Speeches 1986 - Monday, 10 March 1986
It gives me great pleasure to send you this message, as you are gathered in Bangalore to study the theme "Cultural forces facing India today: education’s response". This is a subject of great relevance for the formation of the youth who are the future of India, and for the deep involvement of all educators dedicated to her cultural and social progress. I rejoice that this Conference is organised by the All India Association for Christian Higher Education, under the leadership of the Secretary General, Sister Mary Braganza, and with the participation of the Pontifical Council for Culture, represented by its President, Cardinal Paul Poupard. I am particularly happy to address you so soon after my recent apostolic visit to this land of great religious and cultural traditions, which have deeply impressed me and which remain vivid in my memory.
1. Education is recognised as the process by which the human person develops the true form of his being as man. The result of this process is known as culture. It is a lofty aspiration of all persons, because it is through culture that we give expression to our humanity. Through culture individuals can engage their talents, interests and desires; culture is a means whereby man achieves authentic freedom of spirit – so necessary for all other freedoms. However this freedom is not without its responsibility; for man has to understand his place in the universe, he has to love other human beings and to recognise the truth and beauty of God. These are values that you wish to cultivate in your teaching mission.
During my recent visit, I was happy to witness that the essential characteristic of Indian culture lies in its insistence on spiritual and moral values. As I said in my address to the representatives of the various religious and cultural traditions at Delhi: "What India offers specifically is a noble spiritual vision of man – man, a pilgrim of the Absolute, travelling towards a goal, seeking the face of God... As we proclaim the truth about man, we insist that man’s search for temporal and social well-being and for full human dignity corresponds to the deep longing of his spiritual nature" . From ancient times onwards, India has tried to build her civilisation on the basis of an understanding of the nature of man and of his relation to the Absolute or to God.
2. Indian culture pays keen attention to the spiritual soul, to the inner mind and to the various levels of consciousness through meditative practice. Scientific knowledge too has certainly proved productive, useful and practical; and, as educators, you have to cultivate scientific disciplines.
Science can become an indispensable ally in the social and economic development of a nation. But, as we know, science has sometimes tended to ignore the deeper nature of the human spirit, and this hinders the integral development of the individual and of society. Your own culture is eminently rich for its constant striving to clarify the mystery of man. The moral dimension of the Indian culture is again evident if we consider that a cultured person in India is a disciplined individual who has brought his natural propensities under control and as shaped himself in accordance with the ideal set before him by his moral consciousness. Besides, he is endowed with a power of discerning between the proper and improper, between good and evil. With regard to the education of the youth, Mahatma Gandhi observed: "To awaken the heart is to awaken the dormant soul, to awaken reason and to inculcate discrimination between good and evil" .
3. Each country and each community has its own peculiar culture and special needs. Every age and every society must continually apply its ancient ideals to new conditions. As experienced educators, you know that modern India must draw upon the immense intellectual, moral and cultural resources of the entire world, but the nation should do so with an awareness of its own cultural and traditional identity. You recognise that the contribution of other cultures demands a reinterpretation and adaptation, consonant with your own cultural heritage. It is well known that Rabindranath Tagore established Visva-Bharatias an international University where the values of the East and the West could be combined to develop a truly universal and humanitarian outlook based on faith in man. In this process of building up a truly universal culture, "we must convince ourselves of the priority of the ethical over the technical, of the person in relation to things, of the superiority of the spiritual over the material", as I affirmed before the UNESCO Assembly.
4. It is one of the most appropriate duties of our times to work untiringly in order to ensure the recognition and implementation everywhere of the right of every individual to full growth and culture, in harmony with human dignity, without distinction of race, sex, nation, religion or social circumstances . This is a common challenge and responsibility for the believers of all religions, who should seek together an effective promotion of cultural growth for all men and women. Dialogue, understanding and co-operation between all religions should be a constant preoccupation of educators and religious leaders, for the advancement of cultural development, justice, peace and brotherhood. Culture becomes therefore the common ground of our service to the cause of man.
Motivated by the spirit of the Gospel, the Catholic Church has for a long time committed herself to the cause of higher education in India, trying to serve students of all faiths. The Catholic Colleges are encouraged to cooperage with all similar Christian institutions and with all groups and persons of good will dedicated to the welfare and progress of this great nation.
5. With our belief in the dignity of the human person, it is natural that we should pay the greatest attention to the person of the teacher. The first educational objective is to find teachers who are qualified and dedicated. Once this has been done, the problems of syllabus, methods of teaching and discipline of students are easier to solve. The living example of the teacher is most important.
