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Benedict XVI to Belarus bishops on ad limina visit:
Catholics and Orthodox must bear fraternal witness
together in order to generate peace
Translated from
the 12/18/09 issue of
Renewed unity among bishops, particular attention to the educational emergency, collaboration with the Orthodox to bearcommon witness to that 'fraternity that generates peace', and readiness to work with civilian authorities for the good of all citizens: these were the recommendations of Pope Benedict XVI to the prelates of Belarus on ad limina visit whom he received in audience Thursday morning as one group, after meeting with them in separate groups earlier in the week.
Here is a translation [from the Italian] of the address delivered by the Holy Father in Byelorussian:
Eminence and Venerated Brothers,
I am happy to express to each of you my cordial welcome to the home of the Successor of Peter, to whom Christ entrusted the task of pasturing his flock (cfr Jn 21,15-19), to confirm his brothers in the faith (cfr Lc 22,31), and to protect and promote ecclesial unity (cfr Lumen gentium, 22).
I thank Mons. Alexander Kaskiewicz for the words with with he presented the journey of the Church in Belarus and the challenges that await it.
In the meetings that I have had with you, I appreciated the pastoral zeal with which you carry out your ministry, and the desire and commitment to co-responsibility, communion and sharing of decisions
among you, and may it keep growing so that your service may always be more fruitful.
It is particularly important, in fact, to announce with renewed enthusiasm and incisiveness the perennial message of the Gospel to a society that is not immune to the temptations of secularization, hedonism and relativism: the problems of denatalization, the fragility of the family and the illusion of finding fortune outside one's homeland are its signs.
In the face of such challenges, the urgent task of pastors is to manifest the power of faith, a faith rooted in solid tradition, in order to contribute to preserving the profound Christian identity of your nation, in respectful dialog with other cultures and religions.
In order to reach this objective, it is necessary, in keeping with the invitation of the Psalm, "How good it is, how pleasant, where the people dwell as one!" (Ps 133,1), that you take great care to formulate programs and to promote ever more appropriate pastoral methods while putting into action the decisions of your bishops' conference.
Such renewed unity, besides favoring the announcement of the Gospel, will also promote relations with civilian authorities and, particularly, ecumenical relations.
One other element that I wish to underscore is the special attention in pastoral activity to the educational dimension. As I have said many times, we live today in a kind of 'emergency' in this delicate and essential sector, and it is necessary to multiply efforts to offer a valid formation first of all to the new generations.
Therefore I encourage you to pursue your commitment, taking care that adequate catechesis marks the journey of faith in all the stages of life, in occasions, within and outside the Church, under your leadership, to bring the Message of Christ to every sector of the flock that is entrusted to you.
Of particular importance is your discernment and support for various vocations, especially for the priesthood and religious life, as for programs destined for the human and Christian development of young people.
In this respect, I invite you to be very vigilant that candidates for priesthood receive a solid and rigorous spiritual and theological formation, and are rightly guided in a serious and profound verification of their divine calling. The situation of our society today requires particularly attentive discernment.
Thus, it is important for the future of your Church that in Grozny and Pinsk, you continue to offer to seminarians a complete and well-qualified formative itinerary.
The fact that in both places, candidates for diocesan priesthood and for religious orders share their formation also helps promote unitary pastoral activity. This situation would produce even more promising results if the educational offerings continue to be a product of intense collaboration between the bishop and the various religious superiors, capable of giving life even to initiatives for continuing education of priests.
Be close, with ever increasing solicitude, to your priests, especially those who are just starting their pastoral ministry. The attentive and cordial exercise of the bishop's spiritual paternity constitutes a fundamental element for the success of priestly life.
It is necessary, moreover, to always keep in mind that the Lord calls on you, as Pastors of the Church, to be able to discern every ministry destined for the edification of the ecclesial body - even its secular, cultural and civilian components - so that everyone may contribute to make the Kingdom of God grow in Belarus, in a spirit of true and real communion, in order to recover those Christian values that have contributed decisively to the construction of European civilization.
Dear brothers, know how to value every correct contribution to announcing and spreading the Kingdom of God, testifying with concrete gestures to the fraternity that generates peace; the meekness that accompanies justice; the spirit of communion that avoids personalisms; charity which is "patient and kind, which is not jealous, is not pompous, not inflated, never rude, does not seek its own interests, is not quick-tempered, does not brood over injury, does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" for love of Christ (cfr 1 Cor 13,4-7).
In this context, we must situate, among other things, the fraternal collaboration with the Orthodox Church of Belarus, whose Pastors share with you the quest and commitment for the good of the faithful.
The orthodox Churches, like the Catholic Church, are strongly committed to reflecting on how best to respond to the challenges of our time in order to faithfully transmit the message of Christ.
In accepting the invitation that came from the recent Catholic-Orthodox meeting in Cyprus, we must intensify our common journey in this direction. A significant contribution can be offered by the small but fervent Greek Catholic community in your country, which constitutes an important witness for the Church and a gift from the Lord.
A few months ago, I received in audience the President of the Republic of Belarus. In the meeting which was cordial and respectful, both sides reiterated the desire to stipulate an agreement, which is being elaborated. Moreover, I underscored the particular attention with which the Apostolic See, as well as the Bishops' Conference, has followed the events in your country and the commitment to actual collaboration on issues of common interest in order to promote, within the competence of each side, the good of the citizenry.
Venerated Brothers, in renewing my gratitude, I invoke the Mother of God, who is much loved in your country, to sustain and lead you with her protection. With these wishes and with particular affection, I impart on you, your priests and religious and all the faithful a special Apostolic Blessing, assuring you of remembrance in my prayers for all of the Byelorussian people.
Googling for some information about the Church in Belarus, I came upon the website of the Belarus Catholic Church which appears to be very informative (I deduce, with my rudimentary Russian), and more surprisingly, so up to date it already had the story of the audience with the Pope today, not to mention the following pictures of it:
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 18/12/2009 05:31] |