Speeches 1988 - Friday 15 April, 1988
To all of you I gladly impart my Apostolic Blessing.
[1] Ps. 118 (117), 24.
[2] Io. 15, 16.
[3] Marc. 10, 45.
[4] Io. 12, 26.
[5] Luc. 1, 38.
Dear Brothers in our Lord Jesus Christ,
1. It is a great pleasure for me to welcome all of you the Bishops of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. In you I greet all your beloved faithful and each of your local Churches with all its priests, deacons, Religious, seminarians and laity. I recall with special joy my recent visit to San Antonio, the wonderful welcome given me and the impressive faith of the people. I assure you that I remain close to you in your ministry of faith, as does the Mother of Jesus, la Virgen de Guadalupe.
In my recent talk to your brother Bishops of Region IX, I mentioned a series of related pastoral events that are, in effect, inspired by a single vision of faith and directed to the goals of deep personal renewal and ever more effective evangelical service in the United States. These events include the present ad limina visits and those of 1983, the papal visits of 1979 and 1987, as well as the meeting with American Bishops foreseen for 1989.
Today I would like to view in this context still another event – one which concerns the universal Church and therefore the Church in the United States. It is the great Jubilee of the year 2000, marking the close of the Second Millennium of Christianity and the inauguration of the Third. This anniversary requires of the whole Church a period of serious preparation at both the universal and local levels. From the beginning of my Pontificate, and in particular in the Encyclical “Redemptor Hominis”, I have attempted to direct the attention of the Church to the season of “a new Advent”[1], which precedes all the grace-filled opportunities and activities which we ardently hope for in the year 2000.
2. The aim of the Jubilee and of its preparation is to “recall and reawaken in us in a special way our awareness of the key truth of faith which Saint John expressed at the beginning of his Gospel: ‘The Word became flesh and dwelt among us[2]’[3]" . The whole celebration of the Millennium is meaningful only in the light of the mystery of the Incarnation and of its divine motivation and purpose, which are also explained to us by Saint John, when he says: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him may not die but may have eternal life”[4]. Emphasizing these truths, the Church strives to provide a framework of principles from which she will continue to draw out from her life “the new and the old”[5] in order to elicit the response of faith to the Father’s love and to his Incarnate Word, and to lead us all to eternal life.
By reflecting on the Incarnation the Church of the year 2000 will be able to understand herself ever more fully in her twofold nature – human and divine. She will also understand the sublime union of these two elements in the everyday reality of her life as the Body of the Word made flesh. The Church is convinced that, by placing the Incarnation before the People of God with all the power of her being, mankind will rediscover in this mystery of God’s revealed love the truth that explains and directs all human activity. Only in the light of the Incarnation does all human living take on its proper perspective, or as I stated in that first Encyclical: “Through the Incarnation God gave human life the dimension that he intended man to have from his first beginning”[6].
3. Our present pastoral efforts as Bishops, those envisioned for 1989 and those beyond should be directed to creating that profound and dynamic vision which must characterize the Church in the year 2000. The Church of the Millennium must have an increased consciousness of being the Kingdom of God in its initial stage. She must show that she is vitally concerned with being faithful to Christ; hence she must strive mightily to respond to the great challenges of holiness, evangelization and service. At the same time the Church of the Millennium must emerge as a clear sign of her own eschatological state, living by faith the mystery that is yet to be fully revealed. As she does this the Church must proclaim with Saint Paul that “eye has not seen nor has ear heard what God has prepared for those who love him”[7].
The Church of the Millennium will still be the Church undergoing purification through suffering – the salvific value of which she fully knows. Yet in her purifying experiences the Church will still be able to cry out that the sufferings of this time are “as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed in us”[8]. As a Church living in expectation of glory to be revealed she will find ever greater strength to proclaim the value of celibacy that is lived for the Kingdom of God, the final state of which is in preparation: “Thy Kingdom come!”.
At such an important juncture of her life, the Church of the Millennium must declare that she is ready at any moment to meet the Lord, just as she is ready to go on faithfully in joyful hope awaiting his Coming. But in both her waiting and her expectation she is reinforced in hope because she knows that Christ her Head has gone before her in his Ascension to prepare a place for her. And as she waits, she remembers what he once said to the disciples: “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be”[9].