Mere erudition is insufficient; but when it is fired by dedication, it gives light and warmth. Let us reaffirm the indispensable vocation of teachers in society. As the Second Vatican Council says, "Splendid and of the highest importance is the vocation of those who help parents in carrying out their duties and act in the name of the community by undertaking a teaching career. This vocation requires special qualities of mind and heart, most careful preparation and a constant readiness to accept new ideas and to adapt the old" . It is specially incumbent on Christian educators "to work in close conjunction with their contemporaries and try to get to know their ways of thinking and feeling, as they find them expressed in current culture... so that their practice of religion and their moral behaviour may keep abreast of their acquaintance with science and of the relentless progress of technology" .
Finally, as you well know, all education is to some extent self-directed. To make a study of any subject is always in some degree a self-directed operation. That is to say that educators not only have to educate others but they help others to educate themselves in a personal and critical way. This develops in the educator and in the educated a research mindedness and a capacity for continuing education, which are so important in today’s changing societies. One of the most important of recent developments in education is the organisation of genuine research. One can say that research, in the natural as well as in the human sciences, has become a major function of universities in their service of modern man seeking to satisfy his material and spiritual needs.
6. These tasks require great intellectual commitment and spiritual perception. Modern educators are ever more aware that true culture is an openness of the mind capable of reaching for wisdom, that is, of embracing all truths concerning the universe, man and God. "Methodical research in all branches of knowledge, provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith, because the things of the world and the things of faith derive from the same God" .
May the forces, old and new, shaping the future of India be wisely and efficiently integrated in educational programmes that will allow this great nation to develop fully according to its spiritual identity.
My sincere and cordial good wishes accompany you in your work and your commitment which is of such significance for the future of Indian culture.
May Almighty God, source of all Light and Beauty, whose infinite Love is our constant inspiration and strength, help us all to build together a Civilisation of Truth and Love.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I welcome you to Rome, a city that was graced by the ministries of the Apostles Peter and Paul.
When we first met in Utrecht, you raised serious concerns that you feel very deeply. These included mixed marriages, Eucharistic sharing, the role of women in the Church, and ecumenical collaboration. I am pleased that you have come here to continue the conversation.
The issues that you have raised are of deep concern to me. These issues in fact, each in its own way, are a commentary on the age in which we live with its new ecumenical challenges. The way we deal with them will test the way we understand ecumenism. I hope that you have been able to have a good exchange on them this week. I hope that your dialogue, which has taken another step here in Rome, will continue on the national level when you return to the Netherlands.
In the brief time that we now have together, I would like to point to three basic considerations. First, we must insist again that ecumenism is a pastoral priority in the Catholic Church and for all Christian. This has been said again. All of us, on every level of the Church, must commit ourselves to seeing that the goal of visible unity is never lost sight of, and that every legitimate path towards that goal is taken.
The separations of the sixteenth century have not involved events that are only on the surface of the Church and the life of believers. They had serious consequences, separating us from each other and breaking our unity; they touched some essential elements of the faith. We have no choice but to face the wounds of division that keep us apart and to heal those wounds, so that we may live together in that fullness of faith and sacramental life which Christ would bestow on us. It is he who beckons: it falls to us to respond. This is the direction in which the ecumenical movement has moved, for which we thank God. We feel obliged to continue in this direction in faithfulness to his mercy. This we consider a pastoral priority.
Secondly, the pastoral significance and implications of ecumenism are becoming clearer. We know that the divisions among Christians have been a scandal and an obstacle to the mission of the Church in the world. But now we see more clearly what we have also always known: that these decisions have had a negative effect on people. Human beings, individuals under our care, have suffered, have been victimized by the events of centuries ago. You have pointed this out by speaking of the difficulties that people in mixed marriages face in regard to religion. Our divisions affect the well-being of individuals, families and local communities. People suffer.
I know that these pastoral concerns are uppermost in your minds because you come here as pastors, whose primary concern is the Christian well-being of people. But pastoral problems can never be resolved surely or fully if we gloss over the differences in faith of which those pastoral problems are the fruit.
Thirdly, while always going forward, our approach to ecumenism must be consistent with truth, and take into account the full range of issues that are required for adequate solutions to problems.
Here we call to mind the problem of Eucharistic sharing. The inability to share the Eucharist is one of the results of the tragic events of centuries past. The ecumenical collaboration which now takes place among our people creates a desire for prayer in common, and even a hunger to share the Eucharist. Yet we do not share the Eucharist.
