Speeches 1980 - Castelgandolfo


TO THE INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE COMMISSION

BETWEEN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

AND THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION

Castelgandolfo

Thursday, 4 September 1980




Dear Brothers in Christ,

You are most welcome here.

I greet you with honour, veterans, seasoned workers in a great cause - that unity for which Christ prayed so solemnly on the eve of his sacrificial death.

We know that this cause is the responsibility of all who are committed to Christ[1]. It can be served in many ways; the way assigned to you by the Common Declaration of Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey was that of "serious theological dialogue based on the Scriptures and on the ancient common Tradition". You see that the very words of this programme are revealing. Unity is a gift of our Lord and Saviour, the founder of the Church. Although is was marred by the sin of men, is was never entirely lost. We have a common treasure, which we must recover and in the fullness of which we must share, not loosing certain characteristic qualities and gifts which have been ours even in our divided state.

Your method has been to go behind the habit of thought and expression born and nourished in enmity and controversy, to scrutinize together the great common treasure, to clothe it in a language at once traditional and expressive of the insights of an age which no longer glories in strife but seeks to come together in listening to the quiet voice of the Spirit.

I do not need to tell you - you can tell me - that the task is not easy. It is not a task for man unaided. In seeking unity, man must first imitate Christ in praying for it. You have grasped and practised this, praying together; and you have reflected together, sharing in each other’s liturgies and offices so far as is proper to our still divided state. This support was put behind your work of study, reflection and formulation from the beginning, fourteen years ago. You have prayed and countless others have prayed with you and for you.

Now your appointed task draws to an end. No doubt you look back in love and brotherhood on those years of labour. Some of its fruits are well known, have been studied by many others, have influenced may. Now the time is approaching when you will make a final report, which the respective ecclesiastical authorities must assess.

Here is a great responsibility. Your work will be taken seriously - weighed with all the care and sympathetic attention it demands. I thank God for what has been achieved, and I thank you, who have worked in his Name, with a desire to be submissive to his Spirit.

As the two men who commissioned you realized deeply, oneness in faith lies at the roots and fertilizes Christian life. Given that, there can be rich variety in growth. In three great fields of doctrine you have sought agreement in those matters in which doctrine admits no diversity. This effort calls for warm appreciation.

But you yourself realize that much remains to be done. To understand the mystery of Christ’s Church, the Sacrament of Salvation, in its fullness is an abiding challenge. Many of the practical problems which still face us (questions of order, of mixed marriages, of shared sacramental life, of Christian morality) can only move towards solutions as our understanding of that mystery deepens.
But here and now we must think with gratitude of what you have done. Your work and its fruits are already in themselves manifestations of, and a contribution to that "greater common witness" of which Paul VI spoke in "Evangelii Nuntiandi"[2] and it is an enabling instrument for all Christians who increasingly feel the call to common witness. It is a reminder that such witness is no matter of sentiment, but must be the fruit of prayer and hard work, of honesty and willingness to speak the truth in love.

With gladness I bless and thank you all. I pledge my concern for your work and my support for those who may continue it, and I join you in praying that the "Father of lights, in whom there is no variation or shadow due to change"[3] may shed his light on us as we seek untiringly to reach full unity in his Son Jesus Christ.

[1] Cfr. Unitatis Redintegratio, 5.

[2] Pauli VI Evangelii Nuntiandi, 77.

[3] Iac. 1, 17.



TO THE PARTICIPANTS

IN THE INTERNATIONAL FORUM

ON ACTIVE AGING

Castelgandolfo

Friday, 5 September 1980




Venerable Brothers and dear friends,

1. With great pleasure I welcome all of you who make up the Castelgandolfo International Forum on Active Aging. Yours is an initiative that is sponsored, I am told, by the Opera Pia International for Active Aging, in cooperation with the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, and in consultation with the Center for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs, with a number of Bishops in attendance.

All of you are intent on rendering homage to humanity in the aging, the elderly. The Church’s concern and love for this category of persons invites her to take note of your zealous initiative. And today I willingly take the occasion to offer some partial considerations on a topic that you are rightfully striving to explore in depth.

