Speeches 1999

MESSAGE OF JOHN PAUL II

FOR THE 33rd INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY


To Mr Federico Mayor Saragoza

Director General of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization

1. On the occasion of the 33rd International Literacy Day organized by UNESCO, I would like to pay hommage to the men and women who down the ages have helped their brothers and sisters to acquire the basic elements of knowledge: particularly worthy of recognition are the teachers on all the continents who are devoted to training young people and adults with perseverance and effectiveness. I would also like to mention the mission carried out by many lay people and religious, pioneers of popular instruction, who have been witnesses to Christ in the fulfilment of their duties, as they awaken minds and consciences.

2. We should acknowledge the important role played in recent decades by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in conjunction with other international bodies; it has increased its efforts to deal with the serious situation of illiteracy in the world. By giving each human being access to a general education, UNESCO thus offers him the possibility of leading a dignified life, of taking charge of his own future and of assuming his share of responsibility in society. The fight against illiteracy is necessary for the development of individuals and peoples, who thereby receive tools for reflection and analysis and can more easily defend themselves against sectarian, integralist or totalitarian ideas. It is therefore highly desirable that the action taken, which requires an increasingly intense coordination of national and international efforts, be sucessfully pursued.

3. At the dawn of the third millennium, I therefore invite all peoples to join forces to combat illiteracy, which is a serious handicap for a significant part of humanity, especially women and girls. In fact, until recently women accounted for two thirds of the illiterate, and 70 per cent of the children who are not sent to school are girls. In this area it is also important to do away with inequalities, which is one of the goals of UNESCO's convention: "To assure full and equal access to education for all, the free pursuit of objective truth and the free exchange of ideas and knowledge" (Preamble of the Convention). This effort to fight illiteracy presupposes the engagement of the teaching body, whose role should be recognized and appreciated, so that those who exercise this activity feel appreciated and supported in their outstanding profession of imparting knowledge, basic values and reasons for living.

Schools are called to be more and more welcoming to children, whatever their origin or social status, paying particular attention to the poor, victims of violence and war, refugees and displaced persons. They must be increasingly concerned, through an adapted pedagogy and attention to local cultures, to develop talents and to awaken the students' consciences, as well as to care for those young people who are unsuited to the school system.

4. For her part, in carrying out the mission entrusted to her by Christ, the Church hopes to continue her role in the education of young people and adults, along with men and women of good will. The Catholic school is a choice instrument for giving children not only instruction, but also a religious and catechetical formation which will help them deepen their faith and to discover Christ, who wants to help people reach their full stature as adults. In a society in search of meaning, the Catholic school is called to disseminate the Christian message clearly and vigorously, while respecting those who do not share its beliefs and yet hope to benefit from its teaching methods. Keen to make its contribution to the relationship between the Gospel and cultures, the Catholic school places knowledge in the horizon of faith, so that it will become a wisdom of life and lead people to the true happiness which God alone can grant.

5. At the dawn of a new era, I am delighted with the work achieved by UNESCO in cooperation with all the member States. I call upon God to support with his blessings you, the Director General, and all the people who serve humanity by sharing in the mission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Castel Gandolfo, 28 August 1999.

JOHN PAUL II



ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER TO THE BISHOPS OF CHAD IN

THEIR "AD LIMINA" VISIT

Dear Brothers in the Episcopate,


1. It is a great joy for me to welcome you during your pilgrimage to the tombs of the Apostles. Bishops of the Catholic Church in Chad, you have come to the same places where Peter and Paul bore witness to Christ, even making the supreme sacrifice of their lives. There you will find peace and comfort for carrying out the mission entrusted to you of service to God's People. Through your meetings with the Successor of Peter and those who assist him, may the Lord continue to increase your spirit of communion with the universal Church and her Pastors united with the Bishop of Rome!

Archbishop Charles Vandame, President of your Conference, clearly and precisely explained in your name the joys, sufferings and hopes that are yours in your episcopal ministry. I thank him very cordially for this.

Convey the Pope's affectionate greeting to your priests, to the men and women religious, to the catechists and lay people of your Dioceses. May God shower them with his blessings so that they may be generous witnesses to the Gospel! Also bring my best wishes for happiness and peace to all the people of Chad, whose generosity I know well.

