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Pope Benedict XVI, Visit to USA, 2008 April 15-20
Address to US Bishops, Washington,
DC, 2008 April 16
FROM: “Dan Frezza”¨
<dan@frezza.org>
TO: <ASSISI-L@LISTSERV.ND.EDU>
SENT: 16 April 2008 22:04
[EDT]
OBJECT: Benedict XVI’s Address to US Bishops
Benedict XVI's Address to US Bishops
"The People of This Country Are Known for Their Great Vitality and
Creativity"
WASHINGTON, D.C., APRIL 16, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is the text of the address
Benedict XVI gave today to the bishops of the United States at the Basilica of
the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. At the end he answers three
questions posed to him by the prelates.
* * *
[Part One]
Dear Brother Bishops,
It gives me great joy to greet you today, at the start of my visit to
this country, and I thank Cardinal George for the gracious words he has addressed
to me on your behalf. I want to thank all of you, especially the Officers of
the Episcopal Conference, for the hard work that has gone into the preparation
of this visit. My grateful appreciation goes also to
the staff and volunteers of the National Shrine, who have welcomed us here this
evening. American Catholics are noted for their loyal devotion to the see of
Peter. My pastoral visit here is an opportunity to strengthen further the bonds
of communion that unite us. We began by celebrating Evening Prayer in this
Basilica dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a
shrine of special significance to American Catholics, right in the heart of
your capital city. Gathered in prayer with Mary, Mother of Jesus, we lovingly
commend to our heavenly Father the people of God in every part of the United States.
For the Catholic communities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia and
Louisville,
this is a year of particular celebration, as it marks the
bicentenary of the establishment of these local Churches as Dioceses. I join
you in giving thanks for the many graces granted to the Church there during
these two centuries. As this year also marks the bicentenary of the elevation
of the founding see of Baltimore
to an
Archdiocese, it gives me an opportunity to recall with admiration and
gratitude the life and ministry of John Carroll, the first Bishop of
Baltimore - a worthy leader of the Catholic community in your newly
independent nation. His tireless efforts to spread the Gospel in the
vast territory under his care laid the foundations for the ecclesial
life of your country and enabled the Church in America to grow to
maturity. Today the Catholic community you serve is one of the largest in the
world, and one of the most influential. How important it is, then,
to let your light so shine before your fellow citizens and before the world,
"that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in
heaven" (Mt 5:16).
Many of the people to whom John Carroll and his fellow Bishops were
ministering two centuries ago had travelled from distant lands. The
diversity of their origins is reflected in the rich variety of ecclesial
life in present-day America.
Brother Bishops, I want to encourage you
and your communities to continue to welcome the immigrants who join your ranks
today, to share their joys and hopes, to support them in their sorrows and
trials, and to help them flourish in their new home. This, indeed, is what your
fellow countrymen have done for generations. From the beginning, they have
opened their doors to the tired, the poor, the "huddled
masses yearning to breathe free" (cf. Sonnet inscribed on the Statue of
Liberty). These are the people whom America has made her own.
Of those who came to build a new life here, many were able to make good use of
the resources and opportunities that they found, and to attain a high level of
prosperity. Indeed, the people of this country are known for their great vitality
and creativity. They are also known for their generosity. After the attack on
the Twin Towers in September 2001, and again
after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Americans displayed their readiness to come to
the aid of their brothers and sisters in need. On the international level, the
contribution made by the people of America to relief and rescue
operations after the tsunami of December 2004 is a further illustration of this
compassion. Let me express my particular appreciation for the many forms of humanitarian
assistance provided by American Catholics through Catholic Charities and other
agencies. Their generosity has borne fruit in the care shown to the poor and
needy, and in the energy that has gone into building the nationwide network of Catholic
parishes, hospitals, schools and universities. All of this gives great cause
for thanksgiving.
America
is also a land of great faith. Your people are remarkable for
their religious fervor and they take pride in belonging to a worshipping
community. They have confidence in God, and they do not hesitate to
bring moral arguments rooted in biblical faith into their public
discourse. Respect for freedom of religion is deeply ingrained in the
American consciousness - a fact which has contributed to this country's attraction
for generations of immigrants, seeking a home where they can worship freely in
accordance with their beliefs.
