Speeches 1968
Saturday, 20 April 1968
Sir,
We thank you for the visit you are paying Us, accompanied by the Lady Mayoress of London and high personages of the government of the City, together with Her Britannic Majesty’s Minister to this Holy See and his gracious lady.
You have been the official guests of the Mayor of Our City of Rome, and We are happy to observe the closer and warmer relations between the two great Capitals which result from such courtesies.
Through your good offices, Sir, We send deferential greetings to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and the Royal Family, and cordial salutations to the citizens of London. Upon all We invoke abundant graces and blessings from Almighty God.
It is with particular pleasure that We welcome this ecumenical pilgrimage from the United Kingdom to the Holy Land. You are about to follow in the footsteps of God made Man, in the country of His birth, His mission and His blessed Death “for us men and for our salvation” (Nicene Creed).
Your visit calls to mind Our own unforgettable pilgrimage to the Holy Places. From the Grotto of Bethlehem, We then declared: “It now appears clearly to all that the problem of unity cannot be eluded; today, this will of Christ is imposed upon our minds, and demands that we undertake, with wisdom and love, every possible way of bringing all Christians to enjoy the great benefit and supreme honour of the unity of the Church”. We asked only “that the love of Christ and of the Church should inspire every future movement towards meeting and reconciliation” (Jan. 6, 1964). We pray that that love may be aroused, increased and made fruitful by your presence in the very places made holy by Our Saviour; and upon you, your families and loved ones at home, and all the members of your respective communities, We invoke His choicest graces and His blessing.
It is a source of consolation to Us that you, the distinguished participants in the Conference of Bible Societies and Commissions, and of Bible Publishers, have been collaborating with Cardinal Bea and the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, in studying the implementation of certain decisions of the Constitution on Divine Revelation, of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council.
We earnestly desire the fulfilment of the Conciliar exhortation that «easy access to sacred Scripture should be provided for all the Christian faithful. . . . The word of God should be available at all times . . . And if, given the opportunity and the approval of Church authority, . . . translations are produced in cooperation with the separated brethren as well, all Christians will be able to use them» (Dei Verbum DV 22) - which is a highly desirable consequence.
«Furthermore», the Council decreed, «editions of the sacred Scriptures, provided with suitable comments, should be prepared also for the use, of non-Christians and adapted to their situation. Both pastors of souls, and Christians generally, should see to the wise distribution of these editions in one way or another». Finally, the Fathers affirmed, «Just as the life of the Church grows through persistent participation in the Eucharistic mystery, so we may hope for a new surge of a spiritual vitality from intensified veneration for God’s word, which “lasts forever”» (ibid., 25-26).
We therefore express to you Our heartfelt thanks for the valuable aid you have given in this important work, and to you, your families and religious communities, your collaborators and supporters, We gladly impart Our special paternal Apostolic Blessing.
Gentlemen,
We thank you for your visit, during the European Tour of your course of the National Defence College of Canada. Your distinguished group represents the defence organizations, the government ministries and the great industries of Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
The problems you study, and especially the human relations you encounter during your tours, will undoubtedly deepen your knowledge, broaden your understanding, and increase your personal effectiveness in solving questions of international concord and world peace. We pray that this may be so.
Wishing you every success in your present studies and your future activities, We gladly invoke upon you, your families, your associates, and your respective countries, God’s richest graces.
Messieurs,
Nous sommes heureux de vous accueillir en Notre demeure et de vous souhaiter la bienvenue.
Nous formons le voeu que votre «tournée européenne» vous permette a chacun non seulement de mieux connaître les richesses culturelles et humaines du «vieux continent», mais encore a vous convaincre, s’il le fallait, que tous les grands problèmes de l’heure ont pris une dimension universelle, mondiale. Nous sommes sûr également que vous mettrez tout en oeuvre, la ou vos responsabilités vous appellent a déployer vos activités, pour donner à ces grands problèmes mondiaux une solution et une réponse qui correspondent aux droits fondamentaux de tout homme, dans le respect de la justice et de la charité, de la liberté et de la vérité.
