and Brotherhood", which you have chosen as the theme of this visit. "Communion and Brotherhood " expresses my own feelings towards the people of Bangladesh.
The journey which is beginning here in Bangladesh will take me to Singapore, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia and the Seychelles. What is my purpose in making these visits? In the first place they have a profound ecclesial meaning for the Catholic communities throughout the world. Secondly, they are meant to carry forward the Catholic Church’s commitment to sincere and loyal dialogue with other religious traditions concerning the common spiritual and human destiny which we all share. Thirdly, by visiting the different parts of the world I wish to alert men and women of good will to the grave challenges that the human family faces in the final years of the twentieth century.
2. First of all. then, my visit is to the Catholic community. The Church is a community of faith and Christian life in fidelity to the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. Her members belong to every race and nation, and they reflect every social condition. Without abandoning or weakening their membership of a particular nation and culture, they are united with one another by a universal spiritual bond. This "koinonia" or communion of the members of the Church is not just an attitude of spiritual solidarity; it is primarily a sharing in certain gifts with which Christ has endowed the Church through the Spirit which he pours out into our hearts.
The Second Vatican Council lists some of these gifts: Sacred Scripture, our Trinitarian belief, the Sacraments, the life of grace, faith, hope and charity, and other charisms. Through these gifts we enter into union with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and into communion with one another. This communion has a" permanent and visible source and foundation of unity" in the Successor of Peter. Today the Lord has enabled me, the latest in the long line of Popes, to be present among you in person, in order to confirm your faith and fellowship. Herein lies the deepest meaning of my visit to the Catholic community of Bangladesh.
To you, then, bishops, priests, men and women religious, seminarians and representatives of the laity of Bangladesh I wish to repeat the words of Saint Paul: "We give thanks to God for you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope".
In speaking to the members of the Catholic Church in Bangladesh I am conscious of the spiritual, cultural and social setting in which you live and work. For a number of years you have been examining your pastoral and charitable activities in relation to the needs of the Church and the nation. In this respects the teachings and guidelines of the Second Vatican Council constitute an essential point of reference for the entire Church in fulfilling her mission in the present circumstances of history and of the world.
The proper application of the Council’s directives, many of which have been supplemented by later documents of the Holy See, requires much courage and planning on the part of the whole ecclesial community.
3. The "Pastoral Plan for the Church in Bangladesh", published by your Bishops’ Conference at Pentecost 1985, identifies a number of challenges that the Church faces. Each of you has a distinctive contribution to make in responding to them. You feel a need for greater coordination at the local, diocesan and national levels in programmes of formation and pastoral action. This is a requirement not only of external organization but also and especially of the spiritual communion which unites you in the Lord.
In particular you feel a need for the specific role of the laity in the life and work of the Church to be fully recognized and put into practice. You also desire to be ever closer to all the people of Bangladesh, to the cultural and social conditions of your fellow citizens. You are concerned, and rightly so, to be present among them in all their strivings.
4. To all the priests, I wish to offer a special word of encouragement. You have been configured to Christ in a particular way by the grace of ordination, and you must try each day to reflect more and more the meekness and love of that Heart which was moved to compassion by the multitudes. Support one another through prayer and through the example of your generous priestly life and ministry. Heed the words of the Apostle: "Do not be conformed to the spirit of this world". As true pastors of the people entrusted to you, teach them to assume their proper role in the ecclesial and civil communities. For my part each day I will pray for you to Mary, Mother of the Church and our Mother, and our companion on the path of discipleship.
5. In the words of the Apostle I would exhort the men and women religious of Bangladesh always to "walk in newness of life" according to their special charism within the ecclesial community. With hearts filled with joy, you must continue to serve the Church in this country with generosity and self-sacrifice. 3e mindful always of your identity and of your dignity. All that you do in the service of others assumes a special meaning because of what you are: people who have left all in order to make the unfathomable love of Christ the whole substance of your lives.
6. I extend a special greeting also to the seminarians of Bangladesh. May you experience in the depths of your hearts the attractiveness and power of Christ’s call: "If you would be perfect... come, follow me". Prepare yourselves carefully for the priestly tasks that await you. And know that the Pope loves you and prays for you.
7. Dear lay people of Bangladesh: you will not be surprised that the first thought of the Pope in your regard is one of solidarity in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a joy for me to know of your enthusiasm to grow in faith and love so as better to fulfil your role in the Church and the world.