In this connection, I happily acknowledge the presence among you of
Bishops from all the venerable Eastern Churches in communion with the Successor
of Peter, whom I greet with special joy. Dear Brothers, I ask you to assure
your communities of my deep affection and my continued prayers, both for them
and for the many brothers and sisters who remain in their land of origin. Your
presence here is a reminder of the courageous witness to Christ of so many
members of your communities, often amid suffering, in their respective
homelands. It is also a great enrichment of the ecclesial life of America, giving
vivid expression to the Church's catholicity and the variety of her liturgical
and spiritual traditions.
[Part Two]
[1. Secularism]
It is in this fertile soil, nourished from so many different sources,
that all of you, Brother Bishops, are called to sow the seeds of the
Gospel today. This leads me to ask how, in the twenty-first century, a
bishop can best fulfill the call to "make all things new in Christ, our
hope"? How can he lead his people to "an encounter with the living
God", the source of that life-transforming hope of which the Gospel speaks
(cf. Spe Salvi, 4)? Perhaps he needs to begin by clearing away some of the
barriers to such an encounter. While it is true that this country is marked by
a genuinely religious spirit, the subtle influence of secularism can
nevertheless color the way people allow their faith to influence their
behavior. Is it consistent to profess our beliefs in church on Sunday, and then
during the week to promote business practices or medical procedures contrary to
those beliefs? Is it consistent for practicing Catholics to ignore or exploit
the poor and the marginalized, to promote sexual behavior contrary to Catholic
moral teaching, or to adopt positions that contradict the right to life of
every human being from conception to natural death? Any tendency to treat
religion as a private matter must be resisted. Only when their faith permeates
every aspect of their lives do Christians become truly open to the transforming
power of the Gospel.
[2. Materialism]
For an affluent society, a further obstacle to an encounter with the
living God lies in the subtle influence of materialism, which can all
too easily focus the attention on the hundredfold, which God promises now in
this time, at the expense of the eternal life which he promises in the age to
come (cf. Mk 10:30). People today need to be reminded of the ultimate purpose
of their lives. They need to recognize that implanted within them is a deep
thirst for God. They need to be given opportunities to drink from the wells of
his infinite love. It is easy to be entranced by the almost unlimited
possibilities that science and technology place before us; it is easy to make
the mistake of thinking we can obtain by our own efforts the fulfillment of our
deepest needs. This is an illusion. Without God, who alone bestows upon us what
we by ourselves cannot attain (cf. Spe Salvi, 31), our lives are ultimately empty.
People need to be constantly reminded to cultivate a relationship with him who
came that we might have life in abundance (cf. Jn 10:10). The goal of all our
pastoral and catechetical work, the object of our preaching, and the focus of
our sacramental ministry should be to help people establish and nurture that living
relationship with "Christ Jesus, our hope" (1 Tim 1:1).
[3. Individualism]
In a society which values personal freedom and autonomy, it is easy to lose
sight of our dependence on others as well as the responsibilities that we bear
towards them. This emphasis on individualism has even affected the Church (cf.
Spe Salvi, 13-15), giving rise to a form of piety which sometimes emphasizes
our private relationship with God at the expense of our calling to be members
of a redeemed community. Yet from the beginning, God saw that "it is not
good for man to be alone" (Gen 2:18). We were created as social beings who
find fulfillment only in love - for God and for our neighbor. If we are truly
to gaze upon him who is the source of our joy, we need to do so as members of
the people of God (cf. Spe Salvi, 14). If this seems counter-cultural, that is simply
further evidence of the urgent need for a renewed evangelization of culture.