Aussi est-ce bien volontiers que Nous invoquons sur vous et sur tous les vôtres l’abondance des meilleures grâces d’en haut, en gage desquelles Nous vous accordons de grand coeur Notre Bénédiction Apostolique.
Thursday, 9 May 1968
To you, members of the pilgrimage party of Australian War Veterans, We extend a cordial welcome. We thank you for paying Us a visit, during your mission of remembrance of the fallen, and of prayer for peace.
“Peace cannot be obtained on earth unless personal values are safeguarded, and men freely and trustingly share with one another the riches of their inner spirits and talents. A firm determination to respect other men and other peoples, and their dignity, as well as the studied practice of brotherhood, are absolutely necessary for the establishment of peace. Hence, peace is likewise the fruit of love, which goes beyond what justice can provide . . . All Christians are urgently summoned to practice the truth in love, and to join with all true peacemakers in pleading for peace, and bringing it about” (Gaudium et spes, No. 78).
We wish every success to your mission for international concord, and invoke upon you, your families and loved ones in Australia, and your beloved country, richest heavenly blessings.
Mister Ambassador,
With warm appreciation of your fruitful activities as Minister of Liberia to this Holy See, We now bid you a heartfelt welcome as your country’s first Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.
We are confident that the excellent relations of cordiality and friendship already existing between this Apostolic See and the Republic of Liberia, due in no small measure to your courteous good offices, will continue and deepen, and to this end We are ever receptive to Your Excellency’s representations.
Consoling, too, is the progress of the Church in your land, with the erection of an ecclesiastical province, and the constant expansion of educational, medical and charitable institutions. We are grateful for the freedom guaranteed to the Church in the fulfilment of her mission, and for the generous collaboration so graciously granted by the civil authorities.
We ask Your Excellency kindly to convey to the President of the Republic, to the Government and people of Liberia, Our heartfelt thanks for their greetings, and Our prayerful good wishes for progress, health and prosperity in peace. Upon them, and upon Your Excellency as you initiate your new duties as Ambassador, We cordially invoke God’s choicest blessings, favours and graces.
*AAS 60 (1968), p.344;
Insegnamenti di Paolo VI, vol. VI p.221;
OR 31.5.1968, p.1;
L’Attività della Santa Sede 1968, p.464-465;
ORa n.10 p.1, 8.
Mister Ambassador,
We are most grateful for the greetings which you bring Us from the President and people of the Republic of Zambia, and it is with cordial pleasure that We welcome Your Excellency as the second Ambassador of your country to this Holy See.
Your thoughtful words regarding the contribution of the Church to your people are warmly appreciated. Zambia may rest assured that her Catholic citizens will ever be loyal and law-observing, striving in every way to advance the interests of their fatherland, and to obtain for her peace and prosperity.
The message of Christianity concerns the equality and brotherhood of men, and their duty to love and assist one another by reason of their love for God the Creator and Redeemer of the human race. The higher spiritual values which it teaches are indispensable for the full development of the potentialities of man, and for his progress towards a world united in peaceful progress.
We ask Your Excellency to present Our cordial salutation and Our prayerful good wishes to His Excellency Doctor Kaunda, whom We have had the honour of receiving in Audience; to the Government and the beloved people of Zambia, upon all of whom We invoke richest graces and favours from God. To Your Excellency We wish every success in your important mission, assuring you of Our interest, Our collaboration and Our high esteem.
Dear Students,
Once again We have the pleasure of greeting the students from the Enrico Mattei Post-University School of Higher Studies concerning Petroleum for which We have great esteem. The Institute will make you expert technicians but We look upon it differently.
Your school is open to students from every part of the world, and therefore you can share precious experiences and profit from a rich network of relationships, of encounters, of exchange of ideas which is so fundamental for development among peoples in an environment of mutual understanding, respect and brotherly collaboration. These contacts, dear students, help to remove barriers, all too often erected by prejudice and ignorance.