2. Since your last ad limina visit, two new Dioceses have been created to further the proclamation of the Gospel in regions that until now have been among the most isolated. We can only rejoice at the energy of your communities, of which these new sees are an eloquent sign. I hope that the Bishops who have come to enrich your Episcopal Conference with the wealth of their missionary experience will fully enjoy the fraternal and collegial atmosphere that mark it.

It is a joy for me to see the Church's spiritual progress in Chad and her praiseworthy efforts to become more and more incarnated in the country's social and cultural realities. I invite your communities to remain faithful to the Holy Spirit's work among them and to bear the witness of a sincere mutual love, so that everyone will recognize the One who is the source of this love and believe in him. May each one remember "that we are missionaries above all because of what we are as a Church, whose innermost life is unity in love, even before we become missionaries in word or deed" (Encyclical Redemptoris missio, RMi 23).

3. In recent years there has been a significant increase in the number of Chadian priests. I cordially greet them and encourage them in their often difficult but exalting ministry of proclaiming the Gospel of Christ to their brethren and of administering the Church's sacraments to them. I know their fidelity to their vocation and their pastoral dedication. I urge them to have an ever deeper sense of their priestly identity. May they find the vital source of their life and ecclesial mission in a personal encounter with the risen Lord through prayer and the sacraments! Dear Brothers in the Episcopate, I know how concerned you are about their priestly life and their needs, especially in the area of continuing formation. May they always find in you a father who knows how to encourage and guide them in their ministry!

You have wanted to diversify the origins of the missionaries who come to share in the work of evangelizing your country. I congratulate them on their generous response to the appeals of the Church in Chad, and I hope that in every place they will be ardent witnesses to the Gospel spirit, which must lead us to overcome cultural and nationalistic barriers, avoiding all isolationism (cf. Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa, ). Coming from Africa, a continent now fully integrated in the Church's missionary activity, but also from other regions of the world, they clearly show the universality of the Gospel message and of the Church, but also their desire to help Chadian priests to take ever greater responsibility for the local Church.

Men and women religious also participate fully and with great self-denial in the life of your Dioceses. Their commitment is essential to the work of evangelization and service in your communities. I hope, then, that the consecrated life will enjoy new growth among the young people of Chad, so that the Church can benefit from this "precious and necessary gift for the present and future of the People of God, since it is an intimate part of her life, her holiness and her mission" (Apostolic Exhortation Vita consecrata, VC 3). In fact, the consecrated life is an eloquent witness to the free gift of self to the Lord and of a life focused on the Absolute and the essential, which brings happiness. Thus it is essential for the basic values of religious life to become deeply rooted in the culture of your country so that it can leaven it with the Gospel.

The formation of future priests is one of you major concerns. You have already seen the first fruits of your effort to discern vocations capable of bearing the weighty commitments of the priestly life. The establishment of a new seminary is an encouraging sign for you and a special occasion for giving thanks for the generosity of the young men in answering the Lord's call. I urge you not only to give future priests a solid intellectual and spiritual formation, but also to educate them "to love the truth, to be loyal, to respect every person, to have a sense of justice, to be true to their word, to be genuinely compassionate, to be men of integrity and, especially, to be balanced in judgement and behaviour" (Apostolic Exhortation Pastores dabo vobis, PDV 43). By cultivating these human qualities, they will become balanced individuals who can assume the pastoral responsibilities that will be entrusted to them.


4. In your Dioceses, basic ecclesial communities are a privileged means of enabling the Church to grow as the Family of God and of assisting evangelization. We can only be delighted at seeing the development of a quality laity who are gradually taking their place in the life of the Church and of society. In the pastoral care of your Dioceses, then, the proper doctrinal and spiritual formation of the laity should have ever greater importance so that their faith may be strengthened and their witness be true and credible.

I warmly greet the catechists, who generously fulfil the mission you have entrusted to them. Through serious doctrinal and spiritual formation they acquire a competency that makes them worthy of their task. I encourage them to be faithful and energetic members of the Church in Gospel service among their brothers and sisters. With their whole lives may they be ardent disciples of Christ and examples of Christian living!

