Speeches 1967
Tuesday, 17 January 1967
Mister Prime Minister,
Be assured of Our grateful appreciation of your visit, in company with the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and of Our sentiments of heartfelt and respectful welcome.
We renew to you, Right Honourable Sir, Our sincere thanks for your thoughtful courtesy in informing Us of your recent proposal in the interests of world peace. We encourage you and assure you of Our support in the numerous attempts you make to restore concord to this troubled world. May the Prince of Peace, Saviour of mankind, prosper your admirable endeavours, and bring them to a successful conclusion!
Our thoughts of paternal affection go to Our beloved children, the. Catholics of the United Kingdom. We pray they may ever distinguish themselves by their loyalty, their respectful observance of the law, and their generous service to the community.
We would ask you, Sir, kindly to express to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth Our prayerful good wishes for her Person, and for the Royal Family. Through you and the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, We also greet the Government and people of the United Kingdom, asking God to grant them every blessing of tranquillity and progress.
*AAS 59 (1967), p.140-141.
Insegnamenti di Paolo VI, vol. V, p.39-40.
L’Attività della Santa Sede 1967, p.59-60.
L'Osservatore Romano. Edition hebdomadaire en langue française 18.1.1967, p.1.
Mister Ambassador,
With gratitude for your kind words, We gladly accept the Credential Letters by which His Excellency the President of the Republic of Korea, raising your Mission to the rank of Embassy, names Your Excellency as first Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to this Holy See.
We are confident that this closer and more distinguished diplomatic relationship will contribute notably to the frank and sincere communication and friendship already existing between Us and your noble Nation. In particular do We offer Your Excellency Our heartfelt good wishes for the success of your endeavours, assuring you that We shall be ever desirous of receiving you and of offering whatever assistance is in Our power towards that high purpose.
Taking advantage of your good offices, We send cordial salutations to His Excellency the President, to the Government and beloved people of the Republic of Korea, invoking upon them all the benevolence of Heaven and richest divine graces of prosperity in enduring peace.
*AAS 49 (1967), p.150.
Insegnamenti di Paolo VI, vol.V, p.59.
L'Osservatore Romano 30-31.1.1967, p.1.
L’Attività della Santa Sede 1967, p.90.
Dear School-children of the United States,
This is your Holy Father greeting you with affection across the many miles which separate you from the Vatican. Today, we begin the sacred and penitential season of Lent, and We ask you in your goodness and charity to remember the millions of poor, hungry and sick children of the world.
The Pope is the Father of all mankind, and He is saddened to see your little brothers and sisters in far-off lands suffering so much. Many are ill, frail and weak from hunger and malnutrition. What schools they have often have no desks, no windows, no lights and only hardened earth floors. Their homes are ravaged by the elements and are tumble-down. Their sparse clothing hardly protects them against the chilly winds of winter or the burning tropical heat. There are few doctors to care for them when they are sick and little medicine to make them well. Floods and earthquakes have made many homeless. It is for these children whom you hardly know that the Holy Father appeals to you, and He knows that you will be as generous as in the past.
The world needs powerful examples of Christian charity and understanding. By remembering and by renewing in your daily lives your obligations as true followers of Christ you will be giving such an example to the world.
First of all, We ask you to pray for the countless children in other lands who need assistance. Ask God to comfort them and to bless them. Pray that they may see His providence working in all things. In this way you will bring them closer to God.
Lent is a time for penance, and so We ask you to deny yourselves something you may or may not need. Then you will be able to contribute to the special collection taken up in your school. This will help your Bishops maintain that worldwide program of the Catholic Relief Services which has been most effective in bringing aid to the needy, and especially to the poor children who are sick, undernourished and homeless.
The Bishops need your help, as well as that of the grownups, to carry on this most important work. God will bless your charity. The children, whom you have never seen and from whom you differ in color, religion and customs, will know that you helped them because you loved them. This is the highest form of Christian love.