The Church is convinced of her right to be with Jesus, who, seated at the right hand of the Father, has already united her to himself in glory. The triumph of the Head already belongs to the members of the Body. This makes it easy for the Church as she lives the new Advent to accept with keen conviction the words of her victorious Redeemer: “Remember, I am coming soon”[10]. During the Millennium the Church is called upon to remember. It is also the special hour for the Church to respond with fidelity and confidence, proclaiming by her actions and by her whole life: “Come Lord Jesus!”[11].
4. The Church’s program for the Millennium and its preparation must be a total concentration on Jesus Christ. She must proclaim Jesus Christ as victorious in the Redemption that he brought about in his blood; she must proclaim Jesus Christ, crucified and glorified, the One wearing “a cloak dipped in blood” and bearing the name “the Word of God”[12]. The Church is called upon to proclaim the supreme effectiveness of Christ’s death; to proclaim that the triumph of the Lamb is already operative in the Church for two millennia, and that it belongs to all his chosen and faithful followers[13]. The Church’s proclamation in the Millennium must be the proclamation of her own victory over sin and death accomplished by him who is “the first-born from the dead”[14] and who communicates this victory to all his members throughout the ages.
The Christ of the Millennium is this first-born from the dead, “the King of kings and Lord of lords”[15], the Eternal Son of God, the Word of God made flesh, the person who identifies himself as “the One who lives”[16] and who tells his Church: “There is nothing to fear!”[17]. It is precisely this Christ, divine and incarnate, that the Church presents to the world as the supreme exemplar of all human life. In this sense the Church makes her own the presentation of Pontius Pilate: “Ecce homo”[18]. The proclamation of the Millennium will be the proclamation of this man Jesus Christ and in him the exaltation of all humanity. The Word, who remains forever with his Father and as such is the truth and life of humanity, in taking human flesh becomes the way for humanity[19].
The Christ of the Millennium is the divine Christ of the Gospels who has entered into his glory and who is forever alive in his word and in his Church. He is not a weak and ineffective Christ but a Christ who has triumphed throughout twenty centuries and who remains “the power of God and the wisdom of God”[20]. To those who accept him, moreover, he gives the power to become the children of God, to become by adoption what he is by nature – the Son of God. The Christ of the Millennium is the Man who has entered into the history of nations, has uplifted cultures by his message, transformed the destinies of peoples and who, in revealing God to man, has revealed all humanity to itself[21].
5. The Millennium becomes therefore the hour of our Christian identity in all its Catholic universality. In order to celebrate the Millennium effectively the Church must recall her origin and reflect deeply on her mission. To do this she must retrace the path she has taken up till now, bearing her apostolic message down the centuries, beginning “in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, yes, even to the ends of the earth”[22]. It is truly the appropriate hour to foster a consciousness of our Christian tradition and culture. These elements have found expression in the art, architecture, music, literature and other expressions of genius which each generation and all generations together in the Church have created throughout the centuries in the name of Christ. There are many ways to foster this consciousness but certainly the means of social communications at our disposal must be utilized to the full.
6. Living in the Spirit sent to her by Christ, the Church looks forward to the Millennium as a time of vast internal renewal. By his power the Holy Spirit is truly able to effect in the Church a new Pentecost. On the part of all of us, however, this requires new attitudes of humility, generosity and openness to the purifying action of the Spirit.
The whole concept of renewal must be seen in its relationship to Penance and the Eucharist.In “Redemptor Hominis” I emphasized “that the Church of the new Advent... must be the Church of the Eucharist and of Penance”[23]. Only with these means will the Church be herself and have the strength to fulfil her mission. The Millennium is the supreme moment for the glorification of the Cross of Christ and for the proclamation of forgiveness through his blood. I ask all the Bishops of the Church – and today in a special way the Bishops of the United States – to do everything possible, in preparing for the Millennium, to promote the faithful observance of the centuries-old practice of individual Confession, guaranteeing thereby the individual’s right to a personal encounter with the crucified and merciful Christ, and the right of Christ to meet each one of us in the key moment of conversion and pardon[24].
Presiding over every celebration of the Millennium will be the Eucharistic Lord, himself renewing his Church and presenting her to the Father in union with himself. It is mainly through the Eucharist that the Millennium will actuate the power of the Redemption. In the Eucharist the Church will find the sure source and guarantee of her commitment to the service of humanity.
From the Eucharist the Catholic laity will derive the strength to perform with joy and perseverance their specific role in the Church and in the world. During the Millennium there must be an ever more generous actuation of everything that the Post-Synodal document on the laity will propose for the life and mission of the laity.