This is why We look upon your school with sympathy and confidence; besides providing expert training, it furnishes one of the most effective and noteworthy forms for the promotion of progress, of brotherhood and peace.
Learn also this message from your studies because never before have young students had such a decisive mission to perform for society.
And a special word of commendation for Professor Marcello Boldrini, an illustrious member of Our Pontifical Academy of Sciences and successor of the late Enrico Mattei. We know that he shares the ideals to which We referred, and We wish to express to him and to his valuable collaborators the wish that, with the aid of God, these civic and Christian ideals be reached.
God bless your studies and make them fruitful. We ask this from Our heart while We invoke upon you, your teachers and directors, your families, and your school an abundance of divine blessings.
Giovani dilettissimi,
Anche quest’anno abbiamo la consolazione di accogliere gli allievi della Scuola post-universitaria «Enrico Mattei» di Studi Superiori sugli Idrocarburi. Vi siamo grati di questa visita e dei sentimenti di deferenza che ve l’hanno suggerita a conclusione del vostro anno accademico. Diamo a tutti di gran cuore il Nostro affettuoso benvenuto.
La vostra presenza qui, oggi, è per Noi motivo di paterna e compiacente riflessione sul vostro benemerito Istituto. Abbiamo già avuto occasione di mostrare in quanta considerazione Noi teniamo la vostra Scuola e le finalità che essa si propone. I vostri studi tendono, è vero, a fare di voi dei tecnici altamente qualificati; essi tuttavia hanno un valore e un significato che superano di gran lunga questo aspetto.
Aperta a giovani studiosi di diversi Paesi e Continenti, la vostra Scuola non soltanto mette a profitto di altri popoli le proprie preziose esperienze, ma nello stesso tempo moltiplica e perfeziona giorno per giorno una rete concreta di relazioni, di incontri, di scambi di idee, che sono di fondamentale importanza per lo sviluppo fra i popoli di un clima di mutua comprensione, di rispetto e di collaborazione fraterna. Contatti come i vostri, cari giovani, aiutano a demolire le barriere, molto spesso innalzate per pregiudizio o per ignoranza.
Ecco perché Noi guardiamo con simpatia e con fiducia alla vostra Scuola. Il servizio che essa presta è una delle forme più efficaci e più notevoli per promuovere la causa del progresso, della fratellanza e della pace.
Perciò nel congratularci con voi e con i vostri benemeriti dirigenti, Noi vi incoraggiamo a saper cogliere con sempre maggiore consapevolezza questo insegnamento e questo aspetto così caratteristico del vostro Istituto. In tal modo nei vostri contatti voi troverete un arricchimento spirituale che nobiliterà le vostre comuni fatiche, e metterà voi in grado di innalzarvi a grandi ideali e di comprendere sempre meglio i bisogni del nostro tempo. Non mai forse come in questo periodo della storia la gioventù studiosa ha avuto più decisiva missione da compiere nella società.
Una parola speciale di compiacimento vogliamo aggiungere per il Professore Marcello Boldrini, illustre membro della nostra Pontificia Accademia delle Scienze, e successore del compianto Enrico Mattei nella direzione e nella promozione delle attività, che fanno capo all’Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi. Noi sappiamo come egli condivide gli ideali, di cui abbiamo fatto cenno; e esprimiamo a lui ed ai suoi valenti collaboratori che, con l’aiuto di Dio, questi ideali civili e cristiani possano avere sempre felice e progressiva realizzazione.
Che Dio benedica e fecondi i vostri studi. Noi Glielo chiediamo di tutto cuore, mentre invochiamo su voi, sui vostri dirigenti, sulle vostre famiglie, sulla vostra Scuola l’abbondanza delle divine benedizioni.
Chers Messieurs,
Au terme de votre stage à l’université Bocconi de Milan et A auprès de la Caisse d’Epargne des provinces lombardes, vous avez exprimé le désir de pouvoir Nous rencontrer avant de retourner dans vos pays d’origine.
