Speeches 1986
1986
january 1986
To the faithful of Thailand:
“May the Lord inspire new vocations
in your local Churches”
Dear Friends,
The whole Church in Thailand rejoices in the ordination to the Episcopate of her son and brother John Bosco Manat Chuabsamai, who has been chosen as Bishop of Ratchaburi. I am happy to greet you who are present in Rome for this joyful event and through you I wish to express my spiritual closeness to all the people of your beloved homeland.
I have vivid memories of my brief but significant visit to Thailand in May, 1984. On that occasion I was privileged to be the recipient of the exquisite courtesy and hospitality that one associates with the Thai people. I was also able to appreciate firsthand the particular challenges of preaching the Gospel and living the Christian life in the midst of your cultural and national environment.
Be assured of my prayers for all the people of God in Thailand as you continue to bear witness to Christ. I pray especially that the Lord will abundantly bless your local Churches with vocations to the priesthood a prayer which I know the new Bishop of Ratchaburi, who has laboured much in the preparation of candidates for the priesthood, joins me in offering to our loving and merciful God.
To each of you I impart my Apostolic Blessing, which I willingly extend to your families and loved ones in Thailand.
To pilgrims from Tanzania:
Dear Friends,
It is a pleasure for me to greet you on this joyful occasion as you come to express spiritual solidarity with your brother in the Lord, Norbert Mtega, who has been called to serve the Church as Bishop of Iringa. Through you I wish to greet all of God’s people in your homeland of Tanzania. I welcome you in the name of Christ who draws us to himself, and who calls us to come and worship him with hearts filled with wonder and praise.
On yesterdays’ Solemnity of the Epiphany we had the marvellous opportunity to celebrate the Church’s mission of being a light to all the nations, a beacon of hope to the world, a clarion which announces the saving message of Jesus Christ to a world which too often is overshadowed by despair.
We rejoice with the whole Church in Iringa that now has a new shepherd, who, with humility and fortitude, with the example of a holy life and a zeal for doing good, will proclaim the Gospel to all people, calling all to believe in Jesus as their Saviour and Lord, and building up in truth and love all those who already have heard this saving call.
I urge you then to support Bishop Mtega with your prayers and by your active collaboration, so that through the leadership of its new Pastor, the Church in Iringa will shine forth ever more radiantly.
To each of you, and to all your families and loved ones at home, I willingly impart my Apostolic Blessing.
To pilgrims from the United States:
“Peace to all you who are in Christ”.
With these words of the Apostle Peter, I extend a welcome of joy to the new Bishop and to the representatives of the clergy, religious and laity of the Archdiocese of Seattle, headed by Archbishop Hunthausen. I likewise greet all the others who surround the new Bishop his family and friends and all those from
Pittsburgh who offer him their solidarity and the support of their prayers.
What we are celebrating today is the mystery of the Episcopacy that great reality of humble pastoral service performed in the name and by the authority of Jesus Christ by the Bishops of the Church in every generation.
Christ calls you, Bishop Wuerl, to this special service, and the Church sends you forth to a specific and beloved portion of God’s holy people, to collaborate with the Archbishop for the benefit of the flock.
Your life and your identity as a Bishop will be fulfilled in the evangelizing activity of proclaiming Jesus Christ and the life that he offers to the world. The priority of your ministry will be found in the very words of Christ: “I must announce the good news of the reign of God because that is why I was sent” .
The Lord has prepared you for this apostolic ministry and will assist you by his grace. The Church knows your charity and your priestly zeal and activities. I recall your dedicated collaboration with Cardinal Wright arid your service to the Holy See, as well as your zealous work on behalf of the seminaries in the United States.
And now, with confidence in Christ the Good Shepherd, go forth to work generously for God’s people in Seattle. Together with Archbishop Hunthausen and the whole ecclesial community, may you find strength and joy and support in your union with the Bishop of Rome and with the whole College of Bishops. And be assured of my love in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Mr Ambassador,
I am pleased to greet you and to welcome you to the Vatican on the occasion of the presentation of the Letters accrediting you as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Thailand to the Holy See.
