Speechs 2007
Good Friday, 6 April 2007
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
By following Jesus on the way of his Passion we not only see the Passion of Jesus, but we also see all the suffering in the world, and this is the profound intention of the prayer of the Way of the Cross: to open our hearts and to help us to see with our heart.
The Fathers of the Church considered insensitivity and hardness of heart the greatest sin of the pagan world and were fond of the Prophet Ezekiel's prophecy: "I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh" (cf. Ez Ez 36,26).
Being converted to Christ, becoming Christian, meant receiving a heart of flesh, a heart sensitive to the passion and suffering of others.
Our God is not a remote God, intangible in his blessedness. Our God has a heart.
Indeed, he has a heart of flesh; he was made flesh precisely to be able to suffer with us and to be with us in our suffering.
He was made man to give us a heart of flesh and to reawaken within us love for the suffering, for the destitute.
Let us pray to the Lord at this time for all the suffering people of the world.
Let us pray to the Lord that he will truly give us a heart of flesh, that he will make us messengers of his love not only with words, but with our entire life. Amen.
Clementine Hall
Monday, 16 April 2007
Your Eminence, Dear Canon and Dear Friends,
There is so much to be grateful for that I do not know where to begin. And when the heart is full, words can sometimes spill over, yet at times one can be tongue-tied. At this moment, I have no words to express my heartfelt gratitude as I should like. I want to thank you warmly, dear Brother, for all that you have done in these long years as Archbishop of Munich, for all your energy, your faith, your love, knowledge, courage and friendship. I think that the Archdiocese feels all this and knows that it has been guided by a Good Shepherd. In these hours let us pray to God to help us to find the right person to take in hand St Corbinian's apostolate.
Above all, I would like to give heartfelt thanks for the experiences I had during those beautiful days of my Visit to Bavaria, especially to Munich and to Freising, and for the love, attention, careful preparation, dedication and, obviously, the prayers in common.
Those days - from the beginning at the airport and especially in Marienplatz, in the Cathedral of Munich and that of Freising, at the Fair and in the Bishops' Residence itself - are luminously present in my mind. The human being needs memories to help him.
I am accustomed to thinking back with a grateful heart to the landscape of memories; and it is then that I am particularly fond of thinking back to those blessed days.
I thank you all, dear Brothers: a special personal relationship binds me to each one of you; I do not need to list them here - nor could I. I know well that each of you, in your office, carries out a service for the Archdiocese, for the Church of God, in profound communion with the one chosen to be the Successor of Peter.
I know, so to speak, that an entire existential process and the gift of a life, the inner struggle and the effort of an existence are interwoven with your commitment and shine out in the Archdiocese, helping to ensure that you are able to live faith in the communion of the Church, in communion with the Lord and in communion with Our Lady of Munich, and joyously to pass it on to the future.
You are the Metropolitan Chapter of Our Lady - what a lovely name -, which unites, precisely, the metropolis, that is, the mother-city of the faith with the Mother of faith herself, thus to be able to spread the warmth and cordiality of the faith in our Land of Bavaria.
This morning, I had two encouraging conversations: one with the Minister President of Bavaria and the other with the Minister President of Schleswig-Holstein; in spite of coming from remarkably different environments and temperaments, they both expressed the inner certainty that faith gives access to a future and that at this moment in the encounter of cultures and with the conflict of cultures on the horizon, it is of prime importance that the interior, pacifying and healing power of the Christian faith remain alive in our people and thereby influence the future as a force for good.
There was another good meeting this morning: with Metropolitan Ioannis Zizioulas of Pergamon, the Envoy of the Patriarch of Constantinople, one of the great champions of the Catholic-Orthodox dialogue. He is sustained by a deep inner conviction that the encounter between Rome and Orthodoxy is fundamentally important for the European Continent and the future of universal history, and that we must spare no effort to ensure that this encounter truly leads to brotherly communion and that from it is then born the blessing of communion of faith: the blessing so that humanity may see that we are "one" and, on this basis, believe in Christ.
I think this is our common mission: to commit ourselves, each in his own role, so that the power of faith may become active in this world and effective as joy, as trust, as a gift at this moment.
Thank you again for the meeting in Munich and for the meeting here. Let us pray together that the Lord will help us, each one of us, to do the right thing, and thus that our history may be blessed. A warm "thank you" to you all, and please greet Bavaria for me!
FOR THE HOLY FATHER'S 80th BIRTHDAY
Hall of Dukes
Monday, 16 April 2007
Dear Brothers and Friends,
At this moment I can only say "thank you" with all my heart.
My thanks go first of all to the Cardinal Dean of the Sacred College, both for his words paying homage to me yesterday with exquisite kindness and for what was written in 30 Giorni [30 Days magazine], and then for his most sensitive and competent organization of this very fine luncheon, at which we have experienced a moment of our affective and effective collegiality.
Indeed, I would say that it was not only a moment of collegiality but also of authentic brotherhood. We truly felt how beautiful it is to be together: "Ecce quam bonum et quam iucundum habitare fratres in unum" (Ps 133[132]: 1).
I am grateful for this experience of brotherhood, which I also feel in my daily life. Even if we do not see one another constantly, I always sense and notice the collaboration of those who help me. The College of Cardinals really offers effective and important support to the work of the Successor of Peter.
I would further like to say "thank you" here to all the Cardinals who wrote such beautiful things, both in 30 Giorni and in the special column of Avvenire newspaper, as well as in other publications.
I also thank those who did not write, but thought and prayed. The true gift to me today is prayer, which gives me the certainty that I am accepted from within and above all, assisted and sustained in my Petrine ministry, a ministry which I cannot carry out on my own but only in communion with all who help me, also by praying, so that the Lord may be with all of us and also with me.
Today, in the Office of Readings we recited the words of a Psalm which ring especially true and are very precious to me: "In manibus tuis sortes meae" (Ps 31[30]: 16); in the Vetus latina the text was: "In manu tua tempora mea"; the Italian translation says: "Nelle tue mani sono i miei giorni"; the Greek text speaks of kairoi mou [the English translation is "my times are in your hands"].