You are a "little flock" and many of you are poor. You struggle with the natural limitations and manmade difficulties of your existence in this land. You know that in spite of these circumstances the Lord calls you to lives of holiness and peace.
Holiness of life means giving God first place in your thoughts and actions; it means respecting his will for your family life and being truthful and just in your dealings with each other. Holiness means taking time to pray; it means love of neighbour, forgiveness of those who offend you, and patience in the trials of life. It means growing in the knowledge of the faith, in piety and in obedience to the eternal Father.
Peace means that you will live in brotherhood with all; that you will try to share each other’s burdens, that you will collaborate in the work of progress and development, that you will seek to promote harmony and mutual respect among all members of the nation.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: I urge you to stand firm in the hope to which you have been called. Remember that the whole Church looks to you with love and supports you in a prayerful union of hearts.
8. Young people of Bangladesh: you more than anyone else are called to help shape the world in which you live. The future belongs to you. And yet you can often feel frustrated or disillusioned. You long for a better world, yet age-old selfishness continues to prevail. Sometimes you do not know where to begin to change things for the better. But if you were to lose heart, however enormous the tasks before you, you would be condemning yourselves and your generation to perpetuate the very situation that demands improvement.
I would like to remind you of the young man in the Gospel, full of good will, who approached Jesus and asked: “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?". Good Teacher! You too need good teachers who will lead you to what is good, along the paths of truth, life and love, away from every form of deceit, hatred or violence; teachers who will lead you to God. And Jesus replies to the young man: "No one is good but God alone". In fact, as I wrote concerning this very passage on the occasion of the International Youth Year: "Without reference to God, the whole world of created values remains as it were suspended in an absolute vacuum. It also loses its transparency, its expressiveness. Evil is put forward as a good and good itself is rejected. Are we not shown this by the experience of our own time...?".
The final part. of this Gospel narrative shows how much depends on your own willingness to do your part. The young man went away sad. He did not have the courage to commit himself to Christ’s work. You, though, must be willing to serve the well-being of your brothers and sisters in this land, by using your youthful energies to the full. In this way you will be expressing the authenticity of your faith and you will set a noble goal to your endeavours.
In the great enterprise of seeking just solutions of the sufferings and needs of your fellow citizens, young people of all faiths should be open to each other in a spirit of collaboration and mutual esteem. Young people of Bangladesh, assume your role in the development of your country. Prepare yourselves diligently for the challenges that call you to contribute the best of yourselves to the service of your people and of your homeland.
9. Distinguished representatives of all religious beliefs, men and women of Bangladesh: my message concerns the sublime dignity of every human being in God’s plan for the human family. There is a growing conviction that something must urgently be done to secure the peace and development that are the conditions for a better future for the whole human race. We are painfully aware that man’s God given dignity, and even survival itself, are gravely threatened. The political and ideological tensions between East and West, and the economic and social tensions between North and South, as well as the many forms of violence, injustice and inequality, are a present and growing threat to human rights and human dignity.
It is my constant prayer that the harmony of mind demonstrated at the recent meeting of prayer at Assisi – where the leaders of the Churches and Christian Communions and the other religions of the world gathered to implore the gift of peace from God – will grow from day to day until all individuals and all peoples are reconciled in love. We who believe in the almighty power of the Most High God must be convinced that with his help peace and reconciliation are possible. Indeed it is his will that we work together to bring these about.
10. With particular respect I greet the sick and the poor, those here present and those who were unable to come. In you I see the face of suffering humanity. I think of those many people, young and old, in every land, whose lives are marked by pain and want. In you I see the face of the suffering Christ, the “man of sorrows", who offers to the Father his suffering and death as "the cup of salvation". Often, through your pain you have learned to be more human and more sensitive to the needs of others. In this way you have grown in dignity. That is why Jesus could say "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied". This does not mean that you should not seek genuine liberation from life’s sorrows. Nor does it mean that society can forget its very strict obligations in your regard. Rather, it means that your needs are not your concern alone; they are the very voice of God telling the world that it will be judged on the way it meets these needs on the justice, mercy and love that it shows to you. I pray that you will indeed experience the effective solidarity of which you stand in need. Above all I hope that the citizens of this land will not rest until the values of justice, mercy and love prevail. May the Most High God sustain and strengthen you all.
