|
|
 |
| VISITA "AD
LIMINA APOSTOLORUM" DEI PRESULI DELLA CONFERENZA EPISCOPALE
DELL’UGANDA, 20.09.2003 |
 |
Pubblichiamo di seguito il discorso
che il Santo Padre Giovanni Paolo II ha rivolto al gruppo degli
Ecc.mi Presuli della Conferenza Episcopale dell’Uganda, incontrati
questa mattina e ricevuti, nei giorni scorsi, in separate udienze,
in occasione della Visita "ad Limina Apostolorum":
DISCORSO DEL SANTO PADRE
Your Eminence,
Dear Brother Bishops,
1. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in
all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who
are in any affliction" (2 Cor 1:3-4). With these words of Saint
Paul I greet you, the Bishops of Uganda, as you come on pilgrimage
to the Tombs of the Apostles. Your presence here today fills me
with joy and brings back memories of my visit ten years ago to Uganda.
Vividly etched in my mind are the various encounters with you and
the faithful of your local communities, especially our gathering
at the Shrine of the Ugandan Martyrs to celebrate the holy mysteries
of our faith on "the very ground made sacred by their deaths"
(Meeting with Ugandan Bishops, Kampala, 7 February 1993, 9).
Our meetings over these days are moments of grace for all of us
as we rejoice in and strengthen the bonds of fraternal communion
that unite us in the task of bearing witness to the Lord and spreading
the Good News of salvation. To those among your number who are making
their first ad limina visit to Rome I offer a special word of greeting.
The last time the Ugandan Bishops were here as a body, there was
but one ecclesiastical province in your country; now there are four
metropolitan sees counting a total of 19 dioceses. This is a very
positive sign of the work being done for Christ, the building up
of his Church in your country, and is yet another cause for praising
the holy name of Jesus (cf. Phil 2:10-11).
2. Sadly, parts of your country are currently embroiled in situations
of armed conflict and anarchy. In the north especially, the bane
of warfare is bringing untold misery, suffering and death, striking
out even at the Church and targeting her ministers and her children.
In the west and the northeast too episodes of violence and hostility
afflict the land, draining the life and energies of your people.
Assuring you and your people of my spiritual closeness in these
dire circumstances, I join you in condemning every act of bloodshed
and destruction. I make an urgent appeal to the parties involved
to reject aggression and to commit themselves to working with their
fellow citizens, courageously and in truth, to build a future of
hope, justice and peace for all Ugandans.
The present political and social climate is a clarion call for concrete
and far-reaching expressions of the collegial responsibility and
communion that unite you in the service of the one "household
of God" (Eph 2:19). I urge you to do all that you can to foster
among yourselves a true spirit of solidarity and fraternal concern,
especially by sharing resources, both material and spiritual, with
other local Churches that are in need.
3. As Bishops, you have a serious duty to address issues of particular
importance for the social, economic, political and cultural life
of your country, to make the Church ever more effectively present
in those areas. Working out the implications of the Gospel for Christian
life in the world and applying it to new situations is crucial to
your ecclesial leadership: this is the time for Catholics –
together with other Christians – to bring the freshness of
the Gospel to the struggle to defend and promote the fundamental
values upon which a society truly worthy of man is built.
In this regard, I wish to encourage the efforts of your Conference
in the spheres of health care, education, and development; these
serve to show clearly the Church’s commitment to the integral
well-being of her sons and daughters and of all Ugandans regardless
of religious creed. Worthy of particular mention are the various
HIV/AIDS initiatives that, in complete harmony with the Church’s
teaching, seek to assist those affected by this disease and to keep
the public duly informed about it.
4. If the Church is to assume her proper place in Ugandan society,
suitable formation of the laity must be a priority in your mission
as preachers and teachers. This spiritual and doctrinal formation
should aim at helping laymen and women to carry out their prophetic
role in a society that does not always recognize or accept the truth
and values of the Gospel. The laity are also to be effectively involved
in the life of the parish and diocese, in pastoral and administrative
structures (cf. Ecclesia in Africa, 90). Your priests in particular
should be prepared to welcome this more active role of the laity
and to assist them in carrying it out. Especially important in this
same context are efforts aimed at overcoming tribal conflicts and
ethnic tensions; for such rivalries have no place in the Church
of Christ and serve only to weaken the overall fabric of society.
It is in fact the local Churches that "have a deep and incisive
influence in bringing Gospel values to bear in society and culture"
(Novo Millennio Ineunte, 29). This is the "pastoral revitalization"
that I wrote about in my Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte
(ibid.), and it involves a renewal of the Christian community and
of society that passes by way of the family. The strengthening of
the communion of persons in the family is the great antidote to
the self-indulgence and sense of isolation so prevalent today. All
the more reason, then, to take to heart once more the urgent invitation
that my predecessor Pope Paul VI addressed to every Bishop: "Work
ardently and incessantly for the safeguarding and the holiness of
marriage, so that it will always be lived in its entire human and
Christian fullness" (Humanae Vitae, 30).
5. In seeking to meet the challenges of the future, attention to
young people remains of paramount importance. "The future of
the world and the Church belongs to the younger generation . . .
Christ expects great things from young people" (Tertio Millennio
Adveniente, 58). As the celebrations of World Youth Day clearly
confirm, young people have a keen capacity to commit their energies
and their zeal to the demands of solidarity with others and to the
search for Christian holiness. The whole Catholic community must
work to ensure that the younger generations are properly trained
and adequately prepared to fulfil the responsibilities that will
be theirs, and which in some ways already are theirs.
A strong commitment to Catholic schools is a particularly effective
way of ensuring the proper formation of Ugandan youth. These schools
should seek to provide the kind of educational environment where
children and adolescents can grow to maturity imbued with love of
Christ and the Church. The specific identity of Catholic schools
should be reflected throughout the curriculum and in every area
of school life, in order that they may be communities in which the
faith is nourished and pupils are prepared for their mission in
the Church and in society. It is important also to continue to seek
ways to bring sound moral and religious teaching to the public schools
as well, and to promote in public opinion a consensus regarding
the importance of such training. This service, which can result
from closer cooperation with the government, is a significant form
of active Catholic participation in the social life of your country,
especially as it is provided without religious or ethnic discrimination
and with respect for the rights of all.
6. As your local Churches seek to fulfil the missionary mandate
received from the Lord himself (cf. Mt 28:19), we cannot fail to
give thanks for the vocations with which you are blessed. I exhort
you to ensure that your vocational programmes zealously foster and
protect this gift of God. Young candidates must receive a proper
pastoral and theological formation that firmly roots them in a solid
spiritual tradition and prepares them to meet the complex problems
that the modernization of society presents. I encourage you to continue
your efforts to provide qualified personnel to staff your formation
centres, especially your five Major Seminaries.
Turning to those who are your closest co-workers in the Lord’s
vineyard, I remind you to help your priests to grow always in appreciation
of the unique privilege of acting in persona Christi. As they come
to devote themselves ever more completely to their mission in chastity
and simplicity of life, their work will increasingly become a source
of immeasurable joy and peace. With regard to the loneliness that
can sometimes accompany the pastoral ministry, your priests should
be encouraged, as much as the local situation permits, to live in
common and direct their efforts entirely towards the sacred ministry.
They should come together as often as possible – both among
themselves and with you, their spiritual father – for a fraternal
exchange of ideas, counsel and fellowship (cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis,
74).
The communities of men and women religious in Uganda also look to
you for support and guidance: they too must be the object of your
pastoral care and concern as shepherds of the flock that Christ
has entrusted to you (cf. Lumen Gentium, 45; Christus Dominus, 15;
35