All these versions mirror a single truth: that our time, every day, the events of our life, our destiny and our action are in the good hands of the Lord. This accounts for the great trust with which we go ahead, knowing that these hands of the Lord are sustained by the hands and hearts of so many Cardinals.
This is a cause of great joy to me today. I thank you all, and offer you very many good wishes!
CONCERT FOR THE HOLY FATHER'S 80th BIRTHDAY
Paul VI Audience Hall
Monday, 16 April 2007
Your Eminences,
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends,
At the end of this marvellous concert at which the Stuttgart Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra have offered us a gift by uplifting our hearts, I would like to greet you all warmly.
I thank Minister Willi Stächele and Prof. Peter Voss, Director of the Südwestrundfunks, for their courteous words to me at the beginning.
I willingly and joyfully accepted your musical gift, this marvellous Birthday present from Southwest Germany, especially because the Baden-Württemberg Land is linked to an important and formative phase of my life. The Minister has already mentioned my roots.
In fact, I willingly think back to my years at Tübingen, to the intellectual and scientific exchange in that university and the many precious meetings with people which I had there and which continued for years and decades and are still taking place.
Above all, I would now like to thank the musicians of this evening's event, the members of the Stuttgarter Radio-Sinfonieorchesters,the SWR, who with their skill have offered us all an authentic experience of the inspiring power of great music.
I thank Gustavo Dudamel, the conductor, and Hilary Hahn, the soloist, and all of you, Ladies and Gentlemen. Since the language of music is universal, we see people from completely different cultural and religious backgrounds who let themselves be gripped and likewise guided by it and who also interpret it.
Today, this universal aspect of music is given special emphasis, thanks to the electronic and digital instruments of communications. How many people there are in the most diverse countries who are able to take part in this musical performance at home, or experience it later!
I am convinced that music - and here I am thinking in particular of the great Mozart and this evening, of course, of the marvellous music by Gabrieli and the majestic "New World" by Dvorák - really is the universal language of beauty which can bring together all people of good will on earth and get them to lift their gaze on high and open themselves to the Absolute Good and Beauty whose ultimate source is God himself.
In looking back over my life, I thank God for placing music beside me, as it were, as a travelling companion that has offered me comfort and joy. I also thank the people who from the very first years of my childhood brought me close to this source of inspiration and serenity.
I thank those who combine music and prayer in harmonious praise of God and his works: they help us glorify the Creator and Redeemer of the world, which is the marvellous work of his hands.
This is my hope: that the greatness and beauty of music will also give you, dear friends, new and continuous inspiration in order to build a world of love, solidarity and peace.
For this I invoke upon us who are gathered this evening in the Vatican and upon everyone who is linked to us via radio and television the constant protection of God, of that God of love who desires to kindle ceaselessly in our hearts the flame of good, and to feed it with his grace. May he, the Lord and Giver of new and definitive life, whose victory we are joyfully celebrating in this Easter Season, bless you all!
I thank you once again for your presence and for your good wishes.
A Happy Easter Season to everyone!
Thank you!
Clementine Hall
Friday, 20 April 2007
Dear Friends,
I am pleased to greet the members of The Papal Foundation on the occasion of your annual pilgrimage to Rome. This year our meeting is once again filled with the joy of the Easter season, in which the Church commemorates Christ’s passover from death to life, the dawn of the new creation and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. May the same Spirit fill your hearts with gifts of wisdom, joy and peace, and may your pilgrimage to the tombs of the apostles and martyrs renew your love of the Lord and his Church.
Since its inception, The Papal Foundation has sought to advance the Church’s mission by supporting specific charities close to the heart of the Successor of Peter in his solicitude for all the Churches (cf. 1Co 11,28). I willingly take this occasion to express my gratitude not only for the assistance which the Foundation has given to developing countries through grants supporting a variety of educational and charitable projects, but also through the many scholarships provided to Pontifical Universities here in Rome for lay faithful, priests and religious. In this way, you are making a significant contribution to the formation of future leaders whose minds and hearts are shaped by the teaching of the Gospel, the wisdom of Catholic social teaching and a profound sense of communion with the universal Church in her service to the entire human family.
During this Easter season I encourage all of you to discover ever more fully in the Eucharist, the sacrament of Christ’s sacrificial love, the inspiration and strength needed to work ever more generously for the spread of God’s Kingdom and the growth of the civilization of love (cf. Sacramentum Caritatis, 90). With great affection I commend you and your families to the loving intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church, and cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of joy and peace in the Lord.
Balcony of the Bishopric
Sant' Ambrogio Square, Vigevano
Saturday, 21 April 2007
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I am pleased to be with you and I thank you for your cordial and festive welcome. As I emerged from the helicopter, it was almost as if I heard the echo of the bells of all the churches in the Diocese pealing joyfully as they offered me a unanimous greeting. I am grateful to you for this gesture of affection.
My first meeting was with the school children and those who belong to sports associations, who had come to welcome me at the municipal stadium. Then along the way, I saw multitudes of people. Thank you to each and every one.
I wanted to begin my Pastoral Pilgrimage in Italy here in Vigevano, the only Lombard Diocese that my Predecessor John Paul II did not visit.
Thus, it is as though I were starting out afresh on the path he trod to continue proclaiming to the men and women of beloved Italy the announcement, old and ever new, which rings out with special clarity in this Easter Season: Christ is risen! Christ is alive! Christ is with us today and for ever!
I greet the Mayor of this City whom I thank for his courteous words of welcome on behalf of the civic community. I express my heartfelt thanks to all who cooperated in various ways in the arrangement and organization of my Visit, for which you prepared yourselves in particular by prayer.
I address a special thought to the Sisters, Perpetual Adorers of the Most Blessed Sacrament, whom I have just met; their praying presence is an everlasting reminder to the entire Diocese to be increasingly aware of the importance of the Eucharist, the centre and summit of the life of the Church. I reach out with my encouragement and gratitude to these beloved Sisters, who have consecrated their entire lives to the Lord.
I then greet the sick and, as I speak to you who are present here, I extend my thoughts to all the people in the villages and towns of the Diocese who are suffering, in difficulty or marginalized. May the motherly protection of the Blessed Virgin sustain and comfort each one of you in times of trial.