11. Dear friends: my brief stay among you is coming to an end. I therefore wish to express once more my gratitude to the Government and to the Church in Bangladesh for everything that has been done to make this visit possible. It was my wish to know your country more closely. I shall take away with me the memory of a people seeking to honour the Creator and to attain a better future for themselves and their children. May you all be united in working for this goal. May Almighty God bless each one of you!
Venerable and dear brother Bishops,
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
1. It was a great joy for me to receive the news that a delegation would be coming to Bangladesh from the Church in Burma. And now I have the pleasure of meeting you personally. In the grace and peace of our Lord and Saviour I greet you all.
The Church is a wonderful reality, one which could never be understood without faith. Yet even for us believers the Church remains a mystery. She is described as the Body of Christ, the family of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit. She is the community of all those who believe in Christ. She is present in every nation and is still the same Catholic Church. She is the pilgrim People of God entrusted with the Good News of salvation. She is a servant and teacher, a mother, virgin and bride. At all times, and in all countries, she experiences within herself, in the lives of all her members, the mystery of Christ’s Cross and the mystery of Christ’s risen life.
2. As I greet you today, I am thinking of the Church that is the faithful in your beloved land. In Burma, Catholics make up only a small part of the population. As loyal citizens of your nation, and out of a genuine love for all your Burmese brothers and sisters, you feel a deep desire to help others come to know Jesus and his Gospel of mercy and peace.
You are like the leaven and the salt of the Gospel. You enrich the quality of life of your neighbours and friends, but often in ways that are unnoticed. Through the fidelity of your own lives, you bear witness to the person and message of Christ.
3. As I have the joy of this meeting today, I wish to assure you of the special love and prayers of the members of the Church in many faces throughout the world. What we feel is well expressed in the words of Saint Paul: "We give thanks to God always for you all, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brethren beloved by God, that he has chosen you".
Please tell the whole Church in Burma of my fraternal love in our Lord Jesus Christ. I am close to all of you in the trials and difficulties of your lives, as well as in your invincible Christian hope. And now I entrust you all to the protection of Mary, Mother of God and Mother of the Church. I ask her to give you joy and strength in Christian living, and to help you to be for ever faithful to her Son. With deep affection I impart to all of you my Apostolic Blessing, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear brother Bishops,
1. I thank God, the Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, for this opportunity to renew the ecclesial communion and brotherhood which we experienced together during your ad limina visit last year. You came to the See of Peter to manifest your apostolic faith. Now, with immense joy, the Successor of Peter comes to your own land to confirm and strengthen you in your service of the Gospel, which is "the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith".
This meeting is thus a spiritual continuation of your ad limina visit. At that time I spoke of the great mystery of the Church, the community of faith, hope and charity, called to proclaim in every age and to all peoples the saving work of Christ crucified and risen from the dead. We reflected together on the unity of the Church’s faith and discipline which is entrusted, above all. to the teaching and pastoral office of the bishop who is himself the visible source and foundation of unity in his local Church. We recognized the importance of the united action of the bishops and of the whole community in the service of the poor and the suffering, who are always with us to bear witness to the suffering Christ. We spoke of the Church’s desire to foster dialogue with non-Christians, and in particular with our Muslim brethren who constitute the vast majority of the people of this country.
2. My presence among you today is meant to be a sign and a confirmation that you belong to the universal communion of the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church, "which the Lord established on the Apostles and built upon blessed Peter, their chief, while Christ Jesus himself remained the supreme cornerstone". The entire Church is with you, and you are with the Church and in the Church. This bond of grace and divine love is manifest in the union of prayer and practical solidarity by which one part of the Church seeks to serve the others. The abundance of one part of God’s people involves a responsibility for meeting the needs of another part. I have called you a pusillus grex, for that is what you are. But no part of the Church can feel itself isolated or forgotten by the great family of those redeemed by Christ.
I wish to assure you that your hopes and aspirations, your burdens and sorrows find a special echo in my own heart. In my prayer I constantly offer you as a spiritual sacrifice to God, knowing that he will sustain you and give you increase.
3. The Church has been present in this region for over four centuries, and this year you are happily celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the Diocese of Dhaka, now an Archdiocese. Against this background and in prayerful attention to what the "signs of the times" reveal regarding the "moment" which the Catholic community in Bangladesh is living, you have committed yourselves and your communities to achieving the goals of the "Pastoral Plan for the Church in Bangladesh". I wish to encourage you along this path. Above all I encourage you to work in unity, so that everyone in the Church in Bangladesh will come together in a renewed and more conscious sharing in the Church’s apostolate. As you yourselves wrote, you are indeed "at the threshold of a new Advent, a new moment of this grace and mission of service".