By making your own contribution to the joint offering of your school during Lent, you will be building peace by promoting and furthering the works of peace - «aid the poor, who still make up an immense multitude of the world’s population, help the needy, the weak, the sick, the ignorant . . .». You will come to love and respect the peoples of the world who so want to have harmony and concord. Through the Catholic Relief Services in every part of the world, you will be offering your hand to children in need, and they will clasp it in friendship.
We are confident that you will hear Our appeal, and We are grateful for whatever you will do for your less fortunate brothers and sisters. We now invoke upon you, your good parents, your priests, the religious sisters and brothers and those who teach you, an abundance of heavenly blessings, and in pledge thereof, We lovingly impart Our Apostolic Benediction.
We welcome you to the Vatican and We are happy to renew a friendship which had its beginning only a few years ago in Bombay.
You are on your way to England to perform «India Arise» and to share with your friends your hopes and desires for your respective countries. The development of a nation is the sacred responsibility of all citizens, and We are happy to see that you, the precious youth of so vast a nation, wish to impress this obligation on the young people of your country. A sense of responsibility, motivated by the highest religious principles, is most necessary if a nation is to advance and provide for its citizens. It is heartening to learn that you have spread this message up and down India, so much in need of generous and selfless leaders who are willing to make sacrifices so that the common good of all is secure.
We were impressed by the religious sense that We found in Asia, and We express the hope that it will be the motivating force of your activities. Religion fosters respect for the human person; it strengthens the determination of dedicated men and women to undertake sometimes drastic programs for the good of all citizens, and it gives solid foundation to the hopes of a young nation for its future. We are all children of God, and we must all work together in harmony for the mutual benefit of all. With this conviction comes respect, admiration and affection. We urge you to give yourselves to your country and to your people. Their gratitude will be written in their hearts.
We congratulate you on this undertaking and We express the confident hope that your efforts will bear much fruit. We invoke upon you and your countries God’s abundant blessings.
Members of the World Council
for the Welfare of the Blind,
We are very happy to welcome you to the Vatican and to give your work Our support and approval because We are appreciative of the programs which you sponsor on behalf of those who have been deprived of one of man’s most priceless possessions-sight.
Yours is a very precious work, and even though the obstacles sometimes seem insurmountable, you should not be discouraged. Your reward will be the sincere and eternal gratitude of those to whom you have lent a helping hand. You value the treasure of vision, and you are making efforts to compensate its loss among your brothers. Indeed this is one of the highest forms of Christian love. The blind, the lame, the disfigured and the sick were a special object of Our Lord’s affection. We offer you Christ as the model for your work on behalf of the blind and the deaf. You cannot cure them but you can help compensate by making the blind feel as members of society; you help them become useful members of a community and sharers in the love of men.
We know that you have accomplished much and We nurture the hope that the future will see even greater achievements on behalf of the blind and the deaf. Experience has shown, to the great admiration and satisfaction of all, that these dear brothers of ours attain a richness of marvelous sensibility in many fields. This is to your everlasting credit, and should serve to encourage you to increase your efforts which have been productive of so much good. Rally others to your side because this is a work of true brotherhood. It is truly a special apostolate and your rewards will be many.
We call down upon you, your work and upon our blind and deaf brothers God’s richest blessings and We shall pray that your mission be successful and full of consolations.
Saturday, 6 May 1967
It has become a tradition of your College, Gentlemen, to pay Us a visit during your work sessions. Today We are happy to receive the Auditors and Members of the Faculty of the thirtieth session with their families. We wish you all a cordial welcome.
The site of your College has now been fixed in Rome. Thus you have already had occasion, in the time left free by your studies, to know and to appreciate this incomparable City, and to assimilate, to a certain extent, its vast patrimony of history and culture. You have read the inscriptions on its stones which testify to what has been called «the greatness and the decadence of the Romans». But, besides the men and the institutions of ancient Rome which are now only a memory, you have certainly discovered, by means of the catacombs, the tombs of the martyrs, the basilicas, and in the religious ceremonies and unending pilgrimages, the living stream of Christianity, which has left its indelible mark on this City.
Your presence here today is, to Us, a proof that you are well aware of these spiritual values which form the base of true civilization. We trust that you will find, in your contact with the religious treasures of Christian Rome, elevation and enrichment for your souls.