In recent times, the important results of ecumenical dialogues have shown a growing convergence among many Churches and ecclesial communities on the meaning of the Eucharist. We rejoice in this because it is a step towards a solution to the problem. But for Catholics, the problem of Eucharistic sharing cannot be resolved in isolation from our understanding of the mystery of the Church and of the ministry which serves unity. All of these issues must be dealt with in relationship to one another.
In this regard we take note of the fact that ministry and ecclesiology are being studied in many bilateral and multilateral dialogues. The emerging results of these studies are very promising, and in this we rejoice. According to St Paul, by " speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ " . Let us support each other in seeking lasting solutions to the problems that divide us.
Much progress has been made, and for this we are grateful. We must see that further ecumenical advances take place. There can be no going back. We must go forward.
I believe that every sincere effort in dialogue, with the objective of overcoming barriers that separate Christians, is a response to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. It is in this light that I see your visit this week. I assure you of my prayers and offer my best wishes for the Lord’s guidance as you continue to work for reconciliation. Let us pray for one another, asking Christ to show us the way to come to him together.
Your Excellency,
I am pleased to welcome you to the Vatican and to accept from your hands the Letters by which you are accredited as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Ghana. Be assured that I see this act as a factor of stability and continuity in the maintenance of the good relations existing between your country and the Holy See.
The people of Ghana are not strangers to me. I have vivid memories of my visit to your country in 1980 on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of the Church’s presence in that part of Africa. I experienced the warmth of your hospitality and I was confirmed in my respect and esteem for the distinctive culture of Africa, which is such that in the great diversity of its expressions it manifests a substantial unity. At the time of my visit I described the essential aspects of African culture as "a vision of the world where the sacred is central, a deep awareness of the link between Creator and nature, a great respect for all life, a sense of family and of community that blossoms into an open and joyful hospitality, reverence for dialogue as a means of settling differences and sharing insights, spontaneity and the joy of living expressed in poetic language, song and dance" .
This essentially spiritual view of man and of his existence in the world is a solid basis upon which the peoples of Africa, and in particular those of your own country, ought to elaborate the values upon which family and social life can thrive for the well-being of all.
In the circumstances of economic and political change and turmoil which today affect the life of nations, it is extremely important that this spiritual outlook which pervades African culture not be lost or subordinated to exclusively material concerns. The value, dignity and rights of the human person should always be the guiding force and the inspiration of political and social activities.
In this context you have referred to the Church’s commitment and contribution to the social, economic, educational and medical development of Ghana. In these endeavours the Church truly seeks to be at the service of the human family. Indeed the Church is especially concerned to defend and sustain the human dignity of the neediest; the poor, the sick, the young and old, the worker and the immigrant. In these fields of service there is ample room for close and fruitful collaboration between the Church and public authorities. It is my ardent hope that in Ghana such collaboration will continue to increase in a climate of mutual trust and understanding.
Again, in the context of the defence of human dignity, you have also made reference to the deplorable system of apartheid which continues to suppress certain fundamental human rights in some parts of Africa. On various occasions I have reiterated the Church’s total and convinced repudiation of every form of racial discrimination . While we strongly condemn the inhumanity of apartheid and express solidarity with the victims of the violence it generates, it is also imperative for the Church and the world to support and encourage the initiatives undertaken by the parties involved to bring about a prompt, just and non-violent solution to this vexatious question.
Monday, 24 March 1986
Dear Friends in Christ,
In the course of your journey to various parts of the world in which you are meeting a wide range of people, it has been your desire to meet the Bishop of Rome and some of his collaborators here at the Vatican. I am very happy to receive you and I extend to you a very cordial welcome. I would also offer my thanks to Caritas Internationalis for organizing and facilitating your stay in Rome.
The terrible experience of famine, which your country has undergone for several years, has touched the consciences of many people and led them to help the people of Ethiopia. The Catholic Church, by various means and at various different levels, has been part, and will continue to be part, of this generous endeavour. It is an endeavour which is vital not only for your own country, which is not yet completely free from this scourge of famine, but also for Ethiopia’s neighbour countries, and other countries of the world.
I hope that your Delegation’s mission, here and in the different countries you are visiting, may help to reassure those people who have been moved to share with their brothers and sisters in need and may elicit from them an ever deeper degree of generosity.