The faithful are still deeply affected by ideas of life and practices from their traditional culture and often have difficulty in living the demands of Christian marriage. Therefore they should be given points for reflection that can help them understand the dignity and role of marriage, which is an authentic way of holiness. "Marriage thus demands an indissoluble love; thanks to this stability it can contribute effectively to the complete fulfilment of the spouses' baptismal vocation" (Ecclesia in Africa, ). A deeper realization of the equal dignity of man and woman, particularly in their love for each other, will help to show more clearly that the conjugal union requires the unity of marriage. A serious preparation for marital commitment as well as the witness of united, radiant Christian homes, so important for expressing the authenticity of a life-choice, will instil strong convictions in young people to take up their responsibilities as spouses and parents. In this regard, I am delighted with the attention being given to family ministry, for it is from married couples that children learn the basic elements of the spiritual and moral life, as well as how to conduct themselves in society. This same concern spurs you to promote due respect for women and the defence of their rights, since, however different they may be, men and women are essentially equal with regard to their humanity.

5. Guided by the Church's social teaching, for many years you have taken a number of initiatives in the areas of health care, education, and social and charitable works. You have also reflected in depth on the implications of the Gospel in the various situations faced by the people of your country. The commitment of your communities to aiding human advancement and development deserves to be strongly encouraged. The faithful thus have a new awareness of their responsibilities as Christ's disciples in the life of society and have resolutely rejected all complicity with injustice or violence. They are extensively involved in defending human rights wherever they are threatened.

The imminent celebration of the Great Jubilee is also an appropriate time for Christians to raise their voice on behalf of all the poor of the world and to demonstrate clearly the Church's preferential option for the poor and the outcast. They will do so especially by giving thought, as I have already written, "to reducing substantially, if not canceling outright, the international debt which seriously threatens the future of many nations" (Apostolic Letter Tertio millennio adveniente, n. 51), in ways that do not penalize in any way the most disadvantaged peoples and by raising the question of a management of national resources that enables everyone to lead a life of dignity and solidarity.
Catholic schools are an important contribution the Church makes to the education of Chad's young people, regardless of their social or religious background. We can only rejoice at the balance maintained between the demands of an educational programme faithful to the Gospel and administrative constraints. When society is undergoing significant change, young people must be given reference points that will enable them to meet the challenges they face today and to overcome the obstacles to their development by offering them an education that takes into account the human and spiritual realities of their lives and helps them to live among young people of different religions and social backgrounds. In this way they well be better prepared to build the future in a spirit of mutual respect and cooperation.

If the life of your communities and the service of their compatriots are to develop peacefully, it is your responsibility to pursue dialogue with the civil authorities, so that the Catholic Church may be seen more and more as an institution that is fully a part of society.

6. In your country, which has traditionally been a land of peaceful encounter between cultures and religions, relations of goodwill should be fostered between the Catholic community, other Christians and Muslims, so that any source of misunderstanding or confrontation will vanish and the principles of tolerance and brotherhood will preside over the building of a united and harmonious nation. Certain recent changes have occasionally led to conflicts that are in danger of becoming lasting antagonisms. Catholics must resolutely refrain from any attitude of fear or rejection of others. For this reason I encourage you to persevere in the initiatives you have taken to foster a knowledge of one another that transcends all prejudice. It is a question of enabling people to meet one another in truth and especially of encouraging the dialogue of life, which will allow them to accept others and their differences and to work together for the common good. It would also be helpful to maintain a sincere dialogue with the Muslim religious authorities in order to promote understanding between the communities.

In this perspective of openness and dialogue, Christians must nevertheless remain conscious of their own rights in the national community, of which they are fully-fledged members, and defend them in a spirit of justice by striving with all for the establishment of fraternal ties that respect the rights and duties of every individual and community. As I have often stated, religious freedom, which includes the right to manifest personal beliefs, whether individually or with others, in public or in private, and which rejects all segregation for religious reasons, constitutes the very heart of human rights and makes the other personal and collective rights possible. Recourse to violence in the name of one's religious belief is a perversion of the very teachings of the major religions (cf. Message for the World Day of Peace, 1999, n. 5; L'Osservatore Romano English edition, 23/30 December 1998, p. 10). I fervently hope that all believers will resolutely overcome their antagonisms and join forces in fighting everything that is opposed to peace and reconciliation, so that they can help to establish the civilization of love, which should be a way for everyone to give glory to God.