Here in America,
you are blessed with a Catholic laity of considerable
cultural diversity, who place their wide-ranging gifts
at the service of
the Church and of society at large. They look to you to offer them
encouragement, leadership and direction. In an age that is saturated
with information, the importance of providing sound formation in the
faith cannot be overstated. American Catholics have traditionally placed a high
value on religious education, both in schools and in the context of adult
formation programs. These need to be maintained and expanded. The many generous
men and women who devote themselves to charitable activity need to be helped to
renew their dedication through a "formation of the heart": an
"encounter with God in Christ which awakens their love and opens their
spirits to others" (Deus Caritas Est, 31). At a time when advances in
medical science bring new hope to many, they also give rise to previously
unimagined ethical challenges. This makes it more important than ever to offer
thorough formation in the Church's moral teaching to Catholics engaged in
health care. Wise guidance is needed in all these apostolates, so that they may
bear abundant fruit; if they are truly to promote the integral good of the human
person, they too need to be made new in Christ our hope.
[4. Moral Questions]
As preachers of the Gospel and leaders of the Catholic community, you are also
called to participate in the exchange of ideas in the public square, helping to
shape cultural attitudes. In a context where free speech is valued, and where
vigorous and honest debate is encouraged, yours is a respected voice that has
much to offer to the discussion of the pressing social and moral questions of
the day. By ensuring that the Gospel is clearly heard, you not only form the
people of your own community, but in view of the global reach of mass
communication, you help to spread the message of Christian hope throughout the
world.
Clearly, the Church's influence on public debate takes place on many
different levels. In the United
States, as elsewhere, there is much
current and proposed legislation that gives cause for concern from the point of
view of morality, and the Catholic community, under your
guidance, needs to offer a clear and united witness on such matters.
Even more important, though, is the gradual opening of the minds and hearts of
the wider community to moral truth. Here much remains to be done. Crucial in
this regard is the role of the lay faithful to act as a "leaven" in
society. Yet it cannot be assumed that all Catholic citizens think in harmony
with the Church's teaching on today's key ethical questions. Once again, it
falls to you to ensure that the moral
formation provided at every level of ecclesial life reflects the authentic
teaching of the Gospel of life.
[5. The Family Within Society]
In this regard, a matter of deep concern to us all is the state of the
family within society. Indeed, Cardinal George mentioned earlier that
you have included the strengthening of marriage and family life among the
priorities for your attention over the next few years. In this
year's World Day of Peace Message I spoke of the essential contribution that
healthy family life makes to peace within and between nations. In the family
home we experience "some of the fundamental elements of peace: justice and
love between brothers and sisters, the role of authority expressed by parents,
loving concern for the members who are weaker because of youth, sickness or old
age, mutual help in the necessities of life, readiness to accept others and, if
necessary, to forgive them" (no. 3). The family is also the primary place
for evangelization, for passing on the faith, for helping young people to appreciate
the importance of religious practice and Sunday observance.
How can we not be dismayed as we observe the sharp decline of the family as a
basic element of Church and society? Divorce and infidelity have increased, and
many young men and women are choosing to postpone marriage or to forego it
altogether. To some young Catholics, the sacramental bond of marriage seems
scarcely distinguishable from a civil bond, or even a purely informal and open-ended
arrangement to live with another person. Hence we have an alarming decrease in
the number of Catholic marriages in the United States together with an
increase in cohabitation, in which the Christ-like mutual self-giving of
spouses, sealed by a public promise to live out the demands of an indissoluble lifelong
commitment, is simply absent. In such circumstances, children are denied the
secure environment that they need in order truly to flourish as human beings,
and society is denied the stable building blocks which it requires if the cohesion
and moral focus of the community are to be maintained.
As my predecessor, Pope John Paul II taught, "The person principally
responsible in the Diocese for the pastoral care of the family is the
Bishop ... he must devote to it personal interest, care, time, personnel
and resources, but above all personal support for the families and for
all those who … assist him in the pastoral care of the family"
(Familiaris Consortio, 73). It is your task to proclaim boldly the
arguments from faith and reason in favor of the institution of marriage, understood
as a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman, open to the transmission of
life. This message should resonate with people today, because it is essentially
an unconditional and unreserved "yes" to life, a "yes" to
love, and a "yes" to the aspirations at the heart of our common
humanity, as we strive to fulfill our deep yearning for intimacy with others
and with the Lord.