7. In all her activities the Church of the Millennium must be totally absorbed with the task of bringing Christ to the world.This will require her to understand the world ever more deeply and to dialogue ever more intensely with all people of good will. As the Church does this with love and respect and as she reinforces her own meekness – after the example of the meek and humble Christ – she must at the same time shed any remnant of fear at the prospect of displeasing the world when she presents to it her Founder’s message in all its purity and with all its exigencies. She must also divest herself of any trace of defensiveness as she acknowledges Christ to be forever “a sign of contradiction”, and proclaims his teaching on issues such as truth, justice, evangelical peacemaking and chastity.
The Pastoral Statement of the Bishops of Texas on Human Sexuality represents a much appreciated pastoral effort to present the Church’s teaching on chastity without fear or reticence, with trust in the power of truth and the grace of God.
The whole event of the Millennium is the hour for the apostolic Church to bear witness to the Christ who sent her to the nations, telling her: “Teach them to carry out everything I have commanded you and know that I am with you always”[25].
8. Dear Brothers: what I wish to do today is leave with you and with the whole Church in America, a vision of the Millennium as a pastoral initiative, an ecclesial event, a response of faith to the God who “so loved the world that he gave his only Son”[26]. This vision must be captured by the whole Church in the United States and expressed in each diocese, each parish, each community. All the institutions in the Church must be challenged by this spiritual event. The Church’s fidelity to Christ is at stake in the way she will proclaim the Incarnation and the Redemption, in the way she will celebrate, interiorly and publicly, the most important anniversary that humanity has ever known.
Whereas the year 2000 still seems somewhat distant, the period of “the new Advent” is already a reality for the Church. Long range preparations are needed now. Theological reflections must help to reinforce the faith of God’s people, so that they may mightily proclaim their Redeemer by word and deed in the great Jubilee. Your own pastoral zeal and creativity will help you to prepare worthily your local Churches for this event and to adopt means commensurate with the goals to be attained. All the faithful of the Church must understand the spirit of the Millennium so that they can all contribute to its preparation and celebration.
By their very nature the seminaries in your country must fulfill a key role in the renewal required by the Millennium. Together with their Bishops, the priests of the new Advent must be able to unite their communities around the person of the Redeemer and to give spiritual leadership in bringing forth a new Christian humanism.
The special support of prayer and penance must be sought from contemplative Religious and that of salvific suffering from all the sick. Catholic institutions of higher learning must contribute with faith by enunciating ever more clearly the Gospel heritage in its relationship to all human learning. All the categories of God’s people must be invited to unite in a great hymn of praise: “To him who loves us and frees us from our sins by his blood... to him be glory and power forever and ever”[27].
May this hymn of praise to the Redeemer, dear Brothers, truly resound throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and the whole United States during the new Advent and in preparation for the Jubilee celebration itself.
[1] Ioannis Pauli PP. II Redemptor Hominis, 1.
[2] Io. 1, 14.
[3] Ioannis Pauli PP. II Redemptor Hominis, 1.
[4] Io. 3, 16.
[5] Matth. 13, 52.
[6] Ioannis Pauli PP. II Redemptor Hominis, 1.
[7] 1 Cor. 2, 9.
[8] Rom. 8, 18.
[9] Io. 14, 3.
[10] Apoc. 22, 12.
[11] Ibid.22, 20.
[12] Ibid.19,1 3.
[13] Cfr. ibid. 17, 14.
[14] Ibid.1, 5.
[15] Ibid.19, 16.
[16] Apoc.1, 18.
[17] Ibid. 1, 17.
[18] Io. 19, 5.
[19] Cfr. S. Augustini Tract. in Ioannem, 34, 9.
[20] 1 Cor. 1, 24.
[21] Cfr. Gaudium et Spes, 22.
[22] Act.1, 8.
[23] Ioannis Pauli PP. II Redemptor Hominis, 20.
[24] Cfr. ibid.
[25] Matth. 28, 20.
[26] Io. 3, 16.
[27] Apoc. 1, 5.
Dear Brothers in our Lord Jesus Christ,
1. I wish to welcome you to Rome and to the Vatican and, through you, I extend my heartfelt greetings to all the members of the Anglican Communion.
In the course of your stay in Rome you have visited many of the sacred and historical monuments with which this city is so richly endowed. You have walked in the steps of the earliest Christian martyrs and reflected on the lesson of their lives and deaths. I pray that you will be strengthened and encouraged in your own lives and service by the days spent in the City of Peter and Paul.