7. At the end of our meeting, dear Brothers in the Episcopate, as the celebration of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 draws near, I invite you to look at the future with hope. The grain of wheat sown by the first missionaries 70 years ago has never ceased to bear fruit. The selfless dedication of men and women who in years past gave their lives to pass the torch of Christian faith on to Chad, and to whom I wish to pay homage, should remain for present and future generations an example of apostolic life and a constant appeal to bear fervent witness to the message they have received and to the Lord who came so that they might have true Life.

I entrust your ministry and each of your Dioceses to the maternal protection of the Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ and Mother of mankind. May she firmly lead you to her Son! I wholeheartedly give you my Apostolic Blessing, which I extend to the priests, to the men and women religious, to the catechists and to all the faithful of Chad.

Castel Gandolfo, 9 September, 1999



ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER

TO THE BISHOPS OF BURUNDI

IN THEIR "AD LIMINA" VISIT





Dear Brothers in the Episcopate,

1. It gives me great joy to welcome you who are responsible for the pastoral care of the Catholic Church in Burundi at this important moment in your episcopal ministry, your ad limina visit. You have come to pray at the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul to increase within youselves the apostolic zeal that motivated them and brought them here to be witnesses to Christ's Gospel, willingly making the total gift of their lives. In meeting the Bishop of Rome and his assistants, you also express your communion with the Successor of Peter and with the universal Church. May the Lord bless your steps and support you in your service to the people who have been entrusted to you!

The President of your Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Simon Ntamwana, has sketched a moving picture of the Church's situation in Burundi on your behalf. I cordially thank him. Through you I affectionately greet the priests, religious, catechists and lay people of your Dioceses. May the Lord give them strength and daring to be vigilant witnesses of God's love among their brethren in all circumstances! Please also convey to all your compatriots my warm wishes that peace and prosperity will soon return to the whole country!


2. The vitality of the Catholic Church in Burundi is indeed remarkable. Your quinquennial reports show in a significant way the signs of spiritual renewal, which are becoming more and more evident in the life of your Dioceses and the religious communities which work there. The pastoral guidelines you have zealously adopted to guide your faithful to Christ are already bearing encouraging fruits, for which I am delighted.

Indeed, in recent years your country has endured a tragic situation. Once again I would like to entrust the victims of violence to divine mercy and to express my deep solidarity with all who are suffering the consequences of the drama your country has undergone. You yourselves, dear Brothers in the Episcopate, have borne these events with great strength of mind. Like the Apostle Paul, you willingly faced all danger out of concern and love for your diocesan Churches and your people (cf. 2Co 11,26). Here I pay tribute to the memory of Archbishop Joachim Ruhuna of Gitega, a victim of the violence he opposed with all his strength. With you the entire Catholic community has been harshly tried: its priests, men and women religious and lay people, who remained steadfast in their trials, sometimes to the point of giving their lives. Among all these Gospel witnesses the young seminarians of Buta, by their heroic sacrifice, have given a magnificent example of brotherhood in the Lord's name, which will remain such for future generations. I fervently thank the Pastors, pastoral workers and all the faithful of Burundi for their courage and fidelity to Christ and the Church.

Despite countless difficulties, your country's Catholics have kept alive their faith in the presence of the Lord, who will never abandon them and never ceases to guide them. The celebration of the first centenary of evangelization last year was a striking sign of their vitality and hope for the future. At this privileged moment in her history, the Church has wished solemnly to show her commitment to the path of reconciliation and peace, wishing to mark the beginning of a new era for all Burundians by making an active contribution to it. May this anniversary be for all the faithful a source of dynamism for the new evangelization of their country!

3. In your often very demanding episcopal ministry, you find help and support in your priests, your closest co-workers. In fact, you are joined to them by a close bond based on sharing in the one priesthood of Christ and on the same apostolic mission. "The priest's relationship with his Bishop in the one presbyterate, his sharing in the Bishop's ecclesial concern, and his devotion to the evangelical care of the People of God in the specific historical and contextual conditions of a particular Church are elements which must be taken into account in sketching the proper configuration of the priest and his spiritual life" (Apostolic Exhortation Pastores dabo vobis, PDV 31). For the development of this effective communion, which is indispensable to the Church's life, I encourage you to draw closer to your priests, sharing with them the joys and sorrows, the concerns and hopes of their life and ministry. In their daily problems may they find in you an attentive father who, with an attitude of love and dialogue, can guide and encourage them and, at times when necessary, take the appropriate decisions for their good and that of the faithful.