The lectures and studies in which you participate are, it is true, dedicated to matters of a different order. Nevertheless, there is no branch of human activity which can remain deprived of the fundamental measure of man, his moral and spiritual dimension.
We have noticed, for example, that among the problems you consider are included those which deal with international organizations of cooperation and assistance to developing countries. On such a question as this, a spiritual institution such as the Church has something to say; and in fact she has spoken recently in a solemn document of which you have doubtless heard: the Encyclical Letter Populorum progressio. This Letter speaks of the happiness of men, of justice between nations, of peace in the world. One can never hope to achieve these objectives in a lasting manner, if one neglects the great principles of the moral order, which must inspire man’s activity on this earth.
It is Our hope, Gentlemen, that you may happily continue your sojourn in Rome, and pleasantly conclude it with your study voyage throughout Europe. We thank you for your kind visit, and upon you and your families We gladly invoke an abundance of divine blessings.
*Insegnamenti di Paolo VI, vol.V, p.761-762;
L’Osservatore Romano, 7.5.1967, p.2.
Dear brother in Christ,
With heartfelt good wishes, We express to Your Beatitude Our warm greetings and Our joy in meeting you during Our pilgrimage to this land, which has given such magnificent testimony to the most noble traditions of the Christian Faith.
On two occasions already - in Our own See of Rome and in the Holy City of Jerusalem - We have had the happiness of exchanging the fraternal kiss of peace with worthy representatives of the Armenian Church: the venerable Catholicos of Cilicia, Khoren the First, and the esteemed Patriarch of Jerusalem, Yeghishe Derderian. That happiness is renewed now as We salute you, the pastor of the Orthodox Armenians of Turkey.
Through Your Beatitude, We also salute all the faithful of the Armenian Church. With sentiments of fraternal esteem and respect, We greet the venerable Supreme Catholicos of the Armenians, Vasken the First, with whom We have maintained very cordial relations during the recent Second Vatican Council, and since the closing of the sessions of that Council. May the meeting We enjoy with you today strengthen and deepen those relations for the good of the Holy Church and its unity, and may God spread abundant blessings of peace and prosperity upon those faithful of whom His Holiness Vasken the First is the chief pastor.
We know the fidelity of your people, and the glories of their witness to Christ, the Lord of the Church, down through the centuries. With respect and admiration, We recall their devotion to their great Fathers and Doctors, whom we of the Catholic Church are proud to salute as our common Fathers and Doctor in the Faith.
In particular, as We prepare to visit the place made glorious by the inspired witness of the Fathers of the Council of Ephesus, it is a great consolation to meditate upon the vision of Christ presented to the Church and to the world by that holy assembly. That vision, too, we share in common. God, made man for our salvation, is the God we confess in our Creed and preach to the world. The Holy Virgin who gave birth to God, and whom the Fathers of Ephesus joyfully and reverently hailed as «Theotokos», is still today our advocate, our model, our Mother.
During the Year of Faith celebrating the anniversary of the martyrdom of the great Apostles Peter and Paul, it is Our hope that all Christians will strive to penetrate more deeply into the mystery of Christ. In witness to Him, the holy Apostles shed their blood. In service to Him, the Fathers of the great Ecumenical Councils, as successors to the Apostles, gave their witness of fidelity. May the Holy Mother of God aid us also to be faithful witnesses and humble servants of her Son, Who is our Lord.
In the course of the centuries, the bonds of communion between us have grown weak. Christ Our Lord calls upon us with special urgency today to strive to re-establish perfect communion in charity and truth. As We greet Your Beatitude, We reaffirm Our intention to respond to that call with all the force at Our command, confident that it finds an attentive response also in you, and in the faithful Armenian people.
Beloved Son and Venerable Brothers,
The hierarchies of the English-speaking nations of Africa have chosen you to represent them in the present Synod, and We open Our heart in welcome to you, to them, and to all the noble peoples of that Continent so dear to Our grateful memories. Most cordially do We thank you for absenting yourselves once again from your immediate fields of apostolate, in order to collaborate with Us in the application and fulfilment of the wise decisions of the recent Council.
