Pope's message to the Plenary Assembly
of European bishops' conferences
Translated from
The following is the message (translated from Italian) sent by Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone in the name of the Holy Father to the participants of the Plenary Assembly of the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Europe taking place in St. Gallen, Switzerland, from Sept. 29-30. The letter is addressed to Cardinal Peter Erdo Archbishop of Budapest and President of the CCEE Council. The message was read at the opening of the Assembly.
Your Eminence,
On the occasion of the annual Plenary Assembly of the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Europe which takes place in St. Gallen on the 1400th anniversary of the saint's arrival in Switzerland, the Supreme Pontiff extends to all the participants his heartfelt good wishes with the assurance that he remembers you in prayer.
He is pleased about the happy convergence between the place of the meeting, which is also the seat of the CEEE Secretariat, and the aforesaid anniversary which invites reflection on the perennial task of evangelization and its present renewed urgency.
St. Gallen, disciple of the great abbot St. Columban, came with him and other disciples from Ireland to the Continent. After illness forced him to remain at a place near Arbon, he decided to dedicate himself to a hermit's life. But soon, his fame for sanctity attracted many towards him, and a monastic community was born which became, in its turn, a center from which missions to numerous European peoples were launched.
The experience of St. Gallen, like those of other protagonists in the evangelization of European lands and the whole world, teaches us that the Christian message is sown and takes root effectively wherever it is lived in an authentic and eloquent way by a community whose preaching is supported by the testimony of their own fraternal charity and animated by communal prayer.
Thus, the memory of St. Gallen and his work, on the eve of the
Synodal Assembly on the New Evangelization, shall be a stimulus to the Plenary of the Council to look with faith and hope, through the eyes of Christ the Lord, on the great 'harvests' represented by the peoples of Europe in the wake of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council and the teachings of the Supreme Pontiffs who have actualized the work of the Council.
In particular, it will be opportune to review the magisterial lesson by the Servant of God Paul VI in Evangelii nuntiandi, the admonition of Blessed John Paul II in Nove millennio ineunte, and naturally, in the light of the Magisterium fo the Holy Father Benedict XVI and in the perspective of the coming Year of Faith.
In invoking over the CCEE Assembly the protection of the Mother of God and of the Church, His Holiness imparts the Apostolic Blessing to Your Eminence and his other brothers in the Episcopate, as well as all your co-workers.
I join my personal wish for a serene and fruitful session, and take the occasion to renew my deference.
Of your most Reverend Eminence,
devotedly in the Lord,
TARCISIO CARDINAL BERTONE
Secretary of State
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 29/09/2012 12:47]