OTTAWA,
ON
SEPTEMBER
20, 1984
Here we
are, almost at the end of my
pastoral
visit. You desired this visit and
have actively organized it; you
have prepared
your Christian people for it well.
In the various stops of the journey I found
not
only the local bishop but many
others who wished to join us
since I
could not go to their dioceses. For all of this I am
deeply grateful.
And now
we are gathered together
to reflect, in the sight of
God and
with the light of the Holy Spirit whom
we have invoked, on the grace and
role which he
has entrusted to us as successors
of the apostles. These were
magnificently re-expressed in the texts of the
Second
Vatican Council, above all in
the constitution Lumen
Gentium and
the decree Christus Dominus. These
are the texts which will guide our reflection,
for they
permit us to stir up within ourselves an awareness of our apostolic
mission.
In Lumen
Gentium we read: "In the
person
of the bishops, then, to whom
the priests render assistance,
the Lord Jesus Christ, supreme high priest, is
present in the
midst of the faithful... Indeed,
it is through their unique
service that he
preaches the word of God to all peoples
and constantly administers to the
faithful
the sacraments of faith...Through
their wisdom and prudence
he directs and guides the people of
the
New Testament on their journey
toward eternal beatitude. Chosen
to shepherd the Lord's flock, these
pastors are
servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God...to whom is
entrusted the duty of affirming
the Gospel of
the grace of God...and of
gloriously promulgating the Spirit
and
proclaiming justification" (no. 21).
This is
the meaning of our episcopal
ministry,
which includes especially
the tasks of teaching, sanctifying
and governing. These tasks are exercised
in
hierarchical communion with the head of the College of Bishops and its
members. In other words, to take up again the words of the council:
"The bishops,
in a resplendent and visible manner,
take the place of Christ himself,
teacher,
shepherd and priest, and act
in his person (ibid.).
This mission is
sublime and formidable. It
supposes that, as
Peter did, we repeat to
Christ the
fullness of our faith
(cf. Mt. 16:16)
and our love (cf. Jn.
21:15-17). To
accomplish this mission
as the
apostles did, we have received
by
episcopal consecration a special
outpouring of the Holy Spirit (cf. ibid.,
21), who remains with
us and at
whose disposition we must constantly place
ourselves in prayer to do his work and
not our own.
In all
cases, it is a question of service
(cf. ibid.,
27), of the service of the Good
Shepherd who gives his life for
his sheep. This humble and generous service necessarily
requires courage and authority:
"The bishops, as
vicars and legates
of Christ, govern the particular
churches assigned to them by their counsels,
exhortations and example, but over and above that, also by the authority and
sacred power which indeed they exercise exclusively for the
spiritual development
of their flock in truth and
holiness" (ibid.). And you know well that, as the council said
further, the power of each
bishop — which
remains integral in the
midst of the
episcopal conference — is
"defended, upheld and strengthened"
by the supreme and universal
power
of the successor of Peter (ibid.).
Placing
the preaching of the Gospel
as the
first task of the bishops, the council specified that they
are "heralds of the faith...they
are authentic teachers,
that is, teachers endowed with
the authority of Christ, who preach the faith to the people assigned to
them, the faith which is
destined to inform their
thinking and direct their conduct; and under the light of the Holy
Spirit they make the
faith shine forth...With watchfulness
they ward off whatever errors
threaten their flock" (ibid., 25).
All the
ethical reflections and the questions
which we
can and must raise as
pastors before the human, social
and cultural
problems of our times — about which
I shall now speak — are subordinated to the proclamation of
salvation in Jesus
Christ.
In this
sense, dear brothers, lead your Christian people to drink from
the living
water itself. It is necessary to speak
to them from a theocentric and theological
perspective. Only the word of God
holds the key to our existence
and
enlightens our paths. This is why in my
homilies I tried to place the faithful face to
face with this revelation from on high,
to
lead them to contemplate the glory
of God, who wishes for man the
fullness of life, but in a way which transcends
man's
experiences and desires.
The redemption places us before the
"justice" of God, before the sin of man
and the love of God which ransomed
him. Man
has need of his Redeemer to be
fully man.