We follow with paternal concern the developments taking place in your countries, and We pray earnestly for the speedy return of peace, where there are hostilities, and for the constant progress, in brotherhood and harmony, of your peoples.
Raising Our earnest petition to God, through the intercession of Our Blessed Lady, We lovingly impart to you, Beloved Son and Venerable Brothers, to the zealous priests and religious who assist you, and to the beloved faithful people to whom you minister, in pledge of richest abiding divine graces, Our affectionate Apostolic Blessing.
Très chers Frères dans l’Episcopat,
Notre joie est grande de vous accueillir aujourd’hui comme représentants des Conférences épiscopales d’Afrique du Nord, d’Afrique Occidentale et de Magadascar, délégués au Synode pour y faire entendre la voix des Eglises de votre continent.
Vous savez Notre ardent désir de voir vos chrétientés prendre toute leur place dans l’Eglise pour y apporter la ferveur de leurs aspirations religieuses et la richesse originale de leurs cultures, contribuant ainsi à lui façonner un visage qui la fasse reconnaître comme la Mère de tous les peuples du monde.
Votre présence ici, dans laquelle Nous distinguons et saluons avec satisfaction celle de deux membres africains du Sacré Collège, marque une nouvelle étape, après celle du Concile, de l’entrée de l’Afrique et de Madagascar sur la scène de l’Eglise. Elle Nous permet de vous associer plus étroitement à Nos préoccupations de Pasteur de l’Eglise universelle et de recourir à vos sages conseils de pasteurs - de jeunes comme de plus anciennes chrétientés - pour répondre aux besoins spirituels du monde actuel.
Nous aimons à souligner aussi la satisfaction que Nous éprouvons à recueillir les échos de vos efforts pour donner à la collégialité épiscopale, si clairement définie par le Concile, une expression concrète dans la constitution et la réalité vivante de vos conférences nationales et interterritoriales.
Dans cette période de l’histoire où vos pays, récemment promus à la souveraineté nationale, doivent trouver l’équilibre entre une légitime affirmation de leur personnalité et une nécessaire solidarité internationale, Nous ne pouvons que vous encourager à leur donner, dans le domaine spirituel et pastoral où s’exercent vos responsabilités d’Evêques, un témoignage d’unité et de collaboration fraternelle. Ce sont les assises indispensables du bien commun de vos diocèses comme des nations auxquelles vous appartenez. S’il est dans Nos voeux les plus pressants celui de voir vos régions sortir, par le concours de tous les peuples, des conditions précaires qu’elles connaissent dans bien des domaines, Nous pensons qu’il revient à vos pays de donner l’exemple et l’impulsion de l’effort d’entraide communautaire que leur voisinage et la limite de leurs propres moyens leur imposent. Aussi Nous réjouissons-Nous de vous savoir soucieux d’organiser et d’animer au sein de vos conférences épiscopales, cette solidarité et cette fraternité, sur lesquelles reposent le mieux-être et la paix de vos pays, cette paix que Nous souhaitons tant voir sauvegardée sur votre continent.
En associant à Nos voeux et à Nos encouragements tous les membres de vos conférences épiscopales, Nous vous accordons, chers Evêques d’Afrique et de Madagascar, ainsi qu’à vos prêtres, religieux et religieuses, catéchistes et membres des groupements d’apostolat, à tous vos fidèles enfin, en gage de Notre particulière bienveillance, une large Bénédiction Apostolique.
Vénérables Frères,
Nous sommes toujours heureux d’acueillir ici les Evêques d’Afrique et de les assurer du soin attentif avec lequel Nous suivons leurs efforts pour faire progresser le Royaume de Dieu dans cet immense continent.
Nous ne connaissons pas personnellement les Pays que vous représentez ici ce soir, mais Nous avons une idée des difficultés auxquelles vous devez faire face. Certaines, Nous voulons l’espérer, sont passagères: ce sont celles qui découlent de situations politiques non encore entièrement stabilisées. D’autres ne laissent espérer de solution qu’à une plus lointaine échéance: ce sont celles que doivent affronter tous les Pays en voie de développement. Les répercussions du plan matériel au plan spirituel sont évidentes en ce domaine, et vous êtes, mieux que quiconque, à même de les constater.
