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WELCOME CEREMONY
AT THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT OF BRATISLAVA
ADDRESS OF JOHN PAUL II
Thursday, 11 September 2003 |
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Mr President of the Republic,
Distinguished Authorities,
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate,
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
1. I give thanks to the Lord for allowing me to set foot today on
the beloved Slovakian soil for the third time. I come as a pilgrim
of the Gospel to bring greetings of peace and hope to all. My respectful
greeting goes to you, Mr President of the Republic. I thank you
for the noble words with which, in the name of all the people of
this country, you have welcomed me. With you I also greet the civil
and military authorities, thankful for their wide-ranging commitment
in organising this apostolic journey of mine.
I embrace with affection my Brother Bishops, with the President
of the Episcopal Conference, the Most Reverend František Tondra,
Bishop of Spiš, and the Venerable Cardinal Ján Chryzostom
Korec, Bishop of Nitra. Finally I extend a cordial greeting in the
Lord to all the men and women who live, work, suffer and hope in
this Land of Slovakia, and I invoke upon each and every one of you
the very special blessings of the Most High God.
2. The civil and religious history of Slovakia has been written
with the contribution of heroic and dynamic witnesses of the Gospel.
My wish is to pay grateful tribute to them all. I am thinking of
course of the glorious brothers from Thessalonika, Saints Cyril
and Methodius, the Apostles of the Slavic peoples. I also remember
all who generously served God and their fellow men and women, who
have distinguished these regions with their virtues. To these we
now add Bishop Vasil’ Hopko and Sister Zdenka Schelingová.
Next Sunday I will have the joy of enrolling them among the Blessed.
All of them have left behind a rich harvest of good in the Slovakian
cultural heritage. The history of this Land indeed can be seen as
a history of faithfulness to Christ and to his Church.
3. In the near future your country will become a full member of
the European Community. Dearly beloved, bring to the construction
of Europe’s new identity the contribution of your rich Christian
tradition! Do not be satisfied with the sole quest for economic
advantages. Great affluence in fact can also generate great poverty.
Only by building up, not without sacrifices and difficulties, a
society respectful of human life in all its expressions, that promotes
the family as a place of reciprocal love and growth of persons,
that seeks the common good and is attentive to the needs of the
weakest, will there be guarantees of a future based on solid foundations
and rich in goods for all.
4. In the days to come my pilgrimage will lead me to the Dioceses
of Bratislava-Trnava, Banská Bystrica and Rožnava. But
my desire at this moment is to embrace - at least in spirit - all
the sons and daughters of Slovakia, together with the representatives
of national minorities and of other religions. I would like to be
able to meet and speak with each and every one of you, to call on
every family, to visit your beautiful land, and to meet all the
ecclesial communities of this beloved Nation. Please know that the
Pope is thinking of each one of you and is praying for you all.
May God bless Slovakia and give you all peace, prosperity and harmony
based on fraternity and mutual understanding. |
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