Humanism
— which we want to promote
in collaboration with our brothers
and sisters of other religions and with non-believers of good will —
depends, for us
Christians, on God the creator
and redeemer. Nisi Dominus aedificaverit
domum...Secularization,
taken in the sense of
wanting to realize in
practical life a humanism without reference to God, would be a negation
of the Christian faith.
That is why we must
proclaim the good news of God in season and out of season, in all its
power and originality; we
must proclaim the whole
faith which the church expresses, beginning from early kerygma. And as
I said to
one of your groups during the ad
limina visit (Sept.
23, 1983), it
is necessary to encourage
and 'call
the faithful to
conversion. If the
world no longer dares to
speak about
God, it expects from the church, and especially from the
bishop and
from the priests, a word which
witnesses to
God with strength and conviction in a persuasive and adapted language, without ever reducing the greatness of the message
to the expectation of the
listeners. I have noted
that this was one of the concerns of your theological commission. Here, in actual fact, come together all the
problems of the initiation
to the faith, or of its
deepening, for
adults, youth and children,
about
which we spoke at the time of the ad limina visits.
As
heralds of the faith, we are necessarily
guides
of consciences, like Moses
who led his people to encounter
the God
of the covenant and to receive the
commandments connected with the covenant.
The
council says it well: Faith must
direct one's thought and one's conduct.
I know
the care which you have taken to help your
contemporaries become sensitive
to certain moral attitudes
inspired by the Christian spirit. You
have published a number of documents
in
this vein. The values of honesty,
justice, the dignity of man and woman,
work, aid, charity, social love and
solidarity with the poor and the disinherited
in the face of the new economic
and
cultural situations claim your
attention in particular. At the same time, you seek to respond in faith
to the
new questions posed by the sciences, technology
and the sometimes disturbing
developments of human biology. I understand
and I approve this preoccupation.
You wish to avoid a break between
Christian teaching and life, between
the Gospel and culture, between faith
and justice. Indeed what kind of faith
is it which would not seek to incarnate
itself in daily conduct? And would
it have credibility in a world which
at times doubts the existence of God?
The letters of St. Paul, after explaining
the Christian mystery, proceed to
concrete exhortations which flow from it.
I am
thinking here of two other gospel
demands.
First the dignity of family life. "Happy the pure in heart" (Mt.
5:8). You observe the breakdown of the
family and
the crisis in marriage. How
many children and parents suffer from
broken homes, separations, divorces!
You
yourselves moreover have sought
to improve the legislation on
this point.
You also see the many "free unions"
which refuse or delay a total and
exclusive commitment of the two partners
in the sacrament of marriage. You
know
that abortion is very widespread.
And many have recourse to
contraceptive
means instead of respecting, in
self-control and a mutually agreed
effort,
the double finality of the conjugal
act: love and openness to life. Among
the causes of these evils, there is a
generalized tendency to hedonism; there
is a forgetting of God; there is without a doubt an ignorance of the theology of the body, of the
magnificent plan of God
for conjugal union, of the necessity
of an asceticism in order to deepen a love which is truly worthy
of man and
woman, and to correspond to the life of the Spirit present in the couple. Sex education, the preparation of
young people for marriage
and support for family
life should be top priorities here. Despite frequently passionate
opinions to the contrary,
it is expected that the
church would help to save human love
and respect for life.
On the
other hand, the consumer society,
the
seduction of artificial needs, the situation of overabundant riches and
a
general striving for profit render more difficult the important
application of
the Beatitude:
"How happy are the poor in spirit"
(Mt. 5:3). How is it possible to educate,
despite
everything, to poverty and
simplicity of life in order to
keep the heart
free, open to the kingdom of God and to
one's neighbor? Is it not necessary,
among
other things, to open people's
eyes to the immense regions
of the world where many live in complete destitution?
In this
domain, as in many others,
we must
unceasingly remember the
appeal of St. Paul: You who have been
sanctified, who have become children
of God,
called to holiness and inhabited
by the Spirit of God:
"Do not model
yourselves on the behavior of the world
around you" (Rom. 12:2). Let us always
remember the pastoral courage of St.
