Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Castel Gandolfo (Agenzia Fides) – This morning, in the Swiss Hall of the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo, the Holy Father Benedict XVI received the recently appointed bishops participating in the seminar organized by the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (see Fides 6/9/2010), and gave them the following address.
Dear Brothers in the Episcopate,
I am glad to welcome you and greet you with great affection on the occasion of the refresher course that the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples has organized for you, recently appointed bishops. These days of reflection in Rome, to reflect on the tasks of your ministry and to renew the profession of your faith at the tomb of St. Peter, are also a singular experience of collegiality, founded on episcopal ordination and the hierarchical communion. May this experience of fraternity, of prayer and study at the Apostolic See increase in each one of you the communion with the Successor of Peter and with your confreres with whom you share solicitude for the whole Church. I thank Cardinal Ivan Dias for his cordial words and also the Archbishop Secretary and the Archbishop Adjunct Secretary who, together with their co-workers in the dicastery organized this symposium.
In you, dear brothers, called a short time ago to the episcopal ministry, the Church places no small amount of hope, and she follows you with prayer and affection. I too would like to assure you of my spiritual nearness in your daily service to the Gospel. I know the challenges that you must face, especially in the Christian communities who live their faith in difficult contexts, where, besides various forms of poverty, there are often various forms of persecution because of their Christian faith. You have the task of nourishing their hope, of sharing their difficulties, taking inspiration from the charity of Christ, which consists in attention, tenderness, compassion, acceptance, availability and interest in the problems of the people, for whom you are disposed to give your life (cf. Benedict XVI, "Message for World Mission Sunday 2008," No. 2).
In every task you are sustained by the Holy Spirit, who in ordination configured you to Christ, the Eternal High Priest. In fact, the episcopal ministry can only be understood in Christ, the source of the one and supreme Priesthood in which the bishop participates. The bishop "will therefore strive to adopt a lifestyle which imitates the kenosis of Christ, the poor and humble servant, so that the exercise of his pastoral ministry will be a consistent reflection of Jesus, the Servant of God, and will help him to become, like Jesus, close to everyone, from the greatest to the least" (John Paul II, "Pastores Gregis," No. 11). But to imitate Christ it is necessary to dedicate an adequate amount of time to "being with him" and contemplating him in prayerful intimacy of a heart to heart conversation. Being frequently in the presence of God, being a man of prayer and adoration: the pastor is called to this first of all. Through prayer, as the Letter to the Hebrews says, he becomes victim and altar, for the salvation of the world (cf. 9:11-14). The life of the bishop must be a continual oblation to God for the salvation of his Church, and especially for the salvation of the souls that have been entrusted to him.
This pastoral sacrificial spirit also constitutes the true dignity of the bishop: it derives from making himself the servant of all to the point of giving up his life. The episcopate, in fact, must never be understood in worldly categories. It is a service of love. The bishop is called to serve the Church in the fashion of the God made man, becoming ever more fully the servant of the Lord and the servant of humanity. He is above all the servant and the minister of the Word of God, who is also his true strength. The primary duty of proclamation, accompanied by the celebration of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, flows from the mission received, as the apostolic exhortation "Pastores Gregis" emphasizes: "If the duty of proclaiming the Gospel is incumbent upon the whole Church and each of her children, it is particularly so upon bishops, who on the day of their sacred ordination, which places them in apostolic succession, assume as one of their principal responsibilities the proclamation of the Gospel 'with the courage imparted by the Spirit, they are to call people to faith and strengthen them in living faith'" (No. 26). The bishop must nourish himself abundantly with this Word of salvation, listening to it constantly, as St. Augustine says: "Even if we are shepherds ('pastori'), the shepherd hears with trembling not only what is said to the shepherds but what is addressed to the flock" (Sermon 47, No. 2). At the same time receptivity and the fruit of proclamation of the Good News are closely linked to the quality of faith and prayer. Those called to the ministry of proclamation must believe in the power of God that flows from the sacraments and that accompanies them in the task of sanctifying, governing and proclaiming; they must believe and live that they celebrate. In this regard the words of the Servant of God Paul VI are relevant: "The witness of life has become more than ever the essential condition for the profound effectiveness of preaching" ("Evangelii Nuntiandi," No. 76).
I know that the communities entrusted to you find themselves at the religious, anthropological and social "frontiers," so to speak, and in many cases they are a minority presence. In these contexts the bishop's mission is particularly demanding. But it is precisely in such circumstances that, through your ministry, the Gospel can show all of its salvific power. You must not give in to pessimism or discouragement, because it is the Holy Spirit who guides the Church and gives her, with his mighty breath, the courage to persevere and also to seek new methods of evangelization to reach hitherto unexplored spheres. The Christian truth is attractive and persuasive precisely because it responds to the deep need of human existence, announcing in a convincing way that Christ is the only Savior of the whole man and all men. This proclamation remains as valid today as it was at the beginning of Christianity, when the first great missionary expansion of the Gospel was undertaken.
Dear brothers in the episcopate! It is in the power of the Holy Spirit that you have the wisdom and the peace to make your Churches witnesses of salvation and peace. He will guide you along the path of your episcopal ministry, which I entrust to the maternal intercession of Mary Most Holy, Queen of the Apostles. For my part I accompany you with prayer and an affectionate apostolic benediction, that I impart to each of you and to all the faithful of your communities. (Agenzia Fides 11/9/2010)