[6. Secual Abuses of Minors]
Among the countersigns to the Gospel of life found in America and
elsewhere is one that causes deep shame: the sexual abuse of minors. Many of
you have spoken to me of the enormous pain that your communities have suffered
when clerics have betrayed their priestly obligations and duties by such
gravely immoral behavior. As you strive to eliminate this evil wherever it
occurs, you may be assured of the prayerful support of God's people throughout
the world. Rightly, you attach priority to showing compassion and care to the
victims. It is your God-given responsibility as pastors to bind up the wounds
caused by every breach of trust, to foster healing, to promote reconciliation
and to reach out with loving concern to those so seriously wronged.
Responding to this situation has not been easy and, as the President of your
Episcopal Conference has indicated, it was "sometimes very badly handled".
Now that the scale and gravity of the problem is more clearly understood, you
have been able to adopt more focused remedial and disciplinary measures and to
promote a safe environment that gives greater protection to young people. While
it must be remembered that the overwhelming majority of clergy and religious in
America
do outstanding work in bringing the liberating message of the Gospel to the
people entrusted to their care, it is vitally important that the vulnerable always
be shielded from those who would cause harm. In this regard, your efforts to
heal and protect are bearing great fruit not only for those directly under your
pastoral care, but for all of society.
If they are to achieve their full purpose, however, the policies and
programs you have adopted need to be placed in a wider context. Children deserve
to grow up with a healthy understanding of sexuality and its proper place in
human relationships. They should be spared the degrading manifestations and the
crude manipulation of sexuality so prevalent today. They have a right to be
educated in authentic moral values rooted in the dignity of the human person.
This brings us back to our consideration of the centrality of the family and
the need to promote the Gospel of life. What does it mean to speak of child
protection when pornography and violence can be viewed in so many homes through
media widely available today? We need to reassess urgently the values underpinning
society, so that a sound moral formation can be offered to young people and
adults alike. All have a part to play in this task - not only parents,
religious leaders, teachers and catechists, but the media and entertainment
industries as well. Indeed, every member of society can contribute to this
moral renewal and benefit from it. Truly caring about young people and the future
of our civilization means recognizing our responsibility to promote and live by
the authentic moral values which alone enable the human person to flourish. It
falls to you, as pastors modelled upon Christ, the Good Shepherd, to proclaim this
message loud and clear, and thus to address the sin of abuse within the wider
context of sexual mores. Moreover, by acknowledging and confronting the problem
when it occurs in an ecclesial setting, you can give a lead to others, since
this scourge is found not only within your Dioceses, but in every sector of
society. It calls for a determined, collective response.
[7. The Needs of Priests]
Priests, too, need your guidance and closeness during this difficult
time. They have experienced shame over what has occurred, and there are those
who feel they have lost some of the trust and esteem they once enjoyed. Not a
few are experiencing a closeness to Christ in his
Passion as they struggle to come to terms with the consequences of the crisis. The
Bishop, as father, brother and friend of his priests, can help them to draw
spiritual fruit from this union with Christ by making them aware of the Lord's
consoling presence in the midst of their suffering, and by encouraging them to walk with the Lord along the path of hope (cf. Spe Salvi,
39). As Pope John Paul II observed six years ago, "we must be confident
that this time of trial will bring a purification of the entire Catholic
community", leading to "a holier priesthood, a holier episcopate and
a holier Church" (Address to the Cardinals of the United States,
23 April 2002, 4). There are many signs that, during the intervening period,
such purification has indeed been taking place. Christ's abiding presence in
the midst of our suffering is gradually transforming our darkness into light: all
things are indeed being made new in Christ Jesus our hope.
At this stage a vital part of your task is to strengthen relationships
with your clergy, especially in those cases where tension has arisen
between priests and their bishops in the wake of the crisis. It is
important that you continue to show them your concern, to support them, and to
lead by example. In this way you will surely help them to
encounter the living God, and point them towards the life transforming
hope of which the Gospel speaks. If you yourselves live in a manner
closely configured to Christ, the Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for his
sheep, you will inspire your brother priests to rededicate
themselves to the service of their flocks with Christ-like generosity.
Indeed a clearer focus upon the imitation of Christ in holiness of life
is exactly what is needed in order for us to move forward. We need to
rediscover the joy of living a Christ-centred life, cultivating the
virtues, and immersing ourselves in prayer. When the faithful know that their
pastor is a man who prays and who dedicates his life to serving them, they
respond with warmth and affection which nourishes and sustains the life of the
whole community.