You have made this visit in the name of the Christians of Ethiopia. Your Delegation is an ecumenical one. This is living proof that “co-operation among all Christians vividly expresses that bond which already unites them, and it sets in clearer relief the features of Christ the Servant" . We know that right from the earliest days of the Church mutual support and sharing with those in need were vital concerns of the Apostle Paul, who saw these things as a sign and a criterion of unity among Christian communities. Today Christians are searching together for paths that will lead to greater unity among them. They do this in a spirit of respect and mutual confidence, and in obedience to the words of Christ, who at the Last Supper prayed for the unity of all his followers .
The tragic situation of millions of starving human beings obliges us all to a mission of service. By serving the poor and by sharing with them we also come to a fuller understanding of one another we deepen our mutual respect and thus prepare the way that leads to Christian Unity .
With these thoughts, I express again my joy in welcoming you and I thank you for your visit. May God bless you all.
April 1986
Thursday, 3 April 1986
My dear Friends,
It is always a pleasure for me to meet groups of pilgrims from Ireland, a nation which has such a long history of devotion to the See of Peter. I am happy to welcome you, the newly-ordained Deacons of the Pontifical Irish College, with your families and friends, and the members of the Irish hierarchy here present.
Dear Deacons, your ministry to God’s people is a gift of Christ himself to the Church. The Risen Christ, who sent forth his disciples to the ends of the earth, sends you too to preach the Good News of salvation in our time. He sends you to bear witness in your lives to the truth and power of the Redemption offered to mankind in the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Your lives must be imbued with the mystery of Christ and his Church. You will be called upon to celebrate in hope the sacraments of faith and to teach the evangelical law of love. In this way you will collaborate in building up the Church, the family of God.
I greet all those accompanying you today, especially the Bishops who have wished to share these happy days with you. In particular, I greet your Rector, Monsignor Hanly, and the staff of the Pontifical Irish College, who have assisted you in your preparation for this moment.
I commend you to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, and I gladly impart my Apostolic Blessing to all of you and to your dear ones at home in Ireland.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
1. It is a pleasure to welcome to the Vatican the members of the Executive Committee of the World Catholic Federation for the Biblical Apostolate. Coming as you do from many different countries, you and your colleagues are able to make a significant contribution to the Church’s mission of evangelization. You help the Church to respond faithfully to the mandate of our Risen Saviour: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you".
2. The 1985 Synod of Bishops, in confirming, celebrating and giving fresh impetus to the achievements of the Second Vatican Council, directed particular attention to the centrality of the Word of God in the life and mission of the Church. The Final Report of the Synod stated that the Dogmatic Constitution "Dei Verbum" had been too "neglected" in the twenty years following the Council, and it deserved a more profound consideration and implementation. May I suggest, dear friends in Christ, that you can be of special assistance in efforts aimed at responding to this challenge.
In addition to an attentive re-reading of "Dei Verbum", there is also a great need for the solid formation of ministers of the word of God, of all who teach and preach the Gospel of salvation. As the Synod participants said in the Final Report: "Evangelization is the first duty not only of the Bishops but also of priests and deacons, indeed, of all Christians” .
3. How do we prepare others to collaborate in the Church’s work of catechises and evangelization? Certainly we must begin by inculcating a reverential love for the word of God: for the Incarnate Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, and for the inspired word contained in the Sacred Scriptures. We must foster a love which is firmly rooted in faith, which believes, with Saint Paul, that God’s word "is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified".
Ministers of God’s word – priests, deacons, catechists and other lay people – should be immersed in the Scriptures through constant reading and diligent study, accompanied by prayer. As far as possible, they should be acquainted with the insights of modern biblical scholarship. Attention must be given to the literary forms of the various biblical books in order to determine the intention of the sacred writers. And it is most helpful, at times crucial, to be aware of the personal situation of the biblical writer, to the circumstances of culture, time, language and so forth which influenced the way the message was presented.
At the same time, an adequate formation for the biblical apostolate directs attention to the unity of all the books of the Bible and takes into account the living Traditional of the Church. In this way, it is possible to avoid a narrow fundamentalism which distorts the whole truth and also possible to resist the temptation to place one’s personal interpretation above or even in opposition to the authentic interpretation of God’s word which belongs exclusively to the Bishops of the Church in union with the Pope.
4. The apostolate in which you are engaged is both exciting and challenging. It demands hard work and perseverance. It requires study and prayer. At all times, it is personally engaging, for "the word of God is living and active". Like a two-edged sword it cuts through all pretence and deceit and prepares the way for conversion. "The living and abiding word of God" is at work in both the messenger and the recipient, shedding on both the life-giving light of truth. Ultimately, the proclamation of God’s word leads to the Eucharist, and in the Eucharist it reaches its fullest and most effective expression. There exists an intimate bond between the Sacred Liturgy and the Church’s evangelising efforts. Whoever wishes to engage in the biblical apostolate, then, should be imbued with a fervent love for the Eucharist and for the entire liturgical life of the Church.
