Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Baku (Agenzia Fides) - “The totalitarian ideology of Communism, now in the past, tried with every imaginable and possibile means to remove every sign of the presence of God from these lands and to eradicate and uproot from your hearts all reference to Him, leaving a spiritual and cultural void marked by many victims and martyrs, human tragedies and suffering, churches and places of worship reduced to ruins or used even against religion. Despite long decades of violent persecution of every expression of belief, you kept the faith, you remained faithful to the Lord”. With these words yesterday 11 September Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples addressed the small Catholic community of Azerbaijan gathered in the community chapel for Sunday Mass.
At the beginning of his homily the Cardinal greeted those present on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI - “his heart is with you and he looks at you with admiration and hope and sends you his Apostolic Blessing”. He then greeted civil and government authorities, representatives of various religious communities, the papal nuncio Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, the Superior of the Catholic community in Azerbaijan, Fr. Jan Čapla his confreres and collaborators and the local Catholics.
On the theme of forgiveness highlighted in the readings during the Mass Cardinal Sepe said in this territory “offenses and wrongs done to peoples, religious and their members have been truly many” and he added: “Although, I believe, the memory of the past is still vivid and it is not easy to forgive and forget, nevertheless Christians must always forgive, like Jesus... forgiveness is a sign not of weakness but of strength and it produces peace and reconciliation removing all temptation of intolerance and fundamentalism”.
Underlining that “signs of this lofty human, cultural and spiritual teaching” are found also in the holy books of Jews and Muslims, Cardinal Sepe said: “this ideal opens the way for common commitment of people of different cultures and faiths to reciprocal acceptance, dialogue, search for the common good, with respect for differences without risk of attitudes of intolerance. This is a rule which builds social and religious harmony, imposes and composes unity in diversity”. He then, also on behalf of the Pope, praised the local community “for building constructive inter-religious dialogue, peaceful co-existence and reciprocal esteem among Muslims, Orthodox Christians, Jews and Catholics”.
This harmony based not only on respect but also on various form of reciprocal help and on prayer “is a highly edifying example for many other peoples and multi-cultural and multi-religious societies. It is a conquest to be carefully guarded, a conquest which shows that it is possibile to live as brothers and sisters even for people of different religions.”
Cardinal Sepe encouraged the young Catholic community of Azerbaijan - “young because recently re-established and young because of the young age of many of its members” - “to be always worthy of your tradition and even more of those who suffered persecution and martyrdom to keep the faith”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 12/9/2005, righe 39, parole 535)