I am pleased you have wished to visit the Successor of Peter. I am well aware of the work that has already been done by Anglicans and Catholics in the search for a shared understanding of the universal service of unity which belongs to the office of the Bishop of Rome. It is my prayer that this work will bear fruit and help pave the way for that fullness of unity which is the will of Christ for his followers.
2. Shortly you will be joining the other bishops of the Anglican Communion for the Lambeth Conference. This meeting takes place at a significant moment both in the development of the ecumenical movement and in the life of the Anglican Communion itself. In your deliberations at Lambeth, you will deal with difficult and delicate issues which touch on the Catholic Church as well as with our Orthodox brothers and sisters. I pray that when you are together you will give full weight to the importance of maintaining and strengthening the bonds of that real though imperfect communion in which Anglicans and Catholics are united. The deepening of this communion are fundamental to the mission that Christ gave to his disciples. Those things that damage Catholic unity likewise weaken the impact of Christian witness. Our divided world yearns for that vision of true communion and deep reconciliation to which we are called to testify.
Let us be faithful to that witness so that the world may see ever more clearly the character of the unity to which all people are called. May our very striving for unity itself be recognized as a sign of the reconciling work of God.
My dear Brothers: I greet you once more in the Risen Lord. May he bless you and keep you always.
Dear brother Bishops,
1. I greet all of you on the occasion of your ad limina visit, and cordially welcome you to this meeting which expressed our collegial unity as shepherds of Christ’s flock. I rejoice with you and all the clergy, Religious and laity of your Dioceses at the many spiritual gifts that are yours through the loving kindness of Almighty God. These gifts of the Spirit enable the local Churches in Ontario to fulfill their mission to be a “most sure seed of unity, hope and salvation for the whole human race”, to be “the light of the world and the salt of the earth[1]”[2]. This mission means bearing witness to Jesus Christ. And as the First Letter of Peter tells us, it also means being able “to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you”[3].
It is the life-long tasks of all Christians to deepen their knowledge of Christ and hope in eternal life. At the same time Christians must recognize that the seeds of eternal life require special care and nourishment in the young. I therefore wish to reflect with you for a few moments on the Catholic young people of your country who will one day exercise an even greater role in the Church. I also wish to encourage you in your efforts to impart to them the message of Christ in all its richness and to deepen their participation in the Church’s life.
2. It is always a joy for me to meet with young people, as I am sure it is for you. In them we see the promise of great things yet to be achieved, of life yet to be experienced, of enthusiasm and energy yet to be harnessed for the good of humanity. In the presence of the Church’s young members we are reminded of the Lord’s words, “I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled”[4]. When we consider the potential of young people for holiness, self-sacrifice, heroic virtue, chastity and love, we can take heart that these words of Christ will not lose their force in the future. However, we also know that youth is a time for opportunities that can be lost as well as gained. It is a time for personal growth, a time that for good or bad leaves an indelible mark on the rest of a person’s life, notwithstanding freedom and the help of God’s grace.
Modern society presents special challenges to the young. At every turn they are enticed by a concept of human freedom that is really slavery; by a relativism that robs them of the truth; and by a materialism and pragmatism that can rob them of their very souls. Yet where sin abounds, grace increases all the more[5]. We can be sure that the gifts of the Spirit will not be lacking in the lives of young men and women. The seeds of holiness are theirs by baptism. Our task is to hold up to them the fullness of Christ’s teaching as it is known, accepted and proclaimed by the Catholic Church. We must help them to become “witnesses” who are able to testify to “the hope that is within them” so that they can play their full role in the Church’s mission for the salvation of the world. As I said on the occasion of my pastoral visit to your country in 1984: “Young people today... are eager to find solid and enduring values... They are searching for a firm place – a high ground – on which to stand. They seek a sense of direction, a goal which will give meaning and purpose to their lives”[6].
3. A privileged place for the formation of young people, second in importance only to their families, is the school they attend. Accordingly, the Second Vatican Council said that all school should provide an education that is in accord with the moral and religious principles of families, that respects the right of the young to have their consciences formed on the basis of sound morality, and that respects their right to know and love God more perfectly[7]. The Council also reaffirmed the Church’s right to establish her own schools, a right which is of the greatest importance for preserving freedom of conscience, for protecting parent’s rights, and for advancing culture[8].