2. A greater awareness in society of the existence of the elderly and of their condition of life is already a good in itself. A realization of the actual situation of millions of our fellow human beings immediately prompts us to see the need for promoting their betterment; it gives us insights into what interventions are to be made and what means are to be utilized so that many lives may be rendered more fully human.

3. To turn our attention to the aging is to realize how much they are a part of God’s plan for the world, with their mission to fulfil, their unique contribution to make, their problems to solve, their burdens to bear. A concentration on the lofty dimensions of the lives of the elderly assists us to discover areas where true human advancement can be made; it helps us to see what should be emphasized in order to bring about progress in the present state of the elderly.

4. The Catholic Church willingly lends her support to efforts that encourage the elderly themselves to look with realism and serenity on the role that God has assigned to them: with the wisdom and experience of their lives they have entered a period of extraordinary grace, with new opportunities for prayer and union with God, having been endowed with new spiritual forces with which to serve others and to make a fervent offering of their lives to the Lord and Giver of life. Efforts, moreover, that are aimed at fostering and sponsoring programmes on behalf of the elderly are worthy of the highest praise. Christ’s teaching is clear: what is done for his brethren is done for him[1], and its value is seen in this light.

To help mobilize forces in favour of the aging is another worthy goal to be pursued: to support the initiatives that will bring the forces of science to alleviate the sufferings of the elderly; to defend their right to life and to the fullness thereof; to minister to their needs - all this is part of the horizon that is open to the men and women of our own day.

5. To proclaim the mission of the elderly and thereby to promote their special role in the human family is a task of great importance. The elderly are meant to be part of the social scene; their very existence gives an insight into God’s creation and the functioning of society. The life of the aging helps to clarify a scale of human values; it shows the continuity of generations and marvellously demonstrates the interdependence of God’s people. The elderly often have the charisma to bridge generation gaps before they are made: how many children have found understanding and love in the eyes and words and caresses of the aging? and how many old people have willingly subscribed to the inspired word that "the crown of the aged is their children’s children"[2].

To point out the resources that belong to the elderly is to sensitise the elderly themselves and to highlight the riches inherent in society - riches which society itself does not appreciate. Old age is able to enrich the world through prayer and counsel; its presence enriches the home; its immense capacity for evangelisation by word and example, and by activities eminently adapted to the talents of the elderly is a force for the Church of God yet to be thoroughly understood or adequately utilized. A description of the positive factors of aging could be extended at length.

6. Your worthy aim, to see an "active aging" is shared by men and women throughout the world.

Interest begets interest. Creative activities for and with and by the elderly will bring forth fruitful results for a more humanized society and a renewed civilization that will sustain a greater fellowship of love and communion of hope and peace.

It is my fervent desire that your initiative and other similar ones may present the world with a more consolidated concern for the elderly everywhere. By anticipation I greet with enthusiasm and with sentiments of particular hope the United Nations World Assembly on the Elderly scheduled to be convened in 1982, to which this present Forum looks forward, and which it seeks to aid through its present deliberation.

In the context of the Catholic faith my thoughts turn to all the elderly of the Church who with serenity and joy give the example of earnest Christian living, while at the same time manifesting an appreciation of the mystery of human death, realistically to be accepted, but radically transformed in the Paschal Mystery of the Lord Jesus. My thoughts go to all who are bent under the weight of sickness or incapacity, to those who shoulder burdens of loneliness, rejection or fear. In prayer and with fraternal love I entrust them all to the Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation, to the Heart of Jesus, our Life and Resurrection. And I ask God, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, to sustain you in your efforts, and to bless you and all those who love and assist the elderly.

[1] Cfr. Matth. 25, 40.

[2] Prov. 17, 6.



TO THE II INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS

ON THE PASTORAL CARE OF GYPSIES

AND TRAVELING SHOW PEOPLE

Castel Gandolfo, September 16, 1980



I wish to thank Cardinals Baggio and Duval, the Bishops and all members of the Congress organized by the Commission of Migration and Tourism under the guidance of Mgr. Clarizio. Thank you for your work. I would further like to thank all those present for their visit. They have come to express their attachment to the Church and to the person of Peter's successor. I am well aware, however, that you wanted this meeting to be held last Sunday, and that some were disappointed not to find me here then, because of my visit to Siena. I am glad at any rate to have this opportunity today to meet you, to be together with you, and to listen to you voices, your music, which is so famous, and especially your hearts, which are certainly open and sincere. A sign of this openness of your hearts is the presence of your families, especially your children who immediately found their way towards the Pope. I am always happy to have them close to me.