I wish to thank you for the kind sentiments which you expressed on behalf of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. I have vivid memories of my meeting with His Majesty and the members of the Royal Family during my visit to your country in May 1984, and I would ask you to convey my cordial greetings and best wishes for their well-being and that of the entire Thai nation.
My visit to your country was an excellent opportunity for me to appreciate further the profound sense of human values on which Thai society is built. As I stated at that time: "In our contemporary world, the history of Thai freedom and Thailand’s legendary spirit of tolerance are a reminder of the deepest aspirations of the human family to live in peace, harmony and brotherhood. In particular, your respect for man’s right to religious freedom renders immense honour to your land".
In that climate the ancient religious traditions of the Thai people grew and thrived, and Christianity, which arrived later, found itself a home. It is my ardent hope that the spirit of religious and cultural openness, the friendliness and goodness which characterize your people will continue to be the basis for a fruitful dialogue and for effective collaboration between citizens of different faiths, as they respond to the challenge of building a world of peace and justice.
You yourself, Mr Ambassador, have mentioned how the Thai people firmly believe in the dignity of the human person and in respect for the rights and freedom of all. In the present circumstances of the world community, characterized by global tensions and numerous local and regional situations of conflict, the peoples and their leaders have need of just such a sense of respect, tolerance and a love of freedom and peace.
In this respect I appreciate the role which Thailand and other States are making to promote a just settlement of the continuing strife which affects the lives of millions of human beings in South East Asia.
The Holy See, responding to the particular character of its mission, follows with special interest, and indeed gratitude, the humanitarian work being carried out in your country in favour of thousands of refugees seeking shelter and safety away from neighbouring zones of combat.
I was deeply impressed by my visit to Phanat Nikhom, where I was able to meet some of the refugees and to say a public word of recognition and gratitude for what has been done by the Government of Thailand, the many national and international organizations, and the numerous volunteers actively involved in this urgent mission of mercy. It is important that these victims of a violence which they have not sought and do not support should not be forgotten by public opinion throughout the world. Many thousands are waiting to be accepted by third countries able and willing to give them a new start in life. I take this opportunity to make an appeal on their behalf. And I pray to Almighty God that they will always be treated with the human solidarity and brotherhood which is their right. I wish to assure you that the relief organizations of the Catholic Church will continue to offer all the service and support of which they are capable.
Mr Ambassador, as you begin your mission as the Representative of your country to the Holy See, I wish you success and personal happiness in the fulfilment of your responsibilities. I am sure that the relations of profound mutual esteem which exist between Thailand and the Holy See will continue to grow and flourish in our shared desire to serve the cause of peace and the common good of the human family.
I pray that Almighty God will abundantly bless your people and their leaders as they work for the well-being in justice and harmony of the entire Thai nation.
Mr Ambassador,
I am happy to welcome you to the Vatican and to accept the Letters of Credence by which you are appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India to the Holy See.
This ceremony is taking place in circumstances of particular significance. With God’s help, within a few weeks I will visit your beloved country. I assure you and the people of India that I look forward to this event with anticipation and hope. I avail myself of this occasion to express my gratitude to the civil and ecclesiastical authorities who have collaborated in making this visit possible. In a special way I would ask you to convey my sincere sentiments of appreciation and regard to His Excellency President Giani Zail Singh and to the Prime Minister, Mr Rajiv Gandhi.
When my predecessor Pope Paul VI arrived in India in 1964, he expressed his sentiments of goodwill towards the people of India in these words: “At last we can come to know this immense and populous Land, and manifest in person our friendship and admiration to the great and noble people of India, so untiring in its efforts for world peace, so industrious in seeking prosperity in harmony and concord with the other nations of the world”.