I extend a most cordial greeting to each of your diocesan priests. I know how devoted they are to the service of the Church and her mission. I urge them them to be ever more keenly aware that the priestly vocation involves a specific call to holiness. Through their ordination priests are configured to Christ the Head and Shepherd of his Church, which obliges them to a life marked by the actions of Jesus, the faithful Servant who finds his joy and happiness in fulfilling his Father's will and the mission entrusted to him. May they reserve an essential place in their life to prayer and the celebration of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Penance, persevering in their search for a genuine personal encounter with the Lord! Remembering that they have been given the responsibility of gathering and leading the People of God, they themselves must be models of Christian life who help believers to grow in faith and to accept one another in order to build the Church, the Family of God. Throughout their lives, and in particular through celibacy welcomed as a precious gift of God that they have really accepted, may they bear witness to an undivided love for Christ and his Church, with full and joyful commitment to their pastoral ministry (cf. Pastores dabo vobis, PDV 50)! In this spirit it is your duty to talk to them clearly and firmly about the demands of priestly life. Lastly, I urge them in season and out of season to be ardent messengers of the love of God, who makes no distinctions between people, whatever their origins or social status.

To prepare candidates to live all the demands of their priestly commitment with a deep interior life and a spirit of detachment from whatever is incompatible with the life of a consecrated person, the human, intellectual, pastoral, spiritual and human formation provided at the seminary becomes very important. Christians should also be taught the true significance of the priestly and religious vocation, so that they will become aware of their responsibility to pray for future priests and religious and to help them regard their vocation as a generous service asked of them for the good of the Church and the world, rather than as a form of social advancement. To combat social problems, I ask you to see that the themes of justice and peace are vigorously addressed, in accordance with the principles of the Church's social teaching. In this way future pastors will be able to help the younger generation to understand that justice is far more than a mere claim by one ethnic group against another.

4. Catechists have an important place in the evangelization of your country. In recent years in certain regions, because of the lack of priests, they have been the only pastoral workers to remain in place. They have been able to assemble the faithful and pass on the faith. In the Church's name, I express my gratitude to them all, and invite them to continue their generous service in communion with their Bishops and priests, so that the name of Christ can still be proclaimed and accepted. Dear Brothers in the Episcopate, you are taking great care to help and support them: may they always find in you Pastors who are close to them in their concerns and ready to give them the doctrinal and spiritual formation that will enable them to be competent and effective co-workers in evangelization!

The promotion of basic Christian communities is also an essential element of your pastoral work for the Church's renewal. These communities, where the Good News is received and passed on to others, are places where all are committed "to living Christ's love for everyone, a love which transcends the limits of the natural solidarity of clans, tribes or other interest groups" (Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa, ). This is why their members need to be given a sound formation in prayer, in listening to God's word and in the truths of the faith, and they must be encouraged to fulfil their responsiblities more and more effectively as baptized and confirmed persons in the Church and in society.

5. The responsibility of Christians to work towards re-establishing peaceful and reconciled relations among all the members of the nation must lead them to see that, if this is to be achieved in a lasting way, justice must be guaranteed for all. Thus there must be a clear awareness that all human beings have the same dignity, deserve the same respect, are equal and enjoy the same rights and duties. As I wrote in my Message for the 1998 World Day of Peace: "Peace for all of us comes from the justice of each of us. No one is excused from a task of such importance for the whole of humanity. It concerns every man and every woman, each according to his or her own competence and responsibility" (n. 7; L'Osservatore Romano English edition, 17/24 December 1997, p. 4). Moreover, when public authorities, in the name of their own responsibility, have to impose punishment, justice must always be in conformity with the dignity of the person and thus with God's plan for man and society. As I wrote in my Encyclical Evangelium vitae: "The nature and extent of punishment must be carefully evaluated and decided upon" (n. 56). One can only deplore the excessive number of cases in which the death penalty is sought. My thoughts thus turn to the many prisoners who are victims of the slowness of judicial procedures, in the hope that they will see their cases tried without delay and their defence properly guaranteed. It is important to mobilize all the forces of society so that there is always hope despite problems, and that people can serve their sentence with respect for their dignity and have the opportunity to correct themselves and mend their ways. In the present circumstances, your episcopal ministry requires you to be vigilant in this area. I acknowledge your efforts, especially through the Justice and Peace Commission, to make justice triumph and prevail over hatred and the desire for revenge, and to see that everyone is given a genuine education in justice and peace.