4. The final purpose of this ecclesial endeavour is none other than the Kingdom of God: "Seek first the Father’s kingdom and his righteousness". This is the content of Jesus’ redemptive mission which the Church continues in time. This is the essential message of the Church today. The Holy Spirit constantly gives fresh life and energy to the Christian community for the task of proclaiming Good News to the poor, release to the captives, and an acceptable year of the Lord. The generous individual and collective response of pastors and faithful to this "Good News", both within the ecclesial body itself and outwards towards the entire national community, constitutes the new Advent, the new moment of grace and mission of which you have written. The Churches over which you preside in charity will undoubtedly experience vitality and fruitfulness in the measure in which they are open to this evangelical challenge.
You are entrusted with a mission that goes far beyond a mere material enterprise and even beyond your human capacity to respond, and so you place your trust in Christ. You draw courage from the thought that the message you proclaim is in no way alien to the character and needs of your people. You proclaim justice, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. These are values which Christians are called to make "incarnate" in their lives and activities, as a testimony, so that the world may believe. These are values which are valid for all peoples in all ages. They are human aspirations concerning which the followers of different religious traditions and men and women of good will can and should enter into dialogue and collaboration. These are values which the contemporary world urgently needs.
5. As bishops you are aware of the importance of involving all the members of the Church in putting the Pastoral Plan into practice. You have asked everyone to take part and share in the responsibility.
Your Bangladeshi priests, as well as the missionary priests from other lands, are your closest collaborators. They should be the first ones to benefit from your pastoral solicitude and fraternal love. They preach the word of God and teach the faithful the truths of faith. They teach them the practice of the Christian life and what justice demands. They encourage families to respond to their Christian calling in the service of love and life. They watch over the welfare of children and the Christian formation of youth. They seek out the sheep that has gone astray and bring the Gospel message to those who have not yet heard it. They are often obliged to carry out their ministry in materially and spiritually difficult situations. For each one of them you are teacher, father, brother and friend You have a sacred duty to esteem and support them, to pray for them and see to their spiritual advancement: you must always be readily available to them with kindness and evangelical charity.
The Christian communities of Bangladesh are small, and live in the midst of a large non-Christian population. The priests are often isolated and their activities are many and varied. It is therefore especially important to seek ways of fostering a deep sense of communion among priests, both diocesan and religious, so that they have a real and personal share in the whole life of the diocese. If they maintain an interest in theological study and continue pastoral formation, they will more easily meet the new challenges which their apostolate constantly brings. In all of this the bishop’s word and witness are of the greatest importance for the good of his presbyterium as a whole and of each individual priest member.
6. The bishop has to concern himself with the well-being of the men and women religious who collaborate with him in the service of God’s people. Through the health-care, charitable and educational activities carried out by the Religious Congregations in your country, the Church is present in a visible and helpful way, even to non-Christian. Your particular Churches are consolidated and built up by the religious, who witness to the primacy of the love of Jesus by the faithful observance of their vows. Religious life in fact is a "divine gift" to the Church. The bishop must therefore promote and encourage vocations, and show his support by often visiting communities and respecting their specific charisms.
One of the most positive signs of the vitality of the Church in your country is the increasing numbers of vocations to the priesthood and to the religious life. Thus the Lord is indeed responding to your needs. He is sending labourers into his harvest to make up for the scarcity of workers for the Gospel which you have felt so deeply.
That grace constitutes a responsibility for all concerned: a responsibility for the appropriate selection and training of candidates. Time and effort spent in giving them an adequate preparation for the ecclesial tasks ahead is never too much. I encourage you to make this one of your first concerns. There is also the responsibility for using the energies and talents of religious communities in an organized pastoral programme of action.
7. As bishops, you are heralds of God’s love for his people. In your ministry you seek to express the compassion that Jesus had for the crowds. Thus, while you point the way to final happiness in the Father’s house, you are concerned to stimulate the Christian community to serve the poor and the less fortunate in their immediate needs, and you endeavour to guide the faithful in the task of promoting greater justice in human affairs.
The whole Church "recognizes in the poor and the suffering the likeness of her poor and suffering Founder. She does all she can to relieve their need and in them she strives to serve Christ". The Church in Bangladesh feels called to such service in an eminent way. She lives in constant awareness of the needs of the nation. She herself is a community of "little ones".