With these very same sentiments of friendship and respect I am preparing for my own visit.
The second circumstance forming the context of this meeting is that of the recently celebrated Nineteenth World Day of Peace which, this year, falls within the International Year of Peace proclaimed by the United Nations Organization.
No theme of international life is so essential in our time as that of peace and the urgent need to overcome the tensions that threaten it. “It is a value that responds to the hopes and aspirations of all peoples and all nations, of young and old, and of all men and women of good will”.
For a just and universal peace to be established it is necessary for rivalries and conflicts between individuals and nations to be replaced by trust and by a new relationship of solidarity, a solidarity which embraces the entire human family. The bonds of brotherhood between peoples must be strengthened and dialogue must take the place of confrontation, in a sincere search for the common good of the whole of humanity.
Mr Ambassador, you have referred to the objectives of international peace, disarmament and the proper use of the world’s resources for which your country speaks in the international forum. The Holy See likewise hopes that these objectives will enter ever more fully into the consciousness of the peoples and of their leaders, so that a concerted effort can be made to consolidate justice, peace and freedom in the world.
These universal themes and the patient work of promoting them in every sphere of life are central to your role as Representative of India of the Holy See. I wish you very personal happiness in the fulfilment of your diplomatic duties, and I assure you of my personal interest and of the collaboration of the various offices of the Holy See.
Your presence is a reminder of the particular bonds which exist between the Holy See and India, where, as you mentioned, Christianity has been at home since the earliest Christian era. I pray that my forthcoming visit may further deepen these bonds and make clear my heartfelt respect for the spiritual traditions which so characterize your Nation’s history.
I express the ardent hope and prayer that the Republic of India may proceed always in peace and harmony towards the noble ideals enshrined in its Constitution, for the spiritual and material good of all its citizens.
May Almighty God abundantly bless the people of India!
Mr Ambassador,
I am happy to welcome Your Excellency as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Jamaica. The Holy See holds in high regard the mission which you are now beginning, and I am confident that your stay will contribute to a strengthening of the cordial ties of friendship and collaboration which mark our present relations.
The art of diplomacy aims at furthering dialogue and understanding between peoples and nations. When necessary, it also fulfils the vital function of seeking solutions to conflicts, tensions and the various problems that can easily arise. All nations can contribute and indeed should contribute to this common diplomatic endeavour, for the activities and policies of any one nation affect the entire fabric of international life. Smaller nations like your own, even though burdened by poverty and a disparity of the distribution of the world’s wealth, as you noted in your speech, are far from being unable to make a significant contribution. The destiny of the world community is so tightly interwoven that the social, economic and political events of any country are bound to affect the stability and well-being of the others.
I am pleased that you have referred to the important themes of peace, justice and human rights. The Holy See is indeed deeply interested in these issues. And as you are aware, the Church in Jamaica most willingly works for human advancement and the good of all people. She has for years been doing so through such institutions as hospitals, schools and homes for the aged. In a special way, she seeks by her teaching and organisations to support and strengthen family life which faces so many obstacles in the modern world.
In this work of development and social justice, the local Church has been generously assisted by missionary personnel. Today we rejoice that increasing numbers of vocations to the priesthood and religious life are coming from Jamaican families. The dedicated lives of these men and women will allow the Church to maintain, and indeed increase, her contribution to the life of your country.
I am grateful for the cordial greetings which you have brought to me from the Government and people of Jamaica, and I ask you to convey my own good wishes. I also wish to thank you for mentioning the possibility of my paying a visit to your country. I look forward to the day when such a visit will be possible.
May Almighty God grant that your nation will continue to advance in social development and above all in spiritual riches. Upon you and all those whom you represent I invoke his blessings of harmony and peace and may he be with you in your important work.
1. It is a great joy for me to meet you every year, so as to reaffirm the importance of your ecclesial ministry and the necessity for your judicial activity. It is a service of justice, a service of truth, a service rendered to God, in whose sight you pronounce your judgments. It is a service to the People of God and every person of good will who has resort to the Tribunal of the Roman Rota.