Volontiers Nous avons accédé à ce désir et de grand coeur Nous vous souhaitons la bienvenue dans Notre demeure.
Vous connaissez l’estime que Nous nourrissons pour l’Afrique et pour Madagascar. Bien souvent Nous avons eu l’occasion de le manifester en paroles et en actes. Qu’il Nous suffise de mentionner l’Encyclique Populorum progressio et Notre Message aux peuples de l’Afrique. Vous savez aussi que Nous n’avons rien omis et n’omettrons rien, malgré les limites de Notre pouvoir, pour que règne enfin sur toute la terre et dans chaque peuple la paix qui repose nécessairement sur la vérité, la justice, l’amour et la liberté.
Nous sommes sur, chers Messieurs, que vous vous ferez dans vos patries respectives les messagers et les défenseurs de cet idéal à la fois humain et chrétien, que vous travaillerez, selon vos possibilités, à l’avènement d’une société d’où la haine, la violente et la guerre seront définitivement proscrites, où tous les hommes vivront en frères et en amis.
C’est dans ces sentiments, chers Messieurs, que Nous invoquons sur vous et les vôtres, comme sur vos pays d’origine, une particulière abondance de grâces, en gage desquelles Nous vous accordons à tous fils de l’Eglise catholique, Notre Bénédiction de Père.
From Our beloved Africa have you come, Gentlemen, to attend specialized courses in banking economy, and We bid you a sincere welcome to Our home and to Our presence.
We cherish the highest esteem for the African continent and the island of Madagascar, and We wish every benefit of progress and prosperity of their peoples. Hence We express Our thanks to the authorities of the Bocconi University and the Savings Bank of the Lombard Provinces for the noteworthy contribution they have made to the financial security and advancement of the countries you represent.
Our benevolent interest in the development of peoples, particulary in your great Continent, is evident from Our recent Letter on that subject, and Our special Message to Africa. It is Our fervent prayer that you may bring back to your fatherlands, not only the elements of material progress, but also the inspiration to participate fully in the moral, spiritual and cultural advancement of your peoples.
Upon you, upon your families and loved ones at home, upon the institutions where you work and the communities where you live, We lovingly bestow Our paternal Apostolic Blessing.
Chers jeunes,
Nous sommes très heureux de vous accueillir tette année encore, vous qui êtes élèves de l’Ecole Post-universitaire Enrico Mattei, d’études supérieures sur les Hydrocarbures. Et Nous avons un plaisir particulier à saluer, avec le professeur Marcello Boldrini, de notre Académie des Sciences, digne successeur du regretté Enrico Mattei, tous les étudiants de divers pays et continents qui se préparent à devenir des experts compétents sous la direction de maîtres qualifiés, et qui bénéficient de tette grande richesse: contacts multipliés, fructueux échanges fraternels, compréhension fraternels, compréhension mutuelle, collaboration enrichissante.
De tout coeur. Nous Nous réjouissons de tette excellente préparation qui est la votre à oeuvrer au développement pacifique et solidaire des peuples. Et Nous vous encourageons à travailler de tout coeur et et avec enthousiasme, pour réaliser ce bel idéal. Oui, la jeunesse universitaire a une mission exaltante à remplir en notre temps. Nous demandons à Dieu de vous aider à y être fidèles, et en son nom Nous vous bénissons.
We are happy to visit this new residence, bearing the name of a distinguished, exemplary and worthy man of the Church, Cardinal Samuel Alphonsus Stritch, Archbishop of Chicago, who died in Rome where Pope Pius XII had called him to be the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith; it pleases Us to see him so remembered and so honored.
We are also pleased because of the purpose this residence will serve: hospitality to priests and prelates from the United States, those who work in Rome and those who come to visit. This service of hospitality is in itself a merit, because of the comfort it offers, because of the community life it will provide priests from the same nation, and for the religious and ecclesiastical spirit which marks it. It is a beautiful work, worthy of the Catholic clergy of America, whom we know even under the aspect of personal home life, and of whose virtues we are aware: simplicity, brotherliness and piety.