Time spent in prayer is never wasted, however urgent the duties that
press upon us from every side. Adoration of Christ our Lord in the
Blessed Sacrament prolongs and intensifies the union with him that is
established through the Eucharistic celebration (cf. Sacramentum
Caritatis, 66). Contemplation of the mysteries of the Rosary releases
all their saving power and it conforms, unites and consecrates us to
Jesus Christ (cf. Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 11, 15). Fidelity to the
Liturgy of the Hours ensures that the whole of our day is sanctified and it
continually reminds us of the need to remain focused on doing God's work,
however many pressures and distractions may arise from the task at hand. Thus
our devotion helps us to speak and act in persona Christi, to teach, govern and
sanctify the faithful in the name of Jesus, to bring his reconciliation, his
healing and his love to all his beloved brothers and sisters. This radical
configuration to Christ, the Good Shepherd, lies at the heart of our pastoral
ministry, and if we open ourselves through prayer to the power of the Spirit,
he will give us the gifts we need to carry out our daunting task, so that we
need never "be anxious how to speak or what to say" (Mt 10:19).
As I conclude my words to you this evening, I commend the Church in your country
most particularly to the maternal care and intercession of Mary Immaculate,
Patroness of the United
States. May she who carried within her womb
the hope of all the nations intercede for the people of this country, so that
all may be made new in Jesus Christ her Son. My dear Brother Bishops, I assure
each of you here present of my deep friendship and my participation in your
pastoral concerns. To all of you, and to your clergy, religious and lay
faithful, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of joy and peace
in the Risen Lord.
* * *
[Part Three]
[Question One]
1. The Holy Father is asked to give his assessment of the challenge of increasing
secularism in public life and relativism in intellectual
life, and his advice on how to confront these challenges pastorally and evangelize
more effectively.
I touched upon this theme briefly in my address. It strikes me as
significant that here in America,
unlike many places in Europe, the
secular mentality has not been intrinsically opposed to religion. Within
the context of the separation of Church and State, American society has always
been marked by a fundamental respect for religion and its public role, and, if
polls are to be believed, the American people are deeply religious. But it is
not enough to count on this traditional religiosity and go about business as
usual, even as its foundations are being slowly undermined. A serious
commitment to evangelization cannot prescind from a profound diagnosis of the
real challenges the Gospel encounters in contemporary American culture.
Of course, what is essential is a correct understanding of the just
autonomy of the secular order, an autonomy which
cannot be divorced from God the Creator and his saving plan (cf. Gaudium et
Spes, 36). Perhaps America's
brand of secularism poses a particular problem: it allows for professing belief
in God, and respects the public role of religion and the Churches, but at the
same time it can subtly reduce religious belief to a lowest common denominator.
Faith becomes a passive acceptance that certain things "out there"
are true, but without practical relevance for everyday life. The result is a
growing separation of faith from life: living "as if God did not exist".
This is aggravated by an individualistic and eclectic approach to faith and
religion: far from a Catholic approach to "thinking with the Church",
each person believes he or she has a right to pick and choose, maintaining
external social bonds but without an integral, interior conversion to the law
of Christ. Consequently, rather than being transformed and
renewed in mind, Christians are easily tempted to conform themselves to the
spirit of this age (cf. Rom 12:3). We have seen this emerge in an acute
way in the scandal given by Catholics who promote an alleged right to abortion.
On a deeper level, secularism challenges the Church to reaffirm and to pursue
more actively her mission in and to the world. As the Council made clear, the
lay faithful have a particular responsibility in this regard. What is needed, I
am convinced, is a greater sense of the
intrinsic relationship between the Gospel and the natural law on the one hand,
and, on the other, the pursuit of authentic human good, as
embodied in civil law and in personal moral decisions. In a society that rightly
values personal liberty, the Church needs to promote at every level of her
teaching - in catechesis, preaching, seminary and
university instruction - an apologetics aimed at affirming the truth of
Christian revelation, the harmony of faith and reason, and a sound
understanding of freedom, seen in positive terms as a liberation both
from the limitations of sin and for an authentic and fulfilling life. In
a word, the Gospel has to be preached and taught as an integral way of life,
offering an attractive and true answer, intellectually and
practically, to real human problems. The "dictatorship of relativism",
in the end, is nothing less than a threat to genuine human freedom,
which only matures in generosity and fidelity to the truth.