Si, comme Nous le désirons ardemment, l’appel que Nous lancions dans Notre encyclique sur le développement est entendu, ce. Nous est une joie de penser que les populations de vos Pays en ressentiront le bienfait.
C’en est une autre de savoir que vos chrétientés conservent et développent chaque jour un trésor mille fois plus précieux que toutes les richesses matérielles: celui de la foi. Quelques évêques africains ont fait remarquer, au Synode, que leurs peuples étaient encore jusqu’ici, grâce à Dieu, à l’abri des incertitudes doctrinales ou des déviations observées çà et là dans certains pays d’ancienne chrétienté, mais qu’il n’en fallait pas moins être en garde contre leur possible influence. Cette observation Nous paraît juste, et Nous formons des voeux devant Dieu pour que tous, Evêques, clergé, religieuses, laïcs d’action catholique et peuple fidèle aient avant tout à coeur d’approfondir et de répandre la foi.
On le disait ces jours-ci: «La voix de l’Afrique s’est fait largement entendre au Synode». (La Croix - mercredi 11 octobre 1967). De tout coeur Nous Nous en réjouissons, convaincu que cette prise en charge mutuelle des problèmes de toutes les églises sera fructueuse pour l’Eglise tout entière.
Que le Seigneur, vénérables et très chers frères, guide vos pas sur les chemins de la foi, de l’espérance et de la charité. Et que, par l’action conjuguée de vos prêtres et de vos fidèles, une nouvelle page de la vie de l’Eglise missionnaire s’écrive en lettres d’amour au livre de vie.
En appelant sur votre apostolat l’abondance des divines grâces, Nous vous donnons Notre paternelle et affectueuse Bénédiction Apostolique.
Beloved Sons and Venerable Brothers,
With heartfelt affection, We welcome you once again, and We renew the assurance of Our sincere gratitude to you, for absenting yourselves from your diocesan duties in order to assist Us with your wise counsel and prudent advice.
Together, you represent the North American Continent, to which the world looks as a model of peaceful coexistence of nations, and of generous friendship among good neighbors. During Our visits to your vast countries, We have admired the industry, warmth, hospitality and kindness of your peoples, and We pray that an ever closer brotherhood and love may bind them to each other, and to all the peoples of the world, for international peace and the progress of mankind.
To you and your colleagues in the various Episcopal Conferences, to the clergy and faithful entrusted to your care, We affectionately impart Our prayerful Apostolic Blessing.
* * *
Amadísimos y Venerables Hermanos en el Episcopado, de América Central,
Con Nuestro cordial saludo os expresamos también una viva complacencia por la preciosa aportación que estáis dando al desarrollo del Sínodo Episcopal del que tanto bien esperamos para la Iglesia de Dios.
Estos días os proporcionan la ocasión feliz de estudiar cuestiones de sumo interés, de vivir en un vértice de caridad jerárquica, de compenetraros con vínculos de amistad fraterna, ofreciendo vuestras dotes de inteligencia y de celo pastoral, vuestras experiencias, a nuestra gravísima tarea de ministerio universal, a la Iglesia entera y a su misión de santidad y de apostolado en el mundo. Os agradecemos profundamente vuestra colaboración.
Al recordaros en los campos de trabajo que la Providencia os confió queremos deciros, ante todo, que estamos con vosotros, que merecéis Nuestro aplauso y Nuestro aliento por el esfuerzo generoso, coordenado y decidido que hacéis y haréis, teniendo la mirada y el corazón abiertos a los problemas urgentes e implorantes de vuestras Diócesis, a todas las necesidades espirituales de vuestras Patrias, intensificando y adaptando el sagrado apostolado a las crecientes necesidades de los tiempos y a las legítimas exigencias de la sociedad actual.