John
Chrysostom, whom we honored
at Moncton.
Our
people have to struggle to keep
the faith and
Christian morality partially
because they have not discovered
a sense of prayer or because they no
longer attempt to pray. I wish to
speak of that prayer which seeks,
in dialogue
with God or preferably in listening
to God, the contemplation of his
love and
conformity with his will. The graces of renewal and conversion will
only be given to a church that prays. Jesus
begged his apostles to watch and pray
(cf.
Mt. 26:41). With our priests, with
our religious and many of the
laity who
have rediscovered prayer, in the joy of the
Holy Spirit, let us be teachers of prayers.
Prayer
is inseparable from the sacraments.
In this regard the council said the following about the
role of bishops: "Through the sacraments, the regular
and fruitful distribution of which
they direct
by their authority, they sanctify
the faithful" (Lumen
Gentium, 26). I
will mention only two extremely important
domains. First, the Sunday eucharistic
assembly. How can a people which wishes to be Christian neglect it? The
causes are many, but at any rate we pastors
must do all we can to restore a sense
of the Lord's
Day and of the eucharist,
and to see that our liturgies are
carefully prepared and characterized by the active participation
of the faithful and the
dignity of
prayer.
You
easily understand why I underline
another
main point of pastoral
sacramental practice: that of the
sacrament of penance or reconciliation.
The
frequent reception of this sacrament
bears witness to the fact
that we
believe in the church as a communion of holiness and
in Christ's action to build up
this
communion. The entire renewal of the church depends on the personal
conversion
which is sealed in a personal encounter with Christ. To foster this is to contribute
effectively to the whole
renewal willed by the Second Vatican Council and promoted by the postconciliar reforms; otherwise, the
whole of our pastoral
practice suffers a serious
lack, and the effectiveness of all the activity of the church is
affected. Our communion
with the universal church
requires that the discipline of the whole church be respected just as it
has been defined by the
Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith, which has stressed its link with a divine
precept (June 16, 1972).
The last synod, at which
many of you participated, gave special emphasis to the absolute
necessity of penance: the
spirit of penance, a sense
of sin and the request for pardon in the sacrament of penance with a
personal confession of
one's sins to a priest.
You are
aware that in the last few years
this
centuries-old practice of the church has been neglected. There have truly
been commendable efforts to point out the
communal aspect of penance, to make
all of the faithful conscious of
the need for conversion and to lead them to celebrate
together
the mercy of God and the
grace of reconciliation. But this
communal
renewal must never lead to abandoning
the personal act of the penitent
and
personal absolution. It is the right
of each penitent; and one can
even say
that it is the right of Christ, with regard
to each person whom he has redeemed,
to be
able to say through his minister:
"Your sins are
forgiven" (cf. Redemptor
Hominis, 20).
Dear
brothers in the episcopate: Help
your priests to give priority to this ministry,
after the eucharist, but before many
other
activities which are less important. Let us help them to be convinced
that in this way they cooperate marvelously
in the
work of the Redeemer,
as dispensers of his grace. If this
conviction is ensured the practical problem will be able to find
solutions, even with fewer priests. If our faithful would
ever lose a sense of sin and of this personal
pardon, if they would no longer
find a
sufficient number of priests
available for this essential ministry,
a principal dimension would be
lacking
in the authenticity of their Christian
lives. And even the approach
to the
eucharist, which seems to have remained
frequent, would leave the conscience
perplexed about the demands that communion
involves
for the members of the
body of Christ, communion with him
who is the head: the "Christ who invites
to the eucharistic banquet is the same
Christ
who calls to penance, who repeats:
'Repent' (cf. ibid.).
I have
insisted at length on this point,
but I know
that many of you, while
keeping the benefit of a communal preparation,
have already sought in the course of this year how to react
to this crisis
of the personal request for pardon.