Much more, of course, could be said on this subject: let me conclude,
though, by saying that I believe that the Church in America, at this
point in her history, is faced with the challenge of recapturing the
Catholic vision of reality and presenting it, in an engaging and
imaginative way, to a society which markets any number of recipes for human
fulfillment. I think in particular of our need to speak to the
hearts of young people, who, despite their constant exposure to messages contrary
to the Gospel, continue to thirst for authenticity, goodness and truth. Much
remains to be done, particularly on the level of preaching and catechesis in
parishes and schools, if the new
evangelization is to bear fruit for the renewal of ecclesial life in
America.
[Question Two]
2. The Holy Father is asked about "a certain quiet attrition" by
which
Catholics are abandoning the practice of the faith, sometimes by an
explicit decision, but often by distancing themselves quietly and
gradually from attendance at Mass and identification with the Church.
Certainly, much of this has to do with the passing away of a religious
culture, sometimes disparagingly referred to as a "ghetto", which
reinforced participation and identification with the Church. As I just
mentioned, one of the great challenges facing the Church in this country is
that of cultivating a Catholic identity which is based not so much on externals
as on a way of thinking and acting grounded in the Gospel and enriched by the
Church's living tradition.
The issue clearly involves factors such as religious individualism and
scandal. Let us go to the heart of the matter: faith cannot survive
unless it is nourished, unless it is "formed by charity" (cf. Gal
5:6).
Do people today find it difficult to encounter God in our Churches? Has our
preaching lost its salt? Might it be that many people have
forgotten, or never really learned, how to pray in and with the Church?
Here I am not speaking of people who leave the Church in search of
subjective religious "experiences"; this is a pastoral issue which
must
be addressed on its own terms. I think we are speaking about people who have
fallen by the wayside without consciously having rejected their faith in
Christ, but, for whatever reason, have not drawn life from the liturgy, the
sacraments, preaching. Yet Christian faith, as we know, is essentially
ecclesial, and without a living bond to the community, the individual's faith
will never grow to maturity. Indeed, to return to the question I just
discussed, the result can be a quiet apostasy.
So let me make two brief observations on the problem of "attrition",
which I hope will stimulate further reflection.
First, as you know, it is becoming more and more difficult, in our
Western societies, to speak in a meaningful way of "salvation". Yet
salvation - deliverance from the reality of evil, and the gift of new
life and freedom in Christ - is at the heart of the Gospel. We need to
discover, as I have suggested, new and engaging ways of proclaiming this message
and awakening a thirst for the fulfillment which only Christ can bring. It is
in the Church's liturgy, and above all in the sacrament of the Eucharist, that
these realities are most powerfully expressed and lived in the life of believers;
perhaps we still have much to do in realizing the Council's vision of the
liturgy as the exercise of the common priesthood and the impetus for a fruitful
apostolate in the world.
Second, we need to acknowledge with concern the almost complete eclipse of an
eschatological sense in many of our traditionally Christian societies. As you
know, I have pointed to this problem in the Encyclical Spe Salvi. Suffice it to
say that faith and hope are not limited to this world: as theological virtues,
they unite us with the Lord and draw us toward the fulfillment not only of our
personal destiny but also that of all creation. Faith and hope are the
inspiration and basis of our efforts to prepare for the coming of the Kingdom of God. In
Christianity, there can be no room for purely private religion: Christ
is the Savior of the world, and, as members of his Body and sharers in his
prophetic, priestly and royal munera, we cannot separate our love for him from
our commitment to the building up of the Church and the extension of his
Kingdom. To the extent that religion becomes a purely private affair, it loses
its very soul.