So I extend my most cordial greeting to each one of you, a greeting joined with feelings of appreciation and gratitude for your task. It is sometimes difficult and burdensome, yet it is necessary.
I give a particular greeting to the new dean, Monsignor Ernesto Fiore, and I express a hope that he will contribute, with your attentive collaboration, to the constant work of adapting the tribunal to the needs of the contemporary world and the pastoral needs of our time.
I am aware of the difficulties which you have to face in carrying out your task. It requires that you clarify, on the basis of canon law, questions and problems regarding subjective rights, which at the same time involve the consciences of those who have resort to you. Often they are bewildered and confused by discordant voices reaching them from all sides. I gladly take the opportunity of this audience to exhort you to a real service of charity in their regard, by fully assuming your responsibilities before God, the supreme lawgiver. If called upon, he will not fail to sustain you with the light of his grace, so that you may fully respond to the expectations placed in you.
2. It seems important to lay emphasis on concern for fundamental unity with the ministry of Peter—as I did already in the discourse addressed to the cardinals last November 21. The Roman Curia offers this petrine office (munus Petrinum) collaboration that is rendered ever more urgent both by the importance of problems arising in the world and by the duty to keep the profession of faith one and catholic, also again by reason of the need to orient and sustain the People of God in faithful understanding of the Church’s magisterium. This service to unity is ever more necessary because of the fact that the Church extends to so many differing countries and continents, and unites disparate and diverse cultures with the treasure of the Christian faith and revelation. These cultures in their turn can become better to the degree in which they recognize the values that the Incarnate Word defends and guarantees as Son of the Father and redeemer of humans. All have to enter as an adopted child into this divine filiation, so as not only to be themselves, but also in order to respond ever better to the intentions of God, who has created them in his image and likeness.
Your mission is a big one! It has to maintain, deepen, defend, and illuminate those divine values which human beings bear in themselves as the instruments of divine love. In every person there is a sign of God to be recognized, a manifestation of God to bring to the fore, a mystery of love to be expressed through living according to God’s views.
3. “God is love” (1Jn 4,8-16). St. John’s simple statement is the key of the human mystery. Like God, we too will be love. We have need of love. We have to feel that we are loved and, in order to be ourselves, we have to love, we have to give ourselves, we has to make this love be loved. God is a Trinity of love—the reciprocal giving of the Father and of the Son who love their Personal Love, the Holy Spirit. We know that this divine mystery illumines the nature and the profound meaning of Christian marriage, which is the most perfect realization of natural marriage. This latter bears God’s seal from the beginning: “God created humankind in his image. . . . male and female he created them; . . .” saying, “Be fruitful and multiply” (Gn 1,27-28).
Then, every marriage between the baptized is a sacrament. It is a sacrament by virtue of baptism, which introduces our life into God’s, making us “participants of the divine nature” (2P 1,4), through incorporation in his divine Son, the Incarnate Word, in whom we form but one body, the Church (see 1Co 10,17).
It is understood, then, how Christ’s love for the Church has been compared to the indissoluble love uniting man with woman, and how that can be effectively signified by that great sacrament which is Christian marriage. That love is destined to develop the Christian family, the domestic Church (see LG 11), in the same way in which the love of Christ and the Church ensures ecclesial communion—visible and bearing already heavenly benefits with it (see LG 8).
This is why Christian marriage is a sacrament making a kind of consecration to God (see GS 48). It is a ministry of love, which, through its testimony, makes visible the meaning of the divine love and the depth of conjugal gift lived in the Christian family. It is a commitment of paternity and maternity. The source of that is the reciprocal love of the divine persons; it is its most perfect and unrivalled image. This mystery will affirm itself and realize itself in every participation in the Church’s mission, and it is in the Church that Christian spouses have to give proof of love and testify to the love which they live between them, with and for their children, in that fundamental and irreplaceable ecclesial cell——the Christian family.