I am delighted by your meeting which was, as your chaplain said, one of prayer. You meet together to pray. To get to know better Jesus Christ, his words and his work, and to participate in them. For these words of Christ are living: they form our life. And also, to be sure, your religious meetings serve to form your life, your personal, family and Christian life. You were told so by various representatives of your group, especially those living in Italy, but also some by from abroad, particularly those from Yugoslavia, who find a support in the Church and meet together with the priests and sisters who share their life and who, by thus drawing close to them, seek to form a Christian community together with them. This is a special mission which the Church tries to fulfill among her various other missions.

As one of you mentioned, the late Paul VI had this mission of the Church among your communities very close at heart and tried to inspire it. I wish to tell you that, as his successor, I too want to continue this brotherly service, with the help of the special Commission of Migration and Tourism and with the help of the Bishops of various dioceses, and especially the priests engaged in this task. I hope that today's meeting will be the first of many, and that in future we will keep a better appointment and meet each other more promptly.

I wish now to conclude, together with the Cardinals and Bishops here present, by imparting my blessing on all those present, on your families, and on all the members of your communities in Italy, Europe and throughout the world.




ON THE OCCASION OF THE INAUGURATION

OF THE EXHIBITION

"A MIRROR OF CREATION"

Braccio di Carlo Magno (Vatican Museums)

Tuesday, 23 September 1980




Your Eminences,
Dear Friends of American Art in Religion,

It is a pleasure for me to welcome you today, and with you to inaugurate the first major exhibition of American paintings in the Vatican.

With this exhibition your Association pursues its laudable initiatives; it likewise expands the contacts that it has already had with the Vatican through the seminars that took place here in 1976 and 1978.

The title itself that you have given to his exhibition is expressive of the sentiments that have motivated this most recent activity of yours: "A Mirror of Creation - 150 Years of American Nature Painting". Through your generous efforts many people in the weeks to come will be able to admire these paintings; with you they too will be able to reflect on nature as an example of God’s handwork, a manifestation of his power and beauty, an expression of the generosity with which he endows the world and adorns it for the good of human beings. From these reflections on nature there emerges a deep realization of the glory of creation, the dignity of man, and above all the majesty of the Creator. The Psalmist was moved to proclaim: "O Lord, my Lord, how glorious is your name over all the earth! You have exalted your majesty above the heavens"[1].

I am happy also to have the occasion of this gathering today to add my voice once again to the great witness of respect, esteem and confidence given over long years by my predecessor Paul VI to the artists of the world. Artists have indeed a noble contribution to make in building the civilization of man and in promoting the Kingdom of God on earth.

May this endeavour and all your endeavours at the service of art be blessed. "The Lord bless you and keep you! The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!"[2].

[1] Ps. 8, 2.

[2] Num. 6, 24-26.

                                                              October 1980








TO THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND

Friday, 17 October 1980

Your Majesty,

Your Royal Highness,

NINETEEN YEARS AGO my predecessor John XXIII welcomed Your Majesty and Your Royal Highness to the Vatican. Today this joy and this pleasure belong to me, and it is my desire to greet both of you with the same cordiality and respect that marked the welcome extended by my predecessor.

On that occasion, John XXIII spoke of the great simplicity and dignity with which Your Majesty bears the weight of your many responsibilities. Two decades later, these observations are still so very apt, and it is most evident that the responsibilities incumbent on you have far from diminished. The needs of humanity itself have dramatically increased, as have the problems that confront it in so many vital areas.