I leave you with these few thoughts, and I assure you of my warmest encouragement and of my prayer "that the word of the Lord may speed on and triumph". May Christ, the Living Word of God, be your joy and your strength. May he fill your hearts with his peace.
Friday, 11 April 1986
Dear Friends in our Lord Jesus Christ,
I extend a warm welcome to the Dialogue Section of the World Council of Churches on the occasion of your meeting here in Rome with the Secretariat for Non-Christians. I am grateful for this opportunity to meet with all of you during your joint annual session on interreligious dialogue. I know that for some time you have been gathering each year, alternating between Geneva and Rome, in order to study and discuss questions of dialogue with people of other faiths, as well as to share experiences and co-ordinate future activities. Certainly, your commitment is not limited solely to what you can accomplish on your own. You are also concerned about what is being done in this field by all Christian groups.
1. I was happy to learn that the subject for study this years is "the dialogue of life" – dialogue between ordinary believers, a harmonious and constructive sharing in the situations of daily contacts. This is truly a basic form of dialogue and one which lays the foundation for other more specialised encounters.
The effort to build respect, understanding and trust at the popular level is a condition for friendly relations among the followers of the great religions. The vision and the good will of individuals alone is not sufficient to affect deeply the relations between communities of believers. The vast numbers of ordinary believers must also come to understand and accept people of other faiths as brothers and sisters with whom they can peacefully share their lives.
For this reason, in addressing gatherings of Christians, as well as people of other religions, I often speak of the need to promote mutual respect, esteem and co-operation within society itself. This was a prominent theme during my recent visit to India. For this reason too, I was happy to accept the invitation to visit Morocco and speak to the Muslim youth of that country. Since you are both concerned with addressing the same need, I encourage you in your role of animation.
2. I would like to take the opportunity offered by this meeting to recall another aspect of your collaboration. We must never forget that working together to promote interreligious dialogue is actually one of the paths which can help Christians move towards the unity desired by Christ. Through their dialogue with believers of other faiths, Christians of various Churches and Communions come to recognise how much they have in common precisely as believers in Christ. They also come to sense more keenly the painful scandal of division among Christians and how it diminishes our witness to "one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all" .
There is also a wider sense in which a common approach to interreligious dialogue can favour Christian unity. If believers in Christ can respond together at the level of faith to the challenges of humanity, if they can build respect for the many and diverse gifts which God has showered upon all peoples, if they can express love and care for all persons just as the Lord loves them, then this common witness to Christ will become more evident as a lived reality.
3. In the final analysis, prayer is the best means by which all humanity can be united. It disposes people to accept God’s will for them. It also affects the relationship of those who pray together, for by coming together before God in prayer people can no longer ignore or hate others. Those who pray together discover that they are pilgrims and seekers of the same goal, brothers and sisters who share responsibility for the same human family, children of the same God and Father. It is my ardent hope that the Day of Prayer for Peace to be held in Assisi, at which Christians of all Communions and believers from all the great religions have been invited to participate, will be a beginning and an incentive for all believers in God to come often before him united in prayer.
In this same spirit, I would invite you now to join with me in praying to our heavenly Father, as our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has taught us:
Our Father who art in heaven, / hallowed be Thy name. / Thy kingdom come. / Thy will be done on earth, / as it is in heaven. / Give us this day our daily bread, / and forgive us our trespasses, / as we forgive those who trespass against us, / and lead us not into temptation, / but deliver us from evil. / Amen.
Dear Friends,
1. I am particularly happy to have this opportunity of welcoming you, distinguished men and women of medical science, participants in the International Congress on Hypothalamic Dysfunction in Neuropsychiatric Disorders. I extend cordial greetings to you all, especially to Dr. Goodwin of the National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, and to Dr. Frajese of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Rome "La Sapienza", under whose auspices your Congress is meeting.
I have been informed that the purpose of your Congress is to discuss and evaluate the integration of the latest discoveries in the field of neuroendocrinology in the clinical treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders, with special reference to hypothalamic dysfunction.
The special object of your research is the biochemical microcosm constituted by the structure and action of neuropeptides, especially in their mutual interaction with the endocrine system. It is a very specific field of medical science in which knowledge is advancing at an ever accelerating pace, with the potential of greatly improving clinical approaches to mental health problems.
Speeches 1986 - Monday, 10 March 1986