4. If I briefly recall the richness and profundity of Christian marriage to you, I do so mainly in order to emphasize the beauty, the grandeur, and the vastness of your mission, since the greater part of your labors is concerned with matrimonial causes.
Your work is judicial, but your mission is evangelical, ecclesial, and sacerdotal, while at the same time remaining humanitarian and social.
Even though the validity of a marriage supposes certain essential elements, and they have to be clearly expressed and technically applied in the juridical aspect, it is nonetheless necessary to consider such elements according to their full human and ecclesial significance. By giving emphasis to this theological aspect in forming your judgments, you will hold out the image of Christian matrimony willed by God as the divine image and model, and perfection of every human conjugal union. This holds good for every culture. The Church’s doctrine is not restricted to its canonical expression. This latter—as the Second Vatican Council willed—must be seen and comprehended within the vastness of the mystery of the Church (Optatam totius OT 16). This council rule emphasizes the importance of ecclesial law (ius ecclesiale)—and opportunely enlightens the nature of the law of communion, the law of charity, the law of the spirit.
5. Illuminated by this mystery of divine and human love, your judgments take on great importance, and—in a vicarious manner—share in the ministry of Peter. In fact it is in his name that you interrogate, judge, and dispense judgments. It is not a matter of simple delegation, but of an intense participation in his mission.
Undoubtedly, application of the new Code can run the risk of imprecise, incoherent or innovative interpretations, particularly in the case of psychological disturbances invalidating consent to marriage (c. 1095) or in the case of impediment of deceit (c. 1098), and error conditioning the will (c. 1099), as well as in interpretation of some new rules of procedure.
Such risk has to be faced and overcome with serenity through study both of the real gist of the canonical norm and of all concrete circumstances giving shape to the case, keeping always a lively awareness of serving God only, the Church, and souls, without yielding to a superficial, permissive mentality which does not take due account of the indispensable demands of matrimony as a sacrament.
6. I would also say something about the appropriateness that examination of causes should not be delayed too long. I know very well that the duration of a trial does not depend only on the judges who have to decide: there are many other factors which can cause delays, but you—to whom the task of administering justice has been entrusted, so as to bring inner peace to so many faithful—ought to commit yourselves to the utmost in order that the course of the process shall proceed with that solicitude which the good of souls requires and which the new Code of Canon Law prescribes when it states: “They are to see to it that in the tribunal of first instance cases are not protracted beyond a year, and in the tribunal of second instance not beyond six months” (c. 1453).
May none of the faithful take the excessive duration of the ecclesiastical court process as grounds for not presenting his own cause or for giving up on it and choosing solutions in clear contrast with Catholic doctrine.
7. Before concluding I would also again exhort you to see your ecclesial service in the general context of the activity of the other dicasteries of the Roman Curia, with special reference to those which concern themselves with matters having a relation with judiciary activity in general and that of matrimonial matters in particular.
Moreover, the influence of the Roman Rota on the activity of regional and diocesan ecclesiastical tribunals should be valued in particular. The jurisprudence of the Rota has always been and must continue to be a sure point of reference for them.
The Studio Rotale has given you the possibility of putting your doctrinal and judicial experience at the disposal of those who are preparing themselves to become judges or advocates and those who wish to deepen their knowledge of the Church’s law. Thanks to it, you contribute to the reflowering of interest in study of the Code of Canon Law and provide the opportunity for ever more thorough study of this material in faculties of canon law.
It is therefore with a full heart that I express my lively appreciation for your serious and constant work, and I bless your commitment and ministry.
May God who is love ever always remain your light, your strength, and your peace.
Saturday, 1st February 1986
Mr President
Mr Prime Minister
Distinguished Officials of the Government of India,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
To all of you: "Namaskar"!