I therefore wish to commend you for your successful efforts to promote measures that uphold the Church’s right to fulfill her educational mission, and that support parents in the free exercise of their right to educate their children in accordance with their religion. Public support for the Separate School system in Canada is a great blessing not only for Catholics; all of your national life is enriched by the intellectual and moral formation these schools provide for their students.
Even though the financial viability of Catholic schools has been guaranteed, the task remains of ensuring their Catholic character. As the Congregation for Catholic Education has wisely observed in these years after the Council: “More than ever before, a Catholic school’s job is infinitely more difficult, more complex, since this is a time when Christianity demands to be clothed in fresh garments, when all manner of changes have been introduced in the Church and in secular life, and, particularly, when a pluralistic mentality dominates and the Christian Gospel is increasingly pushed to the sidelines. It is because of this that loyalty to the educational aims of the Catholic school demands constant self-criticism and a return to basic principles, to the motives which inspire the Church’s involvement in education”[9]. And what are these basic principles? The Catholic school’s task “is fundamentally a synthesis of faith and life: the first is reached by integrating all the different aspects of human knowledge, through the subjects taught, in the light of the Gospel; the second by growing in the virtues characteristic of the Christian”[10].
L’école catholique s’efforce de préparer les jeunes à apporter une contribution positive à la société dont ils font partie en leur donnant les assises solides d’une vie personnelle profondément chrétienne. Pour être complète, leur formation doit inclure la morale individuelle et le sens de la vie sociale. Le grand commandement chrétien de l’amour se traduit en impératifs moraux qui régissent la vie professionnelle, la sexualité, les relations personnelles et la famille, de même qu’il comporte l’obligation de travailler pour la justice et la paix dans le monde. Une vie chrétienne de cette profondeur ne peut pas reposer seulement sur des sentiments religieux ou sur une vague identification à une tradition religieuse. Ce qui est requis, c’est une connaissance toujours plus approfondie du mystère du salut révélé dans le Christ et transmis par la Sainte Ecriture et l’enseignement de l’Eglise[11].
4. La catéchèse est un moyen important d’assurer cette formation non seulement pour les élèves des écoles catholiques mais pour tous les jeunes catholiques. Elle fait grandir la vie selon l’évangile, et elle a pour but d’éclairer et de fortifier la foi, de stimuler une liturgie vivante et priante, et d’encourager la participation active de l’Eglise[12].
Evidemment, une pareille éducation religieuse ne peut se réduire à la parole, ni non plus à la transmission méthodique d’un savoir. Pour que la formation porte ses fruits dans la vie des jeunes, garçons et filles, leurs parents et leurs maîtres doivent être imprégnés d’esprit chrétien dans leur façon de penser et leur façon d’agir. Comme “éducateurs”, au sens plein du terme, les enseignants catholiques ont la responsabilité particulière de se laisser guider dans leurs activités par une conception chrétienne de la personne humaine en accord avec le magistère ecclésiastique[13]. Le deuxième Concile du Vatican n’hésite pas à parler de la beauté et de l’importance de leur vocation[14], et de leur rappeler que “c’est d’eux, avant tout, qu’il dépend que l’école catholique soit en mesure de réaliser ses buts et ses desseins”[15].
5. Through you, dear Brothers, I wish to commend the many dedicated teachers – priests, Religious and laity – for their invaluable contribution in Canada. I also wish to encourage you in your desire to find even better and more effective ways to recruit and train lay teachers for the Separate School system, so that the goals of Catholic education may be fully realized.
While all the Christian faithful have a duty to participate in the Church’s educational mission, Bishops have a special responsibility to be authentic teacher and instructors in the faith[16]. We have reason to be concerned over the many temptations that young people, in particular, must overcome if they are to grow in the love and knowledge of God and his Church. At the same time we can be confident, together with all those associated in Catholic education, that if the Good News of salvation is faithfully proclaimed to the young, it will, achieving the end for which he sent it[17]. With trust in him, I cordially impart to you and to your people my Apostolic Blessing.
[1] Cfr. Matth. 5, 13-16.
[2] Lumen Gentium, 9.
[3] 1 Petr. 3, 15.
[4] Luc. 12, 49.
[5] Cfr. Rom. 5, 20.
[6] Ioannis Pauli PP. II Allocutio Terrae Novae, in templo sanctuario S. Ioannis Baptistae, ad institutores catholicos habita, die 12 sept. 1984: Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, VII, 2 (1984) 474 ss.