This house further creates a new bond, sympathetic and worthy of praise, between the Church in the United States and the Church of Rome; it confirms their fraternal ties; and it makes it easier for the priests, housed here, to appreciate their stay in Rome, the center of the Catholic Church. It also offers an occasion for the Roman clergy, for the Roman Curia and for Catholics, who reside here or who pass through this city, to know better and to appreciate more the spirit, the life and the work of American Catholicism.
We express Our praise to all those who merit it for the completion of this residence: to Cardinal Cody, Archbishop of Chicago, first of all, as a promoter of this new house, and to the American Hierarchy through him, and to Monsignor Marcinkus, our dear and able collaborator in the Secretariat of State, who directed the execution of this work. We pray that a good ecclesiastical spirit will always form the atmosphere of this lodging, to which We give from Our heart Our blessing, which naturally extends itself to all those present, to the guests here now and those of tomorrow.
Dear friends from Japan,
We are very happy to welcome you to the Vatican, because you come from so far, and from a land which We love and admire very much.
In your travels you have made the acquaintance of many peoples, and We hope that you have found that religious adherence is an important factor in the lives of the citizens of the many countries you have visited. As religious representatives of your people, you have demonstrated to others that religion does play an important role in Japan. Unless men believe in God and recognize that the human family is one under one God, respect and understanding, as well as brotherly cooperation, will be lacking. Visits such as yours are precious because by them people get to know one another to the mutual benefit of all.
We ask you to take our most cordial greetings to your people in Japan, and to assure them that We have a great affection for them. We pray Almighty God to bless your land with prosperity, happiness and peace.
Beloved Students,
We are grateful to you for coming to visit Us during your Summer Session in Siena, where you have advanced your musical studies with the collaboration of the Chigi Musical Academy.
Our special welcome is expressed to the Honorable Dan Moore, Governor of the State of North Carolina, home of your Alma Mater, the North Carolina School of the Arts.
By your sojourn in Italy, you improve international understanding on the superior level of musical and artistic culture. We pray that your experience may be a truly spiritual one, adding new dimensions to your future careers. With Our best wishes, We glady invoke upon you, your professors and companions, your families, and dear ones at home, the richest graces and blessings of Almighty God.
We appreciate very highly the sentiments expressed in Your Excellency’s courteous message to Us on the occasion of the International Eucharistic Congress now in progress at Bogotá.
We think it timely that the study theme of this highly important Congress is «The Eucharist as the Bond of Charity». Love should bind together men of all classes and nations as befits members of the one human family and children of the same Father. We will not fail to call upon Our sons here assembled, and through them on all men, to bring about a more equitable and just order in which all may have their rightful share in progress and peace, as is demanded by the love that should join them in common brotherhood.
We express once again Our sincere appreciation of the valiant efforts being made in and by the United Nations Organization, and, in particular, by Your Excellency personally, for the attainment of the lofty, but necessary ideals of justice and peace. May God bless all who devote themselves of this cause, and may He always aid their endeavours.
Saturday, 24 August 1968
How strange it would have seemed until recently that the Successor of St. Peter would find sufficient a few hours to cross broad continents and mighty seas, and visit distant lands whose very existence was unknown to the first Pope! Yet such journeys are but the continuation into this century of the apostolic wanderings of the first who held the high office of representing Christ for men of all continents and races.
We therefore thank God, Who has given man dominion over creation and the wisdom to use it, that We are thus enabled to visit some of the most distant parts of that universal flock which He has committed to Our care.
We are well pleased that Our return journey from the Eucharistic Congress at Bogotá permits Us to visit, though it be for a few brief moments only, these islands so justly famed for their beauty, and so find Ourself among you and greet you all.
May God bless all of you who have come to meet Us. May He bless your homes and all whom you hold dear. And before We leave these islands of the Atlantic, so distant on the map, yet so close to Our heart, We lovingly impart Our special blessing to you and to your spiritual and temporal leaders, praying that God may abundantly bestow on Bermuda the blessings of true peace and prosperity.
