| Build fraternal communion: Episcopal communion
will facilitate ecclesial communion among God's People
On Saturday, 8 July, the Holy Father was taken to the Cathedral of
Valencia, where he was received by the 32 canons, the 20 members of the
Confraternity of the Holy Chalice Chapter and a large group of priests and
Religious, including cloistered nuns. Here, the Pope signed his Letter
addressed to all Spanish Bishops, which he presented to Bishop Blázquez
Pérez Ricardo of Bilbao, President of
the Spanish Bishops' Conference. The following is a translation of the
Holy Father's Letter, which was written in Spanish.
Dear Brothers in the Episcopate,
With heartfelt joy I give thanks to the Lord that I have been able to
come to Spain as Pope, in order to take part in the World Meeting of
Families in Valencia.
I greet you with affection, my Brother Bishops of this beloved Country,
and I thank you for your presence here and for the hard work put into the
preparation and celebration of this Visit. I am especially appreciative of
the efforts of the Archbishop of Valencia and his Auxiliary Bishops to
make this event, so significant for the entire Church, bear its desired
fruit and give new impulse to the family as a sanctuary of love, life and
faith.
Indeed, your solicitude has already made it possible to create a
family-like setting among organizers and participants from throughout
Spain. This is a very promising sign in light of the desires which you
expressed in your joint message on this World Meeting, and at the same
time an incentive to build on its results in pursuing an ongoing and
decisive pastoral outreach to families in your Dioceses, making it
possible for every home to receive the Gospel message, which confirms and
enriches love and thus helps it to overcome whatever difficulties it may
encounter.
Country with deep Christian roots
You know that I follow closely and with much interest the life of the
Church in your Country, a Country with deep Christian roots, one which has
greatly contributed and must still contribute to the proclamation and
spread of the fait to many other parts of the world. Keep alive and
vigorous this spirit, which has accompanied the life of Spaniards
throughout their history, so that it will help nourish and vitalize the
soul of your People.
I am aware of and I encourage the impulse that you are giving to
pastoral activity at a time of rapid secularization, which can also affect
the internal life of Christian communities. Continue dauntlessly to
proclaim that prescinding from God, acting as if he did not exist or
relegating faith to the purely private sphere, undermines the truth about
man and compromises the future of culture and society.
On the contrary, lifting one's gaze to the living God, the guarantor of
our freedom and truth, is a premise for arriving at a new humanity.
Nowadays, in a special way the world needs people capable of proclaiming
and bearing witness to God who is love, and consequently the one light
which in the end, illumines the darkness of the world and gives us
strength to live and work (cf. Deus Caritas Est, n. 39).
In times and situations of difficulty, recall those words of the
Letter to the Hebrews: "Let us run with perseverance the race that is
set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith,
who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
disregarding the shame... so that you may not grow weary or lose heart"
(12:1-3). Proclaim that Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of the living God"
(Mt 16:16), "the one who has the words of eternal life" (cf. Jn 6:68), and
you will not tire of giving reason for your hope (cf. I Pt 3:15).
Prompted by your pastoral solicitude and the spirit of full communion
in the proclamation of the Gospel, you have guided the Christian
conscience of the faithful about different aspects of the situation
confronting them, which occasionally disturb ecclesial life and the faith
of the simple. You have also made the Eucharist a central theme of your
Pastoral Plan, with the aim of "revitalizing the Christian life
from its very heart, since when we enter into the Eucharistic mystery we
encounter the heart of God" (n. 5).
Certainly in the Eucharist there takes place "the central act of
transformation capable of truly renewing the world" (Homily in
Marienfeld, Cologne, 21 August 2005).
Brothers in the Episcopate, I exhort you earnestly to preserve and
increase your fraternal communion, as a witness and model of the ecclesial
communion which should reign in all the faithful people entrusted to your
care. I pray for you, and I pray for Spain. I ask you to pray for me and
for the whole Church.
I invoke the Most Holy Virgin Mary, so greatly venerated in your Land,
asking that she protect and accompany you in your pastoral ministry, and
to all of you I impart with great affection my Apostolic Blessing.
Valencia, 8 July 2006
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