I address a special greeting to you, dear young people who have gathered in this square, as I embrace in spirit all the young people of Vigevano and Lomello. Dear friends, the Risen Christ renews to each one of you his invitation to follow him. Do not hesitate to entrust yourselves to him: meet him, listen to him, love him with all your heart; in friendship with him you will experience the true joy that gives meaning and value to life.
Dear brothers and sisters, I would gladly have accepted the invitation to extend my stay in your Diocese, but it is impossible for me to do so; thus, I enclose in a warm embrace every inhabitant of this City and of the Vicariates of Mortara, Garlasco, Mede and Cava Manara. In a little while, we will all be gathered in spirit around the altar for the solemn Eucharistic concelebration, and we will pray that the Risen Lord will ensure that the Visit of the Successor of Peter will inspire renewed religious fervour in every member of your diocesan Community. With this greeting, I cordially impart a special Apostolic Blessing to you all.
Cathedral Square, Pavia
Saturday, 21 April 2007
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
After travelling to Vigevano this afternoon, I am now here with you in Pavia, in this square with the majestic and imposing 15th-century Cathedral that serves as its background. The mortal remains of St Syrus, the first Bishop between the third and fourth centuries, were for centuries jealously guarded in this church, as in a casket; for the moment, however, these relics are temporarily housed in the Church of Our Lady of Carmel. I thank you all for meeting me and for listening to me with deep warmth.
At this first meeting, I would like to greet Madam Mayor and Minister Mastella, to whom I am grateful for their cordial words. I also greet the other civil Authorities present.
I wish to address a special greeting to Bishop Giovanni Giudici, Pastor of the Diocese, and with him, I greet the priests, Religious and all who are actively dedicated to pastoral work.
I want to express a particularly affectionate greeting especially to you, dear young people, who have gathered here in such large numbers for my first contact with your Diocese. You represent its hope and its future: for this reason I am glad to begin my first Visit precisely with you. I am grateful that so many of you are present.
I come to you this evening to renew a proclamation which is ever young and to entrust to you a message which, when it is accepted, changes, renews and fills one's life. In this Easter Season, the Church proclaims this message with special joy: today too, the Risen Christ is alive among us!
Dear young people, how many of your peers have encountered him and have become his friends; they followed him faithfully and witnessed to his love with their own lives!
So do not be afraid to give your life to Christ: he never disappoints our expectations because he knows what is in our hearts. In following him faithfully, it will not be difficult for you to find the answer to the questions you bear in your heart: "What should I do? What task does life have in store for me?".
The Church, which needs your commitment, especially if she is to take the Gospel proclamation to your peers, supports you on the path of the knowledge of faith and of love for God and for your brothers and sisters.
Society, which in our time is marked by innumerable social changes, awaits your contribution in order to build a common coexistence that is less selfish and more supportive, truly inspired by the great ideals of justice, freedom and peace.
This is your mission, dear young friends! Let us work for justice, for peace, for solidarity, for true freedom.
May the Risen Christ, and together with him, the Virgin Mary, his Mother and our Mother, accompany you. With her example and her constant intercession, may Our Lady help you not to be downhearted in moments of failure, and to trust always in the Lord.
Once again, I warmly thank you for your presence and I bless you all with affection. Good night and good-bye until tomorrow!
"San Matteo" Polyclinic, Pavia
Sunday, 22 April 2007
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The programme for my Pastoral Visit to Pavia could not have omitted a stop at the San Matteo Polyclinic to meet you, dear sick people, who come not only from the Province of Pavia but also from the whole of Italy.
I express my personal closeness and solidarity to each one of you as I also embrace in spirit the sick, the suffering, people in difficulty in your Diocese and all those who take loving care of them. I would like to reach out to you all with a word of encouragement and hope.
I address a respectful greeting to Mr Alberto Guglielmo, President of the Polyclinic, and I thank him for his cordial words that he has just addressed to me. My gratitude extends to the doctors, the nurses and all the personnel who work here daily.
I offer grateful thoughts to the Camillian Fathers who every day, with lively pastoral zeal, bring to the sick the comfort of the faith, as well as to the Sisters of Providence involved in generous service in keeping with the charism of St Luigi Scrosoppi, their Founder.
I express heartfelt thanks to the representative of the sick [who spoke prior to the Pope's Address] and I think with affection of their relatives who share moments of trepidation and trustful expectation with their loved ones.
A hospital is a place which in a certain way we might call "holy", where one experiences not only the frailty of human nature but also the enormous potential and resources of human ingenuity and technology at the service of life.
Human life! However often it is explored, this gift always remains a mystery.
I am aware that this hospital structure, your "San Matteo" Polyclinic, is well known in this City and in the rest of Italy, in particular for its pioneering surgery on several occasions. Here, you seek to alleviate suffering in the attempt to restore the person to complete health and this often happens, partly thanks to modern scientific discoveries; and here, truly comforting results are obtained.
I strongly hope that the necessary scientific and technological progress will constantly go hand in hand with the awareness that together with the good of the sick person, one is promoting those fundamental values, such as the respect for and defence of life in all its stages, on which the authentically human quality of coexistence depends.
Being here with you, it comes naturally to me to think of Jesus, who in the course of his earthly existence always showed special attention to the suffering, healing them and giving them the possibility of returning to a life of family and social relations which illness had compromised.
I am also thinking of the first Christian community, where, as we read in these days in the Acts of the Apostles, many cases of healing and miracles accompanied the Apostles' preaching.
The Church, following the example of her Lord, always expresses special preference for the suffering and, as the President said, sees Christ himself in the suffering and does not cease to offer to the sick the necessary technical assistance and human love, knowing that she is called to express Christ's love and concern for them and for those who care for them.
Technical progress, technology and human love should always go together!
Moreover, Jesus' words, "As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me" (Mt 25,40 Mt 45), resonate with special timeliness in this place. In every person stricken with illness it is Jesus himself who waits for our love.