In the context of collaboration in our common ideal of service, I am happy to have the opportunity of our meeting in order to speak to you about a number of these issues. Contacts between the Apostolic See of Rome and Great Britain are by no means of recent origin; indeed they span a period of almost fourteen hundred years - back to the days when Gregory I sent Augustine, a Benedictine monk, to bring Christ’s Gospel to the people of your land. Other Benedictine influences touched the lives of the people of Britain, and from your shores they spread throughout Europe by means of the activity, for example, of Saint Boniface, one who has been called “the greatest Englishman” and the thirteenth centenary of whose birth is being celebrated this year.

In the person of Your Majesty I render homage to the Christian history of your people, as well as to their cultural achievements. The ideals of freedom and democracy, anchored in your past, remain challenges for every generation of upright citizens in your land. In this century your people have repeatedly endeavoured to defend these ideals against aggression. It is my prayer that these great benefits will be effectively guaranteed for future generations. The influence of your hardworking people in certain other fields too, and the spread of their language, have been providential instruments for furthering brotherhood throughout the world. May this contribution be realised to the full for the advancement of mankind at this juncture of history, and for the promotion of the integral progress of every man, woman and child in a peaceful world.

Last year, before the United Nations Organisation I had the opportunity to speak of the relationship that exists between genuine development and peace and the cultivation of spiritual values. In this regard I stated: “The pre-eminence of the values of the spirit defines the proper sense of material goods and the way to use them. This pre-eminence is therefore at the basis of a just peace. It is also a contributing factor to ensuring that material development, technical development and the development of civilisation are at the service of what constitutes man”[1]. In the presence of Your Majesty and Your Royal Highness I express the ardent hope that your noble nation will face this great spiritual challenge with renewed enthusiasm and fresh moral vigour.

During the two decades intervening since the last visit of Your Majesty to the Holy See, one notes with a sense of deep satisfaction an ever more cordial relationship existing between various Christian bodies and between other religious men and women of good will. This is eminently true of the situation in your own land; under God’s grace it is owing to the patience and sustained effort of so many honest people moved by the insights of charity and dedicated to a profound conviction that was once expressed by Jesus Christ: “The truth will make you free”. Worthy of special mention in this regard is the zeal with which representatives of the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion have pursued this noble goal of drawing closer together in Christian unity and in effective common service to humanity.

With great anticipation I look forward to having the opportunity of making a pastoral visit to the Catholics of Great Britain. On that occasion I hope to meet them both as sons and daughters of the Catholic Church and as loyal citizens of their nation; at the same time I hope to greet with fraternal respect and friendship other fellow Christians and people of good will.

Meanwhile, to Your Majesty and Your Royal Highness I reiterate my personal sentiments of esteem. I ask God to sustain you in all your activities of service and to preserve you in good health. I invoke God’s favour upon both of you, together with the entire Royal Family, and the whole British people. May God bless Great Britain, enabling her to fulfil her exalted destiny in justice and in peace.

[1] Ioannis Pauli PP. II Allocutio ad Nationum Unitarum Legatos, 14, die 2. oct. 1979: Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, II, 2 (1979) 532.




TO THE LUTHERAN SWEDISH COMMUNITIES

RESIDING IN ROME AND MILAN

Thursday, 30 October 1980



It is a pleasure and an honour for me to welcome Their Royal Highnesses Prince Bertil and Princess Lilian of Sweden, the Archbishop of Uppsala, Primate of the Lutheran Church of Sweden, and other distinguished Church representatives who, together with His Excellency the Ambassador of Sweden to Italy, have come to the Vatican today. I am likewise pleased to greet the many other people who have come from Sweden, as members of the Swedish Lutheran Church residing in Rome. This visit comes in close continuity with the many visits that Swedish pilgrims have paid in recent years to my predecessor Paul VI and to myself.

The particular occasion of this visit today is the special exhibition that has been organized in the City, with the title “Sweden and Rome”, illustrating the close relationship that has existed for so many centuries between the centre of Christianity and Sweden. The most outstanding figure in that history are, of course, Birgitta, a great Saint of the Catholic Church and Patron Saint of your land, who lived for nearly twenty years in Rome and died here in 1373; and in the second place, three hundred years later, Queen Christina, whose body is buried near Saint Peter’s tomb in the Vatican Patriarchal Basilica. But Rome has known many other fellow-countrymen of yours, in particular the various artists who have taken their inspiration from Rome and other parts of Italy, adding to the cultural heritage of both Rome and their native land.