1. It gives me great joy to be in India. I thank you for your words of welcome, Mr President, and in particular I thank you for the invitation to come to this great nation, so ancient and yet so young.
I wish also to express my gratitude for your presence, Mr Prime Minister. I am honoured that you join the President in this official ceremony of welcome.
I deeply appreciate everything that has been done to prepare for this visit. I am grateful for the generous efforts on the part of so many which will make it possible for me to travel to different parts of this vast and varied Republic of India, to meet as many of the beloved Indian people as possible, and to come to a deeper understanding of the rich cultures of your country. I pray that my visit will serve and support the good of your nation and the well-being of all the Indian people.
2. Your invitation, Mr President, and this meeting upon my arrival in Delhi, stand in faithful continuity with the good official relations which have existed for many years between India and the Holy See
Other particularly significant moments of this history have been the visit of your first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, to Pope Pius XII in 1955; the visit of Pope Paul VI to Bombay in 1964, on which occasion he met your highest civil authorities; and the visit of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to the Vatican less than five years ago.
These good relations, to which this visit gives further expression, reflect at the same time the overall cordial relationship which exists between Church and State in India. I am very pleased to know of the esteem which the Catholic Church in your country enjoys, and I am well aware of the important contribution which she seeks to make through her dedicated involvement in various fields of human advancement, such as education, health care and development. Since the beginning of Christianity the Church has been present in India. Thus for nearly two thousand years she has formed an integral part of the development and life of your people. And I can assure you that the Church is always desirous of offering her loyal and generous contribution to the unity and brotherhood of the nation, to the promotion of justice, love and peace, and to the authentic general progress of your country in the many aspects of her life.
3. My purpose in coming to India has both a religious and human dimension. I come to pay a pastoral visit to the Catholics of India, and I come in friendship with a deep desire to pay honour to all your people and to your different cultures. As I begin, I take this occasion to express my sincere interest in all the religions of India – an interest marked by genuine respect, by attention to what we have in common, by a desire to promote interreligious dialogue and fruitful collaboration between people of different faiths.
In this regard, I note with admiration how the Indian constitution, through its official recognition of religious liberty, honours the dignity of each person in his or her most sacred dimension, and at the same time allows the promotion of genuine spiritual values, which are so fundamental for all social living.
4. It is with sentiments of fraternal love and respect for all the Indian people that I begin this visit. Through you, Mr President, I greet the men and women of every region, the children and their parents, the aged and the young people. I am interested in meeting as many of you as possible, eager to learn from you and from your experience of life.
At the same time, I am deeply interested in the various cultures of India: in the many ancient cultural expressions contained in your art and architecture, in your literature and customs; and in those of modern India which reflect a fine blending of the old and the new, and those which have resulted in part from the inevitable and often needed social changes and in response to the challenges of modern industry and technology. All of this is a sign of a society that is living and dynamic.
5. The many activities which characterise the internal and international life of India have for a long time attracted the deep interest of the world. These include your sustained effort to promote the practical recognition of the equality and identical human dignity of every person in society, your quest for social harmony and for unity in diversity, your various initiatives to further the social-economic development of your country, especially for the sake of those most in need, and your attempts to foster an atmosphere of trust and dialogue both within and beyond the borders of your land. It was in reference to your land and his that Tagore wrote:
"Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habits;
Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening thought and action;
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake" .
These many aspects of modern India are all significantly linked to the cause of peace in the international community, particularly since India is the largest democracy in the world. As I said in my 1986 World Day of Peace message: "The right path to a world community in which justice and peace will reign without frontiers among all peoples and on all continents is the path of solidarity, dialogue and universal brotherhood" .
I come to India as a servant of unity and peace. And I desire to listen and learn from the men and women of this noble nation. I look forward to deepening the admiration and friendship which I already have for the Indian people. You shall be in my prayers each day. May God bless you all!
"Jai Hind"!
Speeches 1986