Suffering is of course repugnant to the human spirit; yet, it is true that when it is accepted with love and compassion and illumined by faith, it becomes a precious opportunity that mysteriously unites one to Christ the Redeemer, the Man of sorrows who on the Cross took upon himself human suffering and death.
With the sacrifice of his life, he redeemed human suffering and made it the fundamental means of salvation.
Dear sick people, entrust to the Lord the hardships and sorrows that you have to face and in his plan they will become a means of purification and redemption for the whole world.
Dear friends, I assure each and every one of you of my remembrance in prayer and, as I invoke Mary Most Holy, Salus infirmorum - Health of the Sick - so that she may protect you and your families, the directors, the doctors and the whole community of the Polyclinic, I impart to you all with affection a special Apostolic Blessing.
University's Theresian Courtyard, Pavia
Sunday, 22 April 2007
Rector Magnificent,
Distinguished Professors,
Dear Students,
Although it is brief, my Pastoral Visit to Pavia could not leave out a stop at this University, which has been a hallmark of your City for centuries.
I am therefore glad to find myself among you for this encounter, to which I attribute special importance since I also come from the academic world.
I greet with cordial respect the professors, and in the first place, Prof. Angiolino Stella, whom I thank for his courteous words. I greet the students, especially the young man who expressed the sentiments of the other university students. He reassured me of your courage in dedication to the truth, of your courage in seeking beyond the limits of the known and not surrendering to the weakness of reason. And I am very grateful to him for these words.
I also extend my good wishes to all the members of your academic community who were prevented from being present here today.
Your University is one of the oldest and most distinguished of the Italian Universities and - I repeat the words of the Rector Magnificent - among the teachers who have honoured it are figures such as Alessandro Volta, Camillo Golgi and Carlo Forlanini.
I am also eager to recall that teachers and students marked by an eminent spiritual stature have passed through your Athenaeum. They were: Michele Ghislieri, who later became Pope St Pius V, St Charles Borromeo, St Alessandro Sauli, St Riccardo Pampuri, St Gianna Beretta Molla, Bl. Contardo Ferrini and the Servant of God Teresio Olivelli.
Dear friends, every university has an inherent community vocation: indeed, it is, precisely, a universitas, a community of teachers and students committed to seeking the truth and to acquiring superior cultural and professional skills.
The centrality of the person and the community dimension are two co-essential poles for an effective structuring of the universitas studiorum.
Every university must always preserve the traits of a study centre "within man's reach", where the student is preserved from anonymity and can cultivate a fertile dialogue with his teachers from which he draws an incentive for his cultural and human growth.
From this structure derive certain applications that are connected to one another. First of all, it is certain that only by putting the person at the centre and making the most of dialogue and interpersonal relations can the specializing fragmentation of disciplines be overcome and the unitive perspective of knowledge be recovered.
Naturally, and also rightly, the disciplines tend to specialization, while what the person needs is unity and synthesis.
Secondly, it is fundamentally important that the commitment to scientific research be open to the existential question of meaning for the person's life itself. Research seeks knowledge, whereas the person also needs wisdom, that knowledge, as it were, which is expressed in the "knowing-living".
In the third place, only in appreciating the person and interpersonal relationships can the didactic relationship become an educational relationship, a process of human development. Indeed, the structure gives priority to communication while people aspire to sharing.
I know that this attention to the person, his integral experience of life and his aspiration to communion are very present in the pastoral action of the Church of Pavia in the field of culture. This is witnessed to by the work of University Colleges of Christian inspiration.
Among these, I too would like to recall the Collegio Borromeo, desired by St Charles Borromeo with Pope Pius IV's Bull of foundation, and the Collegio Santa Caterina, founded by the Diocese of Pavia to comply with the wishes of the Servant of God Paul VI, with a crucial contribution from the Holy See.
In this sense, the work of the parishes and ecclesial movements is also important, especially that of the Diocesan University Centre and the Italian Catholic University Students' Association (FUCI).
The purpose of their activity is to welcome the person in his totality, to propose harmonious processes of human, cultural and Christian formation, and to provide spaces for sharing, discussion and communion.
I would like to take this opportunity to ask both students and teachers not to feel that they are merely the object of pastoral attention but to participate actively and to make their contribution to the cultural project of Christian inspiration which the Church promotes in Italy and in Europe.
In meeting you, dear friends, the thought of Augustine, Co-Patron of this University together with St Catherine of Alexandria, springs spontaneously to mind. Augustine's existential and intellectual development witnesses to the fertile interaction between faith and culture.
St Augustine was a man driven by a tireless desire to find the truth, to find out what life is, to know how to live, to know man. And precisely because of his passion for the human being, he necessarily sought God, because it is only in the light of God that the greatness of the human being and the beauty of the adventure of being human can fully appear.
At first, this God appeared very remote to him. Then Augustine found him: this great and inaccessible God made himself close, one of us. The great God is our God, he is a God with a human face. Thus, his faith in Christ did not have its ultimate end in his philosophy or in his intellectual daring, but on the contrary, impelled him further to seek the depths of the human being and to help others to live well, to find life, the art of living.
This was his philosophy: to know how to live with all the reason and all the depths of our thought, of our will, and to allow ourselves to be guided on the path of truth, which is a path of courage, humility and permanent purification.
Faith in Christ brought all Augustine's seeking to fulfilment, but fulfilment in the sense that he always remained on the way. Indeed, he tells us: even in eternity our seeking will not be completed, it will be an eternal adventure, the discovery of new greatness, new beauty.
He interpreted the words of the Psalm, "Seek his face continually", and said: this is true for eternity; and the beauty of eternity is that it is not a static reality but immense progress in the immense beauty of God.
Thus, he could discover God as the founding reason, but also as love which embraces us, guides us and gives meaning to history and to our personal life.
This morning I had the opportunity to say that this love for Christ shaped his personal commitment. From a life patterned on seeking, he moved on to a life given totally to Christ and thus to a life for others.
He discovered - this was his second conversion - that being converted to Christ means not living for oneself but truly being at the service of all.
May St Augustine be for us and also for the academic world a model of dialogue between reason and faith, a model of a broad dialogue which alone can seek truth, hence, also peace.