Coming closer to our own times, we have the figure of Mother Elisabeth Hesselblad, who earlier in this century founded a new branch of the Bridgettine Order, in the very house where Saint Birgitta and her daughter Saint Katerina lived. I am happy to offer a special word of greeting to the Abbess General and the Bridgettine community here today, and I thank them for the valued service of hospitality and ecumenical openness which they offer, especially to visitors from the Nordic countries.

I gladly take this opportunity to renew the expression of the friendship of the Catholic Church towards the still separated brethren in those lands. I trust that the presence of all of you in Rome at this time will serve to strengthen the ties of that friendship, and will lead to an increase of mutual understanding and esteem. I know that you join me in my prayer that God will, in ways known only to himself, hasten the day when full unity of faith and Christian life will be established between us.

Our present gathering seems indeed a propitious occasion for all of us children of God - with a heightened awareness of the common treasure of the Sacred Scriptures that we venerate together - to turn our thoughts to “the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named”[1], and to his Son, Jesus Christ, the “one mediator between God and man”[2]. It is he, Jesus Christ, who through his Holy Spirit invites us to ever greater union in himself.

May God bless you! May God bless all the people of Sweden!

[1] Eph. 3, 15.

[2] 1 Tim. 2, 5.

                                                        November 1980




TO H.E. Mr MOUSTAFA KAMAL EL-DIWANI

AMBASSADOR OF EGYPT TO THE HOLY SEE

Monday, 10 November 1980



Mr Ambassador,

I am happy to welcome Your Excellency to the Vatican as you present the Letters accrediting you as the Ambassador of Egypt to the Holy See. I thank you for the cordial message which you have addressed to me, especially for your kind words in support of my efforts to promote peace and mutual understanding among all peoples and nations.

On this occasion I ask that you transmit my greetings and best wishes to His Excellency President Sadat. It is my hope that under his leadership the Arab Republic of Egypt will make even greater advances in the paths of progress and development, and that all the people of your country will live together in harmony.

I have followed closely the efforts to build a lasting peace which have been made by President Sadat and the Egyptian Government. And I am happy to receive from you the confirmation that these efforts will continue, despite all difficulties. In fact, precisely because the tensions and dangers have increased in recent times, the work of peace, as you have said, must go on. Indeed it must be intensified until a comprehensive peace is achieved, a peace which provides for an equitable solution to all aspects of the Middle East crisis, including the Palestinian problem and the question of Jerusalem. Any so-called peace which would not take into account all the elements of divergency and which would not ultimately include all the parties who are directly concerned would risk being ineffective and could spark an ever more bitter conflict.

As Your Excellency is aware, Catholics in Egypt desire, as loyal citizens, to contribute to the future development of your country and, together with their brothers and sisters in the Christian faith, they wish to collaborate, in mutual respect and equality of conditions, with all their countrymen of the Muslim faith.

During your stay here, which I trust will be a fruitful one, you may be assured of the interest and cooperation of the Holy See in the accomplishment of your task.

For Your Excellency and for the noble nation which you represent I beg abundant favours from Almighty God.






TO THE BISHOPS OF CHINA

ON THEIR "AD LIMINA" VISIT

Tuesday, 11 November 1980



Venerable and dear Brothers in Christ,

1. I am very happy to have this meeting with you, the Bishops of Taiwan, in order to speak with about the progress being made in your dioceses, about the problems which as Pastors you have to face daily in the evangelisation of the flock that you have been called to shepherd, and about your present anxieties and your hopes for the future. As you know, this forms part of the specific mission entrusted by Jesus to Peter and his successors: the care for all the Churches: “Feed my lambs... Tend my sheep”[1], and the task of strengthening his brethren[2].

2. The visit ad limina Apostolorum in an expression of that bond which links the Bishops, individually and as a body, to the Bishop of Rome, who, by the will of Christ, is also the Pastor of the universal Church.

