To the President of Equatorial Guinea (18 February 1982)

On Thursday, 18 February 1982, the Holy Father addressed the President of Equatorial Guinea* in Malabo, assuring him of the Church's wish to collaborate with him for the common good.

Mister President.

I am pleased to respond to the words that you have now spoken regarding the meaning of my presence in this nation.

I appreciate your noble expressions and I reciprocate them by expressing to Your Excellency the feelings of profound esteem I have towards the beloved people of Equatorial Guinea, towards their values, their life as a historical entity and their expectations for the future.

I am therefore very pleased to greet Your Excellency who, as President of the Nation, is the symbolic center to which the living aspirations of a people converge for the establishment of a social climate of authentic freedom, justice, respect and promotion of rights of each person or group, and better living conditions, which allow everyone to realize themselves as men and as children of God.

In accepting the invitation that was kindly extended to me to visit Equatorial Guinea, I intended to contribute to greater closeness to the Church, which looks with profound sympathy at the children of this Nation and wishes to encourage them in the search for that better future that they rightly deserve. they strive to achieve.

In this delicate and important historical moment that your homeland is experiencing, I want to assure you, Mr President, that the Church in Guinea wishes to collaborate loyally for the common good, making its help available for the moral elevation of people, its work in favor of the reconciliation of spirits and its service in the educational and welfare fields.

In this way, the Church wants to serve the cause of the dignity of man in all its aspects, without demanding from her anything more than the right climate of freedom, understanding and respect, which makes it possible for her to carry out her spiritual mission peacefully and humanitarian. The well-known and painful events of the past, whose negative effects continue to be clearly visible in the ecclesial and social fields, have not damaged her will to continue to sow goodness.

Proof of this is the many charitable, educational and other initiatives that have been undertaken, jointly with the children of this land, by many people who have come from other countries, especially from Spain, consecrated to the ideal of serving the Gospel, and united in the same merit and in the same love towards his Equatoguinean brother. Their work is the demonstration of their intentions, based on the faith that they live and which, in order to translate into fraternal help with stability and hope of sure continuity, would perhaps only aspire to an adequate legal status, especially in the field of teaching.

I am sure that the moral reserves of this beloved people will facilitate the creation of that climate of human collaboration and unity of purpose that will serve to establish conditions of growing private and public morality, capable of leading to true and growing spiritual and material progress. All the children of the country, both inside and outside it, who aspire to work for its well-being, above contingent barriers, can find their place in this task.

I have the firm faith that with everyone's contribution, with their own tenacity, with the determined will of those responsible for public affairs and the contribution of the best advisors and collaborators, as well as with the help of other friendly countries, Guinea will overcome the difficult stages of its existence and will find its rightful place in the African and international concert.

With these fervent wishes, I ask God to guide the destinies of the country and largely bless the leaders and all its inhabitants.

* Teachings of John Paul II , vol. V, 1 p.579-580.

© Copyright 1982 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Copyright © Dicastery for Communication - Libreria Editrice Vaticana