As my venerable Predecessor, John Paul II commented in his Encyclical Fides et Ratio: "The Bishop of Hippo succeeded in producing the first great synthesis of philosophy and theology, embracing currents of thought both Greek and Latin. In him too the great unity of knowledge, grounded in the thought of the Bible, was both confirmed and sustained by a depth of speculative thinking" (n. 40).
I therefore invoke the intercession of St Augustine, so that the University of Pavia may always be distinguished by special attention to the individual, by an accentuated community dimension in scientific research and by a fruitful dialogue between faith and culture.
I thank you for your presence and as I wish you every good for your studies, I impart to you all my Blessing, which I extend to your relatives and loved ones.
Saturday, 28 April 2007
Your Beatitude,
Venerable Brothers,
"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (1Co 1,3). I welcome you and greet you all at the end of your meeting with these words that the Apostle to the Gentiles addressed to the Christians of the community of Corinth.
Concern for all the Churches, complying with the mandate which Christ entrusted to the Apostle Peter and to his Successors, has impelled me to convoke your Extraordinary Synod, at which Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State, whom I greet and cordially thank, presided in my name. I would also like to thank you, Your Beatitude, and each one of you for your active participation in the Synod's work and for your generous contributions to solving the problems and difficulties that the praiseworthy Syrian Catholic Church has been encountering for some time.
In convoking you to this extraordinary assembly, my sole intention was to revive and increasingly revitalize the age-old bonds that unite your Church to the Apostolic See, and at the same time, to express the esteem and anxiety which the Bishop of Rome feels for each one of you, Pastors of a portion of the People of God which, although not large, is ancient and important.
My greeting also goes to your collaborators, to the priests and deacons in the first place, as well as to all the members of the Syrian Catholic Church.
The liturgy of the Easter Season in which we are living invites us to turn our gaze and heart to the fundamental event of Christian faith: Christ's death and Resurrection.
The Acts of the Apostles that we are reading in these days presents to us the progress of the newborn Church, a journey that was not always easy but rich in apostolic fruit. From the first, there had been no lack of external hostility and persecution, nor, even within the communities, was the risk of tension and opposition absent.
In spite of these shadows and the various difficulties that the early Christians had to confront, the radiant light of the Church's faith in Jesus Christ never grew dim.
From her very first steps, the Church, guided by the Apostles and their collaborators and enlivened by an extraordinary courage and inner force, was able to preserve and to increase the precious treasure of unity and communion over and above differences in people, language and culture.
Venerable Brothers, while the Extraordinary Synod in which you have taken part is drawing to a close, aware of the problems that have worried you all these years and that you are seeking to overcome, I remember with gratitude my Venerable Predecessor, Pope John Paul II, who was close to you in so many ways. He listened to you, he met with you, and he tirelessly urged you on several occasions, especially in his Letter of August 2003, to seek unity and reconciliation with the participation of all.
As for me, I took up the task on which he had embarked in my Letter of October 2005, since I am deeply convinced that today, as at the dawn of Christianity, each community is asked to offer a clear witness of brotherhood.
It is moving to read in the Acts of the Apostles that "the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul" (4: 32). It is here, in this shared love which is a gift of the Holy Spirit, that the secret of apostolic effectiveness lies.
In these days, dear and venerable Brothers, you have reflected on ways to overcome the obstacles that prevent your ecclesial life from functioning normally. You are well aware of what is necessary and even indispensable.
It is the ministry that the Lord entrusted to you with his flock that demands it; it is the good of the Syrian Catholic Church that demands it. The particular situation in which the Middle East is living and the witness that the Catholic Churches in their unity can give, demand it.
May Paul's exhortation to the faithful of Corinth, tinged with sorrow, resonate in your hearts: "I appeal to you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment" (1Co 1,10).
In our time Christian communities across the world must face so many challenges, while numerous dangers and traps risk masking the Gospel values.
With regard to your Church, the violence and conflicts which mark a part of the flock entrusted to your care constitute extra difficulties that endanger even more not only peaceful coexistence, but also peoples' very lives.
In such situations it is important that the Syrian-Catholic Ecclesial Community be able to proclaim the Gospel forcefully, to promote a pastoral ministry adapted to the challenges of post-modernity and to a fragmented, divided world, a shining example of unity.
Venerable Brothers, the Second Vatican Council emphasized that the Oriental Catholic Churches, in response to Christ's prayer ut unum sint, are called to play a special role in the promotion of the ecumenical process: "by prayer above all, by their example, by their scrupulous fidelity to the ancient traditions of the East, by better knowledge of each other, by working together, and by a brotherly attitude towards persons and things (Decree Orientalium Ecclesiarum OE 24).
Here is a final element that, together with those requirements dictated by interreligious dialogue, can only spur you to exercise the apostolic mission the Lord has entrusted to your Church with confidence. Precisely yesterday, the Latin liturgy granted us to hear the moving episode of Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus. You too are called today to continue the Apostle Paul's missionary action with enthusiasm, confidence and perseverance, following in the footsteps of St Ignatius of Antioch, St Ephrem and your other Patron Saints.
May Mary, whom you venerate under the title of Our Lady of Deliverance, always intercede for you and protect you.
With these sentiments, I assure you of my full support and that of my collaborators, and I impart a special Apostolic Blessing to you who are present here, the Patriarch and the members of your Holy Synod, and to all the faithful of the Syrian Catholic rite.
Friday, 4 May 2007
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate,
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope" (Rm 15,13).
I am happy to welcome you with these words from St Paul's Letter to the Romans: yes, may the God of hope fill you with his heavenly consolations!
With this greeting, I offer each one of you a fraternal embrace, beloved Pastors of a part of the Lord's flock that is particularly dear to me! You come from different countries, with a variety of races, cultures and languages, whose Ecclesial Communities are nonetheless linked to the same faith in the Risen Christ passed down to us by the Apostles. Welcome!
I greet each one of you as I warmly express my gratitude for his kind words to Archbishop Stanislav Hocevar, President of your International Bishops' Conference of Sts Cyril and Methodius, established in December 2004 by my Predecessor, Servant of God John Paul II.