In fact, the Second Vatican Council clearly reaffirms the constant and unchanging doctrine of the Catholic Church: “The Roman Pontiff, as the Successor of Peter, is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity of the Bishops and of the multitude of the faithful. The individual Bishop, however, is the visible principle and foundation of unity in his particular Church, fashioned after the model of the universal Church. In and from such individual Churches there comes into being the one and only Catholic Church. For this reason each individual Bishop represents his own Church, but all of them together in union with the Pope represent the entire Church joined in the bond of peace, love and unity”[3].

3. The Chinese people, scattered throughout the Continent, in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, and in the diaspora, is a great people, formed by a culture that is thousands of years old, formed by the thoughts of great and wise philosophers of ancient times, and by family traditions, such as that relating to the cult of ancestors. And well-known to all is the profound sense of kindness and urbanity that distinguishes it.

The Church, according to the different ways of thinking of the times, has sought to respect these traditions and cultural values, in the spirit of the Gospel, in the line of thought expressed by Saint Paul when he exhorts the Philippians to prize: “whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise”[4].

The Christian message therefore highlights and enriches the positive spiritual and human values existing in every culture and tradition; the Church seeks to attain a harmonious accord between the culture and traditions of a people on the hand and faith in Christ on the other[5]. This is a constant challenge for the Church, which must find in the culture and traditions of the people to be evangelised an important and indeed essential point for framing the method of proclaiming the Gospel message, according to the needs of every moment. The example of the great missionaries and apostles of China - as for example the Jesuit Matteo Ricci - should serve as a guide and inspiration for everyone.

A Christian is not just a person of faith, but one who is also called to be the leaven and salt in the civil and political society that he or she lives in. The Church therefore inculcates in her faithful a deep sense of love and duty towards their fellow-countrymen and towards their native land. She encourages them to live as upright and exemplary citizens and to work loyally for the all-round progress of the nation of which they are proud to be members.

4. I know that you, the Bishops of Taiwan, are deeply involved not only in the task of evangelisation but also in works of education and social welfare. This, on the one hand, shows the pastoral zeal that animates you and your collaborators: the diocesan clergy, the men and women Religious, and the laity. On the other hand it honours the religious freedom that the Church in your territory enjoys.

The Holy See appreciates this attitude, and encourages all the members of the Church in Taiwan to make good use of the situation of freedom and respect that it enjoys, in order to devote itself with ever greater fervour to the evangelisation of the Chinese people and to those other good works that depend upon the local Churches.

On my part I hope for an ever greater increase of Chinese ecclesiastical and lay workers in the Lord’s vineyard, an increase that will be the fruit mainly of a healthy Christian upbringing received in the family and in Catholic educational institutions. At the same time I express the earnest desire that these workers be given a solid and well-rooted formation both in the branches of knowledge necessary or useful for their future pastoral work, and also in the discipline of the Christian virtues, so that they will be effective collaborators of the Holy Spirit in building up that chosen portion of the Kingdom of God that is in China.

5. Among the preoccupations that you have manifested to me, the present religious situation of the Catholic Church on the Continent occupies a special place. I assure you that these preoccupations are also very much my own. From various parts of that immense territory I receive information that attests to the perseverance of wary many Catholics in the faith, in prayer and in religious practice, and that shows their firm attachment to the See of Peter. This news has moved me deeply, and it impels me to offer up a prayer, together with you my brother Bishops, for that heroic Church, that the Lord may pour out upon those brave brethren and upon the faithful people the gifts of fortitude and perseverance, maintaining in them the ardent flame of hope that does not disappoint[6].

And finally, beloved Brothers, I entrust the evangelisation of China to the maternal protection of Mary, Queen of China. I pray for the prosperity and progress of the whole Chinese people, whom I affectionately remember every day in my prayers and in my pastoral concerns. With immense confidence in the power of the death and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, I repeat with the Apostle Peter: “Peace to all of you who are in Christ”[7].

[1] Io. 21, 15-17.

[2] Cfr. Luc. 22, 32.

[3] Lumen Gentium, 23.

[4] Phil. 4, 8.

[5] Cfr. Gaudiumet Spes, 57-62.

[6] Cfr. Rom. 5, 5.

[7] 1 Petr. 5, 14.




Speeches 1980 - Castelgandolfo