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Pope Benedict XVI- Addresses |
Pope's
Address Upon Arriving in Brazil
"Peace to All of You Who Are in Christ"
H.H. Benedict XVI
May 9, 2007
www.zenit.org
Mr President,
My Venerable Brothers in the College of Cardinals and in the Episcopate,
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ!
1. I am very pleased to begin my Pastoral Visit to Brazil and to express
to Your Excellency, as Head of State and Supreme Representative of the
great Brazilian Nation, my gratitude for the warm welcome offered to me.
I willingly extend my thanks also to the members of the Government
accompanying you, as well as to the civil and military dignitaries
present, and to the authorities of the State of São Paulo. In the words
of welcome which you addressed to me, Mr President, I hear an echo of
the sentiments of affection and love that all the Brazilian people bear
towards the Successor of the Apostle Peter.
I offer my fraternal greetings in the Lord to my dear Brother Bishops
who have come to receive me in the name of the Church in Brazil. I also
greet the priests, religious men and women, the seminarians and the lay
people dedicated to the Church's task of evangelization and to authentic
Christian living. Finally, I extend my warm greetings to all Brazilians
without distinction, men and women, families, the old and the sick,
young people and children. To all of you I say from my heart: thank you
very much for your generous hospitality!
2. Brazil has a very special place in the Pope's heart, not only because
it was born Christian and has today the largest number of Catholics, but
above all because it is a nation endowed with a rich potential and an
ecclesial presence that gives joy and hope to the whole Church. My
visit, Mr President, has a scope that goes beyond national borders: I
have come to preside at the opening Session of the Fifth General
Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean at
Aparecida. This country, in the providence and goodness of the Creator,
will become the cradle of the ecclesial proposals that, with God's help,
will give renewed vigour and missionary impetus to this Continent.
3. In this geographical area, Catholics are in the majority. This means
that they must make a particular contribution to the common good of the
nation. The word solidarity will acquire its full meaning when the
living forces of society, each in its own sphere, commit themselves
seriously to building a future of peace and hope for all.
The Catholic Church, as I stated in the Encyclical letter "Deus Caritas
Est," "transformed by the Holy Spirit, is called to become a witness
before the world of the love of the Father who wishes to make humanity a
single family in his Son" (cf. No. 19). From here springs her deep
commitment to the mission of evangelization at the service of the cause
of peace and justice. Hence the decision to undertake an essentially
missionary Conference reflects clearly the concern of the Bishops, as it
does mine, to seek suitable ways by which in Jesus Christ "our peoples
may have life", as the theme of the Conference reminds us. With these
sentiments I raise my eyes beyond the frontiers of this country, and I
extend my greetings to all the peoples of Latin America and the
Caribbean in the words of the Apostle: "Peace to all of you who are in
Christ" (1 Peter 5:14).
4. Mr President, I am grateful to Divine Providence for this grace of
visiting Brazil, a Nation with a great Catholic tradition. I have had
occasion to point out the principal motive of my visit, which is
concerned with Latin America and has a fundamentally religious
significance.
I am happy to be able to spend some days among the Brazilian people. I
am well aware that the soul of this people, as of all Latin America,
safeguards values that are radically Christian, which will never be
eradicated. I am certain that at Aparecida, during the Bishops' General
Conference, this identity will be reinforced through the promotion of
respect for life from the moment of conception until natural death as an
integral requirement of human nature. It will also make the promotion of
the human person the axis of solidarity, especially towards the poor and
abandoned.
The Church seeks only to stress the moral values present in each
situation and to form the conscience of the citizens so that they may
make informed and free decisions. She will not fail to insist on the
need to take action to ensure that the family, the basic cell of
society, is strengthened, and likewise young people, whose formation is
a decisive factor for the future of any nation. Last but not least, she
will defend and promote the values present at every level of society,
especially among indigenous peoples.
5. With these good wishes and with renewed gratitude for the warm
reception that I have received as the Successor of Peter, I invoke the
maternal protection of "Nossa Senhora da Conceição Aparecida,"
remembered also as "Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe," Patroness of all
America, so that she may protect and inspire those who govern in their
difficult task as promoters of the common good, and renew the bonds of
Christian fellowship for the good of all the people. May God bless Latin
America! God bless Brazil! Thank you!
[Translation distributed by the Latin American bishops' council]
© Copyright 2007 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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