Your President expressed the sentiments of communion that bind you to the Successor of Peter: I am grateful to you. This house is also your own; in it you can experience the catholicity of Christ's Church which extends her tent to the very ends of the earth. At the end of your ad limina Apostolorum visit, I renew to you the expression of my cordial gratitude, which I also ask you to convey to your communities on whose prayerful support I confidently rely.
Please assure them all - priests, men and women religious, children and young people, the elderly and families - that the Pope is close to them and every day remembers them to the Lord.
I urge everyone to persevere in unity, in reciprocal openness and in the spirit of brotherhood. The different countries and social and religious contexts in which your faithful live, venerable Brothers, have many repercussions on their Christian life.
I am thinking, for example, of marriage between spouses of different denominations or religions; they require of you, dear Pastors, special spiritual care and a more harmonious cooperation with the other Christian Churches.
I am furthermore thinking of the religious education of the new generations which should be provided for in school curricula, as is only right. And then how can I fail to mention that aspect which is fundamental for ecclesial life: the formation of sacred ministers and their spiritual guidance in the multiconfessional context mentioned above?
I know that a Major Seminary at Subotica is being planned. I warmly encourage this initiative because of the good service it will be able to give the various Dioceses.
It is necessary to help seminarians to develop the clear awareness that a priest is an "alter Christus", who must cultivate an intimate relationship with Jesus if he wishes to carry out his mission properly and not to consider himself a mere "official" of an ecclesiastical organization.
The priest is totally at the service of the Church, a living and spiritual body which does not draw her energy from nationalistic, ethnic or political elements but from the action of Christ present in her ministers.
Indeed, the Lord wanted his Church to be open to all; this is how the Apostles built her up when Christianity was taking its first steps and the martyrs witnessed with their blood to her holiness and "catholicity". Down the centuries, Tradition kept intact her character of universality as she continued to spread and to come into contact with different languages, races, nationalities and cultures. For you, this unity in diversity of the Church is a daily experience.
Dear and venerable Brothers, during these days I have been able to become better acquainted with the situations of your Dioceses that are often composed of a small flock set in the vast context of a multiplicity of races, cultures and religions. Thus, your mission is far from easy! Yet, with the Lord's help and in docility to his Spirit you urge all whom he has entrusted to your care never to tire of being the Gospel "leaven" that ferments society.
In this way, you will be able together, in line with the Apostle Peter's exhortation, to account for the hope that is in you (1P 3,15). You will do this by means of constant faithfulness to Christ, diligent administration of the sacraments and generous apostolic dedication.
To this end, you will need to involve every member of the People of God, using every available means of Christian formation, prepared in the different languages of the population.
This kind of shared pastoral action cannot fail to have beneficial effects also in the civil context. Indeed, upright consciences formed in accordance with the Gospel will be more easily spurred to build a society on a human scale.
An incorrectly understood concept of modernity is tending today to excessively exalt the needs of the individual to the detriment of every person's duties to God and to the community to which he belongs. It is important, for example, to shed light on the correct conception of civil and public responsibility, since the commitment to respect each person's rights and for a convinced integration of one's own culture with others stems precisely from this vision and from striving together for the common good.
Providence has set your peoples in the context of a European Continent that is being restructured. Your Churches also feel they share in this historic process, knowing well that they can make their own special contribution.
Unfortunately, obstacles are not lacking: the scarcity of available means because of the economic situation and the diminutive number of Catholic forces might discourage you.
It is far from easy to forget the burdensome legacy of more than 40 years of unilateral thinking that has given rise to forms of social behaviour in which freedom and personal responsibility are wanting.
At the same time, it is difficult to resist the temptations of Western materialism, with the risk of relativism and ethical liberalism, radicalism and political fundamentalism.
Do not lose heart but rather, join forces and patiently persevere in your work, certain that one day, with God's help, it will be possible to gather in the fruits that he himself will bring to maturity in accordance with his mysterious plans of salvation.
I am anxious at this moment to assure you that the Pope is close to you and encourages you to carry on, trusting in the help of the Lord, the Good Shepherd.
Dear Brothers, always stay beside your faithful: they need wise teachers, holy Pastors and reliable guides who, setting an example, lead them on the journey of total adherence to Christ.
Be united with one another, care for vocations to the priesthood and to the consecrated life; be helpful to your pastoral workers; encourage lay people to assume their proper responsibilities in the civil and ecclesial contexts in accordance with the spirit of Gaudium et Spes, so that their witness may be harmonious and truly Catholic.
The Lord has put you in close contact with our Orthodox brothers and sisters: as a member of one Body, seek every possible opportunity for collaboration at the service of the one Kingdom of God.
Nor should you be unwilling to collaborate with the other Christian confessions and with every person of good will in order to encourage all that can serve to disseminate the Gospel values.
Dear and venerable Brothers, at this meeting I wished to highlight certain aspects of the life of your Communities which came to the fore at our individual meetings. As I take my leave of you, I express to you once again my affection and assure you of my prayers.
While I invoke the heavenly protection of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, and of Sts Cyril and Methodius, Patrons of your International Bishops' Conference, I impart to you all a cordial Apostolic Blessing, which I gladly extend to all the faithful entrusted to your pastoral care.
Clementine Hall
Saturday, 5 May 2007
Distinguished Commandant,
Dear Swiss Guards,
It is a true pleasure for me to meet you on the occasion of the swearing-in of the new Swiss Guards.
First of all, to each one of you, dear new halberdiers, I address my cordial greeting, which I extend to all the Swiss Guards, thanking you for having chosen to dedicate some years of your youth to the service of the Pope and his closest collaborators.
I also thank your Commandant for all that he does so that you can carry out your service in a proper way. I greet your Chaplain and also your families and relatives, the ex-Swiss Guards and the friends who wanted to be present at the solemn swearing-in ceremony of the new Swiss Guards, which is such a meaningful act for the Apostolic See.
I clearly recall the solemn commemorative celebrations of the fifth centenary of the foundation of the Pontifical Swiss Guard Corps which took place last year with many people participating. These celebrations have contributed to making better known the origin, history and value of your Corps and the significant witness of faith and love that you have rendered to the Church for more than 500 years.