[7] Cfr. Gravissimum Educationis, 1. 7.
[8] Cfr. ibid. 8.
[9] The Sacred Congr. for Cath. Educ. The Catholic School, 66. 67.
[10] Ibid. 37.
[11] Cfr. Directoire Catéchétique général, 1972, n.24.
[12] Cfr. Gravissimum Educationis, 1. 7.
[13] Cfr. S. Congr. pro Institutiones Cath., Le laïc catholique, témoin de la foi dans l'école, die 15 oct. 1982, nn. 15-24.
[14] Cfr. Gravissimum Educationis, 5.
[15] Ibid. 8.
[16] Cfr. Christus Dominus, 12-14.
[17] Cfr. Is. 55, 11.
Saturday 29 April, 1988
Mr Ambassador,
I welcome you today and gladly accept the Letters of Credence by which you have been appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan. With gratitude for the kind words of greeting which you have expressed on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor and His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince, I would ask you to convey to them my best wishes and the assurance of my esteem. I fully share their desire to see the relations existing between Japan and the Holy gee develop and expand still further on the basis of your shared commitment to peace, harmony, progress and justice among all the nations of the earth.
In the contemporary world there is a profound and almost universal yearning for peace. The awareness of peace as a universal value has grown, even in the face of the tragic history of the present century, so deeply and terribly marked by conflict and by the ever more frightening capacity of man to inflict death on a scale never before imagined. As the only country to have experienced directly the awful effects of atomic bombing, Japan is a unique witness of the truth that there can be only one path for the human family to follow: the path of peace.
It is necessary for individuals and nations to be ever more convinced that they must wholly commit themselves to easing tensions, to fostering disarmament and to strengthening the structures of peace. It is necessary today to think more in terms of building peace in the world than simply avoiding conflict. The subjective foundation of peace is a new spirit of coexistence and a new outlook of respect for the human person in a willingness to collaborate for the sake of the progress of all[1]. This reflects other conditions for peace, especially a true solidarity among all people, irrespective of race, religion or political doctrine, as members of the one human family meant to live on this earth in a constant search for authentic personal and collective well-being and development.
In the process of building peace Japan has a major part to play. Out of the ruins of the Second World War, your country has rise to remarkable heights of economic achievement. Today Japan is one of the principal agents of economic and technological progress. Herein lies a great opportunity and challenge to promote human and spiritual values so as to contribute effectively to the advent of a true peace, founded upon a sense of the dignity of every human being, upon the recognition of basic human rights, of the respect and love due to every person for the simple reason that he or she belongs to the human family. It has always been my prayer and hope that the nations of the world, educated by past painful experiences, will make positive efforts to inculcate into their citizens, especially the young, an unshakeable sense of universal brotherhood and the moral and ethical vision needed to uphold justice, an essential condition for peace.
At the heart of the Holy See’s relationship with the various nations of the world one does not find interests of a merely economic or political nature, but rather the promotion of a profound and respectful dialogue concerning the meaning and destiny of human life and activity. It is important, in fact, that the leaders of societies do not forget that they are at the service of their fellow-citizens in all their moral and spiritual aspirations.
That is why, as Your Excellency knows, the small Catholic community of Japan is concerned to promote the moral education of the members of society as well as to witness to the spiritual dimension of life. In an industrialized society such as yours, it is vital that the dignity of the individual be effectively safeguarded and respected, and that cordial social relations be ever more solidly established, with special care given to the less talented and productive classes of the population. In this regard, the Catholic community is service of society at large.
Urged on by the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, which constitutes the great point of reference for Catholics today, the Church in Japan is making efforts to be ever more truly Japanese. While the presence of missionary personnel has been and continues to be essential to the Church’s activities, I am happy to note that Japanese Catholics themselves have long since been taking the lead in all areas of their religious and pastoral endeavours. I am confident that this process will go forward with success in the climate of religious tolerance and freedom which characterizes Japanese society today.
Mr Ambassador, I pray that you will be happy in the exercise of your lofty responsibilities, and I invoke Almighty God’s blessings upon your engaged in many religious, educational and social activities not only for the benefit of its own members but at the country.
[1] Cfr. Pauli VI Nuntius ob diem ad pacem fovendam dicatum pro a.D. 1968, die 8 dec. 1967: Insegnamenti di Paolo VI, V (1967) 621.
Speeches 1988 - Friday 15 April, 1988