In your Pastoral Plan you have indicated the service of the poor - in all the forms that material and spiritual poverty assumes - as a priority in the Church’s service. This in an area in which no lasting results can be obtained without the "skilful concern and attention - op the laity". In this you will seek to favour "the unmistakable work of the Holy Spirit in making the laity today even more conscious of their own responsibility and inspiring them everywhere to serve Christ and the Church".
8. Whatever is done for the spiritual and professional training of lay men and women willing to work for the renewal of the temporal order constitutes a great service to the nation and the Church. Catholic education, specialized programmes of formation for the laity, training for leadership both within the ecclesial community and in society in general are a genuine contribution to the nation’s development. By cooperating with their fellow citizens, the members of the Church seek to build society on the bases of the dignity and inalienable rights of every human person, on justice, and on a real solidarity among individuals and groups. They do this through personal conviction and a sense of responsibility inspired by the Gospel and by Christ’s command to love and serve one’s neighbour.
You are very much aware of the important role of young people in building the future of the Church and of society. In many ways they are the special object of your pastoral concern. New ideas and changing social and cultural conditions deeply affect them. They need understanding and sure guidance. I earnestly encourage you and the priests and religious to be close to them, to help them to find the truth and to live in holiness.
9. Finally, there are two thoughts which I wish to share with you regarding your pastoral care of God’s people. First, the vitality and Christian hope of your communities depend upon a real commitment to prayer. The Church in Bangladesh must be a Church that prays. In the Lord’s Prayer we can all recognize our deepest aspirations and the certainty of God’s loving response. To praise the Father, to acknowledge his will, to implore his gifts and blessings: these are the profound realities of our lives which we express in hopefilled prayer. As bishops, you are called to give an example of spiritual maturity. You invite and encourage your priests and all your collaborators to pray. You teach the faithful to do so, both as individuals and as a community gathered to celebrate the mysteries of faith. In such a prayerful community the Holy Spirit cannot but pour forth his gifts of light, strength and courage for the present tasks and the challenges of the future.
10. The other reflection which I convey to you concerns the wonderful and inspiring truth of the catholicity and universal nature d Christ’s Church. The Church spread throughout the world is the one visible Body of Christ. All the particular Churches are united with one another and with the See of Peter. Furthermore, in the "Communion of Saints" we share in each other’s riches of grace beyond the frontiers of time and space. Through catechesis and the preaching of the word this thought can penetrate the spiritual and ecclesial outlook of all your people. They will then feel more truly a part of the great mystery of the Church. They will be strengthened and encouraged. They will see local realities in the light of the universal call to holiness and salvation.
11. My dear brother bishops: I commend you and your people to the loving intercession of Mary, Mother of God and Mother of the Church. May she who knew how to keep the workings of God’s saving providence, pondering them in her heart, help you to read the "signs" of God’s favour upon your people. May she help you to nourish your people with the Eucharist and the word of God, and lead them to eternal life.
In the communion of apostolic service, I assure you of my fraternal support, and I invoke from the Father every good gift upon you, your priests, religious, and laity. "My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen".
Dear Brothers in Christ,
1. I greet with joy in our Risen Saviour the priests of Singapore and Malaysia. I am very pleased to be with you today during this Pastoral Visit to Singapore. I have heard of your zeal for evangelization and of your loyalty and love for the Church. The local Churches which you serve are young and expanding, and you have a real missionary spirit.
It is only right that I should feel close to you and remember you in prayer each day. For we priests are united in brotherhood, a sacramental brotherhood. We share in the one priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whether we find ourselves serving Christ in our own native land or ministering to God’s people in another country, each of us can rejoice at having been called by name and sent to proclaim the Good News.
By his ordination, a priest is set apart in the midst of the People of God, not for the sake of personal honour or special privilege, but for the sake of Gospel service. It is our task to help people grow in God’s love and life. Through the ministry of word and sacrament, we try to develop in them a thirst for eternity, a hunger for truth and goodness, a longing for God.
This is what unites us as brothers: the vocation of priesthood in a Church which is by nature missionary.
2. As you know, dear brothers, on Holy Thursday every year I address a letter to all the priests of the world. This is one of the ways in which I try to offer you encouragement and support. It is also one of the ways in which I fulfil my apostolic mission of confirming my brothers in the faith. I choose Holy Thursday because it is good for us to go back to the Upper Room.
Speeches 1986 - International Airport of Dacca (Bangladesh), 19 November 1986