Actually, it all began on 22 January 1506 when a troop of 150 men arrived in the Vatican, whom my Predecessor Julius II had requested at the "Ober-alemannischen Eidgenossenschaft".
From that day to our time the history of your Corps of Guards is intimately interwoven with the events and the life of the Church, and in particular of the Pope. And it is a long history of fidelity and generous service, always given with dedication, sometimes even to the heroic sacrifice of one's life.
Your most appreciated dedication has rightly merited the esteem and trust of all the Pontiffs, who have constantly found help, support and protection in your Corps' guardianship.
Thank you, dear friends, for your silent but efficient presence next to the person of the Pope; thank you for the professionalism and also for the love with which you carry out your mission.
Yes, yours is not only a professional duty; it is also a true mission at the service of Christ and his Church.
In the new Pontifical Swiss Guard Rule, approved by me precisely last year on the occasion of the fifth centenary of its birth, it states that "the Swiss Guards must demonstrate in all circumstances that they are good Christians and exemplar soldiers" (art. 73); and again, "they must avoid whatever contrasts with the faith, Christian morals and duties of their own state. Furthermore, they must always be faithful to the characteristics and traditions of the Corps, with a simple and sober lifestyle" (art. 75).
It is also added that with "the objective of forming a true community, they must personally cultivate and reciprocally exercise a spirit of Christian solidarity, which means to preserve and promote the mutual union of souls" (art. 77). As it is easy to see, it concerns very precise and concrete directives to bring the plan that God has for each one of you to fulfilment, having called you to serve him in such a worthy Institution.
Ultimately, the Lord calls you to holiness, to be his disciples, always ready to listen to his voice, to do his will and to accomplish it in the daily fulfilment of your duties. This will contribute to make you "good Christians" and at the same time "exemplary soldiers", animated by that evangelical spirit which makes each baptized person "yeast" able to ferment the mass and "light" that illuminates and warms the environment where you live and work.
Clementine Hall
Saturday, 5 May 2007
Your Eminence,
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I am particularly pleased to meet you after the solemn Eucharistic Celebration at which Cardinal Ivan Dias, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, presided. In the first place, I address my cordial thoughts to him and thank him for his words to me on your behalf.
I extend my greeting to the Secretary and collaborators of the Missionary Dicastery, to the Prelates and priests present, to the men and women religious and to all who have taken part in the Congress held in the past few days to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Encyclical Letter Fidei Donum of the Servant of God Pope Pius XII.
Fifty years have passed since this venerable Predecessor of mine, facing the evolution of the times and looking out onto the scene of history of new peoples and nations, realized with farsighted pastoral wisdom that unheard of and providential horizons and missionary openings for the proclamation of the Gospel in Africa were unfolding.
Indeed, Pius XII was looking especially to Africa when, with prophetic intuition, he thought of that new missionary "subject" which takes its name "Fidei donum" from the first words of the Encyclical.
He was intending to encourage another type of missionary cooperation - parallel to the traditional forms - among the so-called "ancient" Christian Communities and those born lately or which are coming into being in recently-evangelized territories. He asked the "ancient" Churches to send several priests to help the "young" Churches, whose growth was promising, to collaborate with the local Ordinaries for a specific period.
This is what Pope Pacelli wrote: "As we direct our thoughts, on the one hand, to the countless multitudes of our sons who have a share in the blessings of divine faith, especially in countries that have long since become Christian, and on the other hand, as we consider the far more numerous throngs of those who are still waiting for the day of salvation to be announced to them, we are filled with a great desire to exhort you again and again, Venerable Brethren, to support with zealous interest the most holy cause of bringing the Church of God to all the world. May it come to pass that our admonitions will arouse a keener interest in the missionary apostolate among your priests and through them set the hearts of the faithful on fire!" (n. 4).
Consequently, the purpose that inspired the venerable Pontiff was twofold: on the one hand, to kindle a renewed missionary "flame" in every member of the Christian people, and on the other, to encourage a more aware collaboration between the Dioceses of ancient tradition and the regions of first evangelization.
In the course of these five decades, Pius XII's invitation has been reaffirmed on several occasions by all my Predecessors, and thanks to the impetus provided by the Second Vatican Council, the number of fidei donum priests has continued to multiply. They depart with religious and lay volunteers, bound for a mission in Africa and in other parts of the world, sometimes costing their Dioceses many sacrifices.
I would like here to express my special thanks to these brothers and sisters, some of whom poured out their blood in order to disseminate the Gospel.
The mission experience, as you well know, leaves an indelible mark on those who carry it out and at the same time helps to foster that ecclesial communion which makes all the baptized see themselves as members of the one Church, the Mystical Body of Christ.
During these decades, contacts and missionary exchanges have intensified, partly because of the development and increase in the means of communication, so that the Church has come into contact with practically every civilization and culture.
Moreover, the exchange of gifts between Ecclesial Communities of ancient and recent foundation has been a reciprocal enrichment and has fostered an increased awareness that we are all "missionaries", that is, we are all involved, albeit in different ways, in proclaiming and bearing witness to the Gospel.
While we thank the Lord for today's missionary commitment, we cannot fail to perceive at the same time the difficulties which are occurring in this context today. Among them, I limit myself to stressing the dwindling numbers and the ageing of the clergy in Dioceses that once sent missionaries to distant regions.
In the context of a widespread vocations crisis, this is undoubtedly a challenge to be faced. The Congress organized by the Pontifical Missionary Union to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Fidei Donum has made possible an attentive analysis of this situation which the Church is living today.
Although we cannot ignore the problems and shadows, nevertheless we must raise our gaze confidently to the future, giving a renewed and more authentic identity to "Fidei donum" missionaries in a world context which has undeniably changed in comparison with the 1950s.
If there are many challenges to evangelization in this age of ours, there are also many signs of hope in every part of the world that witness to an encouraging missionary vitality among the Christian people.
Above all, may people never forget that before leaving his disciples and ascending into Heaven, in sending them out to proclaim his Gospel in every corner of the world, the Lord assured them, "Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Mt 28,20).
Dear brothers and sisters, this certainty must never abandon us. The Lord of the harvest will not let us lack workers for his harvest if we ask him for them with trust and persistence, in prayer and in docile listening to his words and teachings.
In this regard, I would like to take up the invitation which Pius XII addressed to the faithful of that time: "Especially in this our time on which the future growth of the Church in many areas is perhaps dependent", he wrote in his Encyclical, "let many Masses be offered for the sacred missions.... This is in accordance with the prayers of Our Lord, who loves his Church and wishes her to flourish and enlarge her borders throughout the whole world" (n. 52).
I make my own this same exhortation, convinced that in coming to meet our ceaseless requests the Lord will continue to bless the Church's missionary commitment with abundant apostolic fruits.
I commend this hope to Mary, Mother and Queen of the Apostles, while I cordially impart a special Apostolic Blessing to you who are present here and to all the world's missionaries.
Hall of Blessings
Monday, 7 May 2007
Your Eminence,
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,
Dear Sisters,
I am pleased to meet you on the occasion of the Plenary Assembly of the International Union of Superiors General. I greet and thank Cardinal Franc Rodé, Prefect of the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, for the cordial words addressed to me.
I extend my thanks to the President of your Union, Sr Therezinha Rasera, who has been the interpreter not only of your affectionate sentiments but also of the women religious of the entire world.
Then, I greet each one of you, dear Superiors General, who represent 794 female religious families working in 85 countries on the five continents. And I thank you for the immense army of witnesses of Christ's love, who work on the frontiers of evangelization, education and social charity.
As your President recalled, the theme of the Plenary Assembly, which is being held in these days, is particularly interesting: "Called to weave a new spirituality that generates hope and life for all of humanity". The topic you have chosen is the fruit of an ample reflection on the following question: "In contemplating our world, listening to its cries, its needs, its thirst and its aspirations, what thread are we Religious, responsible for our Congregations, called to weave in this moment in order to become prophetic and mystic "weavers of God'?".
The careful analysis of the responses received have helped your Union's Executive Council to understand that the chosen symbol of "weaving" is a typically feminine image used in all cultures, and it responds to what the Superiors General felt to be a spiritual and apostolic urgency of the present moment.
In the same responses some "threads" have been emphasized - the woman, migrants, the earth and its sacredness, laity, dialogue with the religions of the world - that you deem useful in order to "weave" in this, our age, a renewed spirituality of Consecrated Life and to launch an apostolic approach that corresponds more to people's longings. And it is exactly on these themes that you have been reflecting during the work of your Plenary.
You are aware that each Superior General is called to be an animator and promoter, as your President opportunely emphasized, of a "mystic and prophetic" Consecrated Life, strongly committed to the realization of the Kingdom of God.
These are the "threads" with which the Lord urges you today, dear women Religious, to "weave" the living fabric of a useful service to the Church and to an eloquent Gospel witness, "ever ancient and ever new" in its fidelity to the radicalness of the Gospel and courageously incarnated in contemporary reality, especially where there is greater human and spiritual poverty.
Certainly, the social, economic and religious challenges that Consecrated Life in our day must face are not few! The five pastoral areas that you emphasized constitute other "threads" to be woven and inserted into the complex web of daily life, interpersonal relationships and apostolate.
Often, it means taking unexplored missionary and spiritual paths, yet always maintaining solid interior relations with Christ. In fact, only from this union with God can that "prophetic" role of your mission flow and be nourished, which consists of "proclaiming the Kingdom of heaven", an indispensable announcement in every age and in every society.
Never cede, therefore, to the temptation to distance yourself from intimacy with your Heavenly Spouse by allowing yourselves to be overly attracted by the interests and problems of daily life.
The Founders and Foundresses of your Institutes have been "prophetic pioneers" in the Church because they never lost the acute awareness of being in the world, but not of the world, according to the clear teaching of Jesus (cf. Jn Jn 17,14). Following his example they tried to communicate God's love with words and concrete gestures through the total gift of themselves, always keeping their gaze and their heart fixed on him.
Dear Religious Sisters, if you want to walk faithfully in the footsteps of your Founders and Foundresses to help your own Sisters to follow their examples, cultivate the "mystical" dimension of Consecrated Life, that is, always keeping your soul united to God through contemplation.
As the Scriptures teach, the "prophet" first listens and contemplates, then speaks, allowing himself to be totally permeated by that love for God which fears nothing and is even stronger than death.
The authentic prophet, therefore, is not concerned so much to accomplish works, which undoubtedly are important but never essential. Above all, he tries to be a witness of God's love, seeking to live it among the realities of the world, even if his presence can sometimes be "uncomfortable" because he offers and incarnates alternative values.
May it be your prime concern, therefore, to help your own Sisters to seek Christ above all else and to place themselves generously at the service of the Gospel. Never tire of taking every possible care in the human, cultural and spiritual formation of the persons entrusted to you, so that they are able to respond to today's cultural and social challenges.
Be the first to set an example by fleeing commodities, comforts, convenience in order to bring your mission to fulfilment. Share the richness of your charisms with those who are committed to the one mission of the Church, which is to build the Kingdom.
For this purpose establish a serene and cordial collaboration with priests, the lay faithful and especially families in order to meet the suffering, the needs, the material and above all the spiritual poverty of many of our contemporaries.
In addition, cultivate a sincere communion and a genuine collaboration with Bishops, the first to be responsible for evangelization in the particular Churches.
Dear Sisters, your General Assembly is taking place during the Easter Season, when the liturgy invites us to proclaim with constant exultance: "This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad!".
May the joy and peace of Easter accompany you and always dwell in you and in each of your communities.
In every circumstance be messengers of this Easter joy like the women who went to the tomb, found it empty and had the gift of meeting the Risen Christ. Happily, then, they ran to give the news to the Apostles.
May Mary, Queen of Virgins, and your Saints and blessed Founders and Foundresses watch over you and your respective Religious Families.
In entrusting yourselves to their intercession, I assure you from my heart of a prayerful remembrance and willingly impart to all a special Apostolic Blessing.
Speechs 2007