I have
mentioned the ministry of priests. I know how close you are to them,
like fathers, and I know that you offer them encouragement in
these difficult
times when some of them feel distressed
because fewer of their faithful are
practicing the faith and their own place
in
society seems less clearly defined,
and because a
new style of needed collaboration between them and the laity is
not always easy to find. During this period
of cultural change and postconciliar
adaptation, your priests, as is the case in
many
countries, are particularly in
need of being strengthened by
means of a
well-balanced theology and very clear
pastoral directives in conformity with
the new
Code of Canon Law.
Quite naturally,
we all think about
replacements. This is a
concern I fully share
with you. On
Sept. 21, 1983, I spoke at length with many of you about vocations. Signs of hope are
appearing in
the seminaries of many of your
dioceses. But we need to continue resolutely
to call and to provide a solid spiritual
and theological formation. It is
especially vocations to the religious life
that have become scarce. The pastoral
care of vocations requires us to work
closely with Christian families and with
youth. It always presupposes explicit
prayer for this intention. Yes, let us
have many prayers offered for vocations
to the priesthood and to the religious
life.
Through
us the people of God are
gathered together in unity. This is the
mission
of bishops and, with them, of the
priests. The council
specifies: "In any community existing around an altar, under
the sacred ministry of the bishop, there
is
manifested a symbol of that charity
and unity of the mystical
body, without which there can be no salvation" (Lumen
Gentium, 26). Through us, the
various groups of believers
and of
Christian apostles at work in their own
environment and according to their own
charism
gather around the same Lord.
And like the Good Shepherd, we must
assure as far as possible that all the members
of the flock walk together, without
allowing
some to feel abandoned or misunderstood because they have greater
difficulty in accepting the pace of
reforms.
We are guardians of unity, promoters
of fraternity, educators in
tolerance between contrasting sensitivities,
always
giving example of mercy in
regard to our brothers and
sisters who may
be more sensitive to scandal, sometimes
not without reason (cf. 1 Cor.
8:12).
The
church in Canada has made a
marvelous effort
to help the laity to assume
their full responsibility as
baptized and confirmed members of the community.
Yes, as
bishops and priests, let us
not be afraid to give them our
trust.
It is their task, with the proper preparation,
to bear witness in the midst of the
world, a witness that, without them,
would be lacking in the church.
They
are even capable of helping priests to
renew their priestly zeal. During this visit I
have
spoken often of the ministries
that the laity, men and women,
can increasingly fulfill in their communities,
with respect naturally for what belongs exclusively to the ordained
ministry. And I have spoken too of the
apostolate that is their very own, within
the family,
in the world of work, in
social involvement, in education,
in public
affairs. The laity and their associations
are charged with carrying into the fabric of society the
principles of
social doctrine which your documents emphasize.
I am
well aware of other areas in which you are pastorally committed; for
example, in the important field of ecumenism,
about which we have spoken
in the course of this visit.
On
another level, the church of which you are the pastors can make a valued
contribution to building up a sense
of
fraternal solidarity in your country.
Canada — I have become more aware
of this — is extraordinarily rich, not
only in
material goods, but in cultural
and linguistic traditions.
The Francophone
and Anglophone elements are
foremost, without mentioning the Amerindians
and
the Inuit. As well as this,
every part of Canada has welcomed
numerous groups of immigrants who have
adopted this
country as their home. In such
conditions I am convinced that
the
church has the task of promoting mutual
acceptance, esteem and recognition,
of
promoting the fuller participation of everyone in the life of society,
in
helping all to overcome all forms of chauvinism
or exaggerated nationalistic sentiment.
These must not be confused with
legitimate pride in one's origin and cultural
heritage, or with the beneficial complementarity
of variety.
But
your responsibility as bishops
extends
beyond your own country.
The council has insisted on this point
when it traces the consequences of the doctrine of collegiality:
"Each
bishop, as a member of the
episcopal
college and a legitimate successor
of the apostles, is obliged
by Christ's
decree and command to be solicitous
for the whole church. This solicitude,
though it is not exercised by an act
of jurisdiction, contributes immensely
to the welfare of the universal church" (Lumen
Gentium, 23).