Let me conclude by stating the obvious. The fields are still ripe for
harvesting (cf. Jn 4:35); God continues to give the growth (cf. 1 Cor
3:6). We can and must believe, with the late Pope John Paul II, that Godis
preparing a new springtime for Christianity (cf. Redemptoris Missio, 86). What
is needed above all, at this time in the history of the Church in America, is a
renewal of that apostolic zeal which inspires her shepherds actively to seek
out the lost, to bind up those who have been wounded, and to bring strength to
those who are languishing (cf. Ez34:16). And this, as I have said, calls for
new ways of thinking based on a sound diagnosis of today's challenges and a
commitment to unity in the service of the Church's mission to the present
generation.
[Question Three]
3. The Holy Father is asked to comment on the decline in vocations
despite the growing numbers of the Catholic population, and on the
reasons for hope offered by the personal qualities and the thirst for
holiness which characterize the candidates who do come forward.
Let us be quite frank: the ability to cultivate vocations to the
priesthood and the religious life is a sure sign of the health of a
local Church. There is no room for complacency in this regard. God
continues to call young people; it is up to all of us to encourage a
generous and free response to that call. On the other hand, none of us can take
this grace for granted.
In the Gospel, Jesus tells us to pray that the Lord of the harvest will
send workers. He even admits that the workers are few in comparison with the
abundance of the harvest (cf. Mt 9:37-38). Strange to say, I often think that
prayer - the unum necessarium - is the one aspect of vocations work which we
tend to forget or to undervalue!
Nor am I speaking only of prayer for vocations. Prayer itself, born in
Catholic families, nurtured by programs of Christian formation,
strengthened by the grace of the sacraments, is the first means by which we
come to know the Lord's will for our lives. To the extent that we teach young
people to pray, and to pray well, we will be cooperating with God's call.
Programs, plans and projects have their place; but the discernment of a
vocation is above all the fruit of an intimate dialogue between the Lord and
his disciples. Young people, if they know how to pray, can be trusted to know
what to do with God's call.
It has been noted that there is a growing thirst for holiness in many
young people today, and that, although fewer in number, those who come forward
show great idealism and much promise. It is important to listen to them, to
understand their experiences, and to encourage them to help their peers to see
the need for committed priests and religious, as well as the beauty of a life
of sacrificial service to the Lord and his Church. To my mind, much is demanded
of vocation directors and formators: candidates today, as much as ever, need to
be given a sound intellectual and human formation which will enable them not
only to respond to the real questions and needs of their contemporaries, but also
to mature in their own conversion and to persevere in life-long commitment to
their vocation. As Bishops, you are conscious of the sacrifice demanded when
you are asked to release one of your finest priests for seminary work. I urge
you to respond with generosity, for the good of the whole Church.
Finally, I think you know from experience that most of your brother
priests are happy in their vocation. What I said in my address about the importance
of unity and cooperation within the presbyterate applies here too. There is a
need for all of us to move beyond sterile divisions, disagreements and
preconceptions, and to listen together to the voice of the Spirit who is
guiding the Church into a future of hope. Each of us knows how important
priestly fraternity has been in our lives. That fraternity is not only a
precious possession, but also an immense resource for the renewal of the priesthood
and the raising up of new vocations. I would close by encouraging you to foster
opportunities for ever greater dialogue and fraternal encounter among your
priests, and especially the younger priests. I am convinced that this will bear
great fruit for their own enrichment, for the increase of their love for the priesthood
and the Church, and for the effectiveness of their apostolate.
Dear Brother Bishops. with these few observations, I
once more encourage all of you in your ministry to the faithful entrusted to
your pastoral care, and I commend you to the loving intercession of Mary
Immaculate, Mother of the Church.
* * *
[P.S.]
Before leaving, I would like to pause to acknowledge the immense
suffering endured by the people of God in the Archdiocese of New Orleans
as a result of Hurricane Katrina, as well as their courage in the
challenging work of rebuilding. I would like to present Archbishop
Alfred Hughes with a chalice, which I hope will be accepted as a sign of
my prayerful solidarity with the faithful of the Archdiocese, and my
personal gratitude for the tireless devotion which he and Archbishops
Philip Hannan and Francis Schulte showed toward the flock entrusted to
their care.
© Copyright 2008 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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