We extend a special welcome to the Knights and Ladies of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of the Southern Lieutenancy of the United States, here present under the guidance of their Grand Prior, the Most Reverend Thomas Gordon.
We, who very recently have given Our approval to the new Statute of the Order, are greatly pleased to meet these heirs of so long a tradition of devotion to Christ and His Church. May your visit to Rome, the present centre of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre and the See of the Vicar of Christ, strengthen you in your resolve to be worthy members of the Order in which you have been enrolled, and encourage you to continue with the greatest possible fervour its glorious traditions.
With this prayer, We invoke God’s Favours upon you, and impart to you and to your dear ones Our Apostolic Blessing.
Wednesday, 30 October 1968
Mister Prime Minister,
We appreciate highly the honour you do Us by your visit, and We welcome you heartily to Our home.
We are happy to see that, in your country, the reception given to the Christian message has led to immediate outstanding results: not only to progress in the organization of modern life, but also to the Christian and human concept of life according to the ideals of justice, of freedom, of peace; for these ideals find faithful correspondence in the human feeling, and the indigenous culture, of the People of Lesotho.
Then, too, We rejoice to know that your independent University bears the name, so rich in mystic historical and spiritual significance, of Roma; and that it developed from the original institute named for Our illustrious and venerated Predecessor, Pius the Twelfth. To this institution, already in happy development and rich with promise for the future, We send, though your good offices, Mister Prime Minister, a special greeting.
With paternal interest have We followed the recent developments in Lesotho, praying that your Nation may advance in peaceful relations with its neighbours and with the other countries of the world. You know well the unselfish efforts of the Catholic Church, through its priests, men and women religious and laity, under the leadership of their Bishops, to promote health, welfare and the education of your people. In a Nation which respects the freedom of the Church, these efforts will continue and increase, for the good of Lesotho and the progress of its citizens.
Invoking God’s guidance upon your admirable endeavours, and those of your Government, We pray that He may bless and prosper the Nation of Lesotho, and all its beloved people.
*AAS 60 (1968), p.756;
Insegnamenti di Paolo VI, vol. VI, p.569-570;
L’Attività della Santa Sede 1968, p.968-969;
OR 31.10.1968, p.1;
ORa n.32 p.3.
Thursday, 5 December 1968
Mister Ambassador,
It is with special pleasure that We welcome you as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkey to the Holy See. Your Excellency’s kind words recall Our historic visit, which was a testimony to the excellent relations of cordial friendship existing between the Catholic Church and Turkey; and to Our admiration for a country, justly famed for its natural beauties and its artistic treasures, which We saw in Istanbul, Ephesus and Smyrna, with their religious memories.
We cherish the most consoling remembrance of the solemn and cordial welcome accorded Us by His Excellency the President of the Republic and by the Honourable Members of the Government. We then received a deep impression of the evolution of modern Turkey, through the wise and farseeing efforts of its statesmen.
Well aware of the condition of the Catholic Church in your country, We are confident that it will always enjoy the civil liberties enshrined in your Constitution and the full trust of the Authorities; for the great desire of Catholics is to contribute, ever more generously, to the spiritual and social good of the Nation.
Ardently desiring to consolidate and increase the relations of most sincere and most heartfelt friendship between Turkey and this Apostolic See. We assure Your Excellency of Our good wishes for your important mission; and, through your good offices, We send salutations of warm respect to the Chief of State, and the Government, as well as to all the beloved Turkish people. Upon them, and upon Your Excellency and your family, We invoke the protection and assistance of Almighty God.
*AAS 61 (1968), p.28-29;
Insegnamenti di Paolo VI, vol. VI, p.623-624;
L’Attività della Santa Sede 1968, p.1082-1083,
L’Osservatore Romano, 6.12.1968, p.1;
ORa n. 37 p.5
Speeches 1968