Naturally,
the concern and assistance
of one
particular church for another
must always be provided with this
collegial and fraternal spirit, fully respecting
the responsibilities of the bishops
of
other countries and their episcopal
conference, trusting the perception
that they have of the spiritual needs
of their people and the directions to be
taken
in their concrete situation. In
every case it is a question of strengthening
the bonds of peace, love and
solidarity, with an always greater openness to the universal
church.
It is
already an exercise of this solidarity to "promote and to
safeguard the
unity of faith and the discipline common to
the whole church" (ibid.). A particular
church will not be in a position
to
resolve its problems, except in this
perspective.
But it
is also necessary "to instruct
the
faithful in love for the whole mystical body of Christ, especially for its
poor and sorrowing members and for those
who
are suffering for the sake of justice"
(ibid.).
This
meets one of your concerns: constantly
to
contribute to the opening of the
eyes, hearts and hands of your
Christian
people, who are on the whole so very favored by
nature and technical progress,
to a concern for less
favored countries, let us say rather to a concern for
peoples who lack the minimum necessities of bread, health care and
liberty. Many forms of aid are possible which
are
respectful of these partners of the
Third World or
of the "South," who
for their part help us in return
to re-establish
a hierarchy of values. You also
prepare your fellow citizens to participate
at
the international level in the search
for solutions to the problems
of peace,
security, ecology, development.
The
spiritual needs of our brothers
and
sisters of the other churches must hold a primary place in our universal
charity. "The task of proclaiming
the
Gospel everywhere on earth devolves
on the body of pastors...With
all
their energy, therefore, they must supply
to the missions both workers for the
harvest
and also spiritual and material
aid." And in a
particular way, "in a
universal fellowship of charity, bishops
should gladly extend their fraternal
aid to
other churches, especially to neighboring and more needy ones" (ibid.,
23).
Everyone knows that the missionary
commitment of many Canadians,
priests,
brothers, sisters and laity, in Latin America, Africa, Asia, as well as
in the great Canadian North, has been
admirable. Let us not allow the source
of
missionary vocations to dry up! Let us not let the conviction about the
urgency of the universal mission wither,
even if
this mission requires other
forms of solidarity.
Finally,
there is an area in which
solidarity
and common witness of bishops
and their churches should be much
more evident. We are sensitive to injustice,
to the unequal distribution of material
goods. Are we sufficiently
sensitive
to the damages done to the human spirit, to
conscience, to religious convictions?
This
fundamental freedom of the practice of one's faith is
abused every day in vast
regions; it is a most grave violation
which
dishonors humanity and which
affects
us believers very deeply. At
Lourdes
last year I expressed the anguish
of
our persecuted brothers and sisters
because there is on this point a kind
of conspiracy of silence which must be broken.
I ask you, my brother pastors,
to do this with me. I ask you to
sensitize your faithful, to see that prayers
are offered for these brothers and sisters. Their courage in
the faith helps in a mysterious
way the whole church. It
awakens Christians who are half asleep in an easy life, enjoying
all the freedoms and at
times too worried about
problems which are, all things considered, quite relative in
comparison with this
essential one.
In a
more general vein, dear brothers
in the episcopate, I thank you for
all you
have done and will do to participate,
by affective and effective
collegiality,
in the mission of the universal church
in communion with the successor of
Peter — cum
Petro et sub Petro (cf. Ad
Gentes, 38) —
and in collaboration with
the
departments of the Holy See.
Yes,
before the Lord, you bear the
charge of your particular churches, but in each one the universal
church is present, for "Christ is present, and by virtue
of him the one, holy, catholic and apostolic
church gathers together" (Lumen Gentium, 26).
May
Christ, the Good Shepherd, grant
to each of
you the pastoral courage
necessary for your sublime mission!
May the Holy Spirit give you light and
strength to lead the Canadian people on
the paths of
the living God, so that
they might be sanctified for the
sanctification of the world! May God the
Father keep
you in hope and peace!
I shall
continue to keep all your pastoral intentions in
my prayers, even as you
pray for me. Let us entrust them to the
maternal heart of Mary. And may almighty
God
bless you, the Father, the Son and
the Holy Spirit.
Conférence des évêques catholiques du
Canada