Son muchas y variadas vuestras preocupaciones. Las compartimos con vosotros: la juventud, los seminarios, la familia, la desproporción entre los medios humanos al alcance y las metas que se han de lograr. Pero, con serenidad, confianza y optimismo, con la colaboración de vuestros abnegados sacerdotes, religiosos y religiosas, con el apoyo de tantas fuerzas generosas del laicado, con la gracia de Dios, con Nuestra Bendición para vosotros y para cuantos se asocian a vuestras solicitudes pastorales, para vuestros fieles, proseguid en el camino en el que Cristo es punto de partida, guía y culmen.
* * *
Amadísimos Señores Cardenales y Venerables Hermanos en el Episcopado de América del Sur:
Constituye para Nuestro corazón un vivo consuelo este breve encuentro con vosotros que Nos permite expresaros un deferente y afectuoso saludo, manifestaros Nuestra profunda gratitud por vuestra presencia y colaboración en los trabajos del Sínodo Episcopal, y aseguraros el interés particular con que seguimos vuestras tareas pastorales en unas Naciones a las que, en Nuestro ministerio apostólico, reservamos un puesto de particular consideración.
Nos percatarnos de los vastos y urgentes problemas que vuestro celo pastoral afronta en América: preservar y consolidar la fe, remediar la carestía del clero, intensificar la instrucción religiosa, defender la santidad de la familia, difundir la prensa católica; son éstas cuestiones cada día más insoslayables y que el pasar del tiempo, con la misma evolución de la vida moderna, agravaría si no se contribuyese a remediarlas con medidas proporcionadas a sus dimensiones, con espíritu de colaboración continental, con enérgica y clarividente decisión, con inmensa confianza en la Providencia a la que los esfuerzos humanos han de ofrecer ocasión para su asistencia misericordiosa.
Contemplamos el precioso patrimonio de fe y los signos de vitalidad que caracterizan vuestras naciones. Pero no es una contemplación estática. De ella deriva un esperanzador optimismo que Nos hace pensar siempre en las tierras benditas de América como depositarias de ricos tesoros del espíritu con que ha de abrillantarse cada día más la Iglesia de Dios.
Bien sabemos que estáis empeñados en una nobilísima y a veces ardua tarea con la ayuda insustituible del clero y de los religiosos y con el apoyo de seglares ejemplares. En vuestro camino encontraréis Nuestra plegaria, Nuestro aliento, Nuestra Bendición, la que otorgamos a vosotros, a cuantos participan en vuestras empresas apostólicas y a los amadísimos pueblos de América del Sur.
Beloved Sons and Venerable Brothers,
At the cost of no little sacrifice to yourselves and to your A Dioceses, you have most willingly come to attend the Sessions of the Synod of Bishops, and to place at Our disposal the fruits of your pastoral experience and missionary wisdom.
From Our heart, We thank you all, and We pray that Our blessed Saviour may reward you with His choicest graces. Our prayer also rises to the Throne of Mercy, that God may bless your peoples with His gift of peace and harmony, so that they may collaborate frankly and lovingly for their spiritual, moral and material progress.
In pledge of such divine benevolence and guidance, We gladly bestow upon you; upon all the Members of the numerous Episcopal Conferences whom you represent, upon the priests, religious and faithful people confided to your zealous care, Our special fatherly Apostolic Benediction.
* * *
Beloved Sons and Venerable Brothers,
From the ends of the earth you have come at Our request, to counsel and assist Ut in the important work of the Synod of Bishops, and with all Our heart We assure you of Our warm thanks.
No matter how great the geographical distance with separates your peoples from this Holy See, you and they are most close to Our paternal heart, and We keep you all in Our daily prayers. We invoke upon the beloved peoples of your countries abundant graces and favours from God, asking you to bring back to each of your priests, religious and faithful people the affectionate greetings and affectionate good wishes of the Successor of Peter.
In pledge of heavenly guidance in peaceful prosperity and orderly progress, Me lovingly bestow upon you, upon all the Most Reverend Ordinaries whom you represent, and upon the souls committed to your pastoral direction, Our fatherly Apostolic Blessing.
Speeches 1967