In fact, the promotion of justice among peoples and within each human community is an integral part of Gospel witness. I therefore strongly encourage you in your concern to help your communities to be more and more intensely committed to building a new society based on justice and fraternal solidarity, with harmony among all its members. It is urgently necessary for each person to be formed in moral and civic values from the very first years of school, with an acute sense of the rights and duties of human individuals and communities. In teaching justice, one is teaching peace. To all who aspire to justice and peace, and particularly to young people, I forcefully repeat: "Always keep alive the quest for these ideals, and have the patience and persistence to pursue them whatever the concrete situation in which you find yourselves.... Value what is right and true, even when to do so requires sacrifice and commits you to going against the current!" (Message for the 1998 World Day of Peace, n. 7; L'Osservatore Romano English edition, 17/24 December 1997). With you, I urge Catholics and people of good will to overcome evil with good (cf. Rom Rm 12,21) by acts of brotherly love which alone can allow the country to have a future, restore trust to the citizenry and create relations which offer real hope. I also encourage you to take an ever more active stance against violence, whatever its origin.

To enable all the members of the People of God to walk with determination on this path, I invite you to give a preferential place to teaching the Church's social doctrine. It is particularly important that lay Catholics become involved in public life, in order to be "the salt of the earth" by vigorously bearing witness in their daily activities to the love and justice of God. Their commitment today is of great importance, when a new constitutional system is being sought to build a united and harmonious nation, by overcoming hostilities and accepting differences as riches for the good of all.

6. The events your country has endured have led many people to experience life in refugee camps and as displaced persons. Unfortunately, this situation still exists. Of course, the solution to this serious human problem will come primarily through the restoration of peace, reconciliation and economic development. In Christ's name, the Church, through her often very limited charitable resources, must help to alleviate this great suffering and misery. However she cannot forget the fundamental message she has received from her Lord, which Jesus solemnly proclaimed at the beginnning of his mission, repeating Isaiah's words: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor" (cf. Lk Lc 4,18-21). And he added: "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing". It is therefore imperative for the Church to remember this essential aspect of her evangelizing mission, and for Catholics, together with other Christians, to be encouraged to be inventive in fostering attitudes of living solidarity and active participation which vividly show that all are members of one body, recalling the words of the Apostle Paul: "If one member suffers, all suffer together" (1Co 12,26).

In presenting the Church as the People of God and the Body of Christ, the Second Vatican Council gives us highly significant images that should help her members foster attitudes of solidarity and brotherhood in the Christian communities. In this same perspective, the Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops employed the key idea of the Church as the Family of God to express the Church's nature in an appropriate way for Africa. Thus the Fathers stressed that none of the Church's members, whatever his place, can be excluded from the common table of sharing, or from the responsibility of living in real solidarity with his brothers and sisters.

7. Dear Brothers in the Episcopate, having come to the end of our meeting, I turn again to your beloved country to urge all its sons and daughters, each at his or her own level of responsibility, to be firmly committed to building a society based on harmony and reconciliation. I fervently hope that sincere and fruitful dialogue will be pursued among all Burundians and will lead to lasting peace, so that everyone can finally live in security and rediscover the paths of prosperity and happiness. May God open hearts to his Spirit of love and peace! May Christ's disciples turn to the Father of all mercy, in an attitude of profound conversion and intense prayer, to ask him for the strength and courage to be tireless builders of peace and brotherhood with all people of good will.


As we are on the eve of entering the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, I ardently wish that this time of grace will be a new springtime of Christian life for the Church in Burundi, to enable her to respond boldly to the Spirit's call. I entrust your ministry and the life of your ecclesial communities to the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redeemer, so that she may guide your steps to her Son. I gladly impart my Apostolic Blessing to you and extend it to the priests, religious, catechists and all the faithful of your Dioceses.

Castel Gandolfo, 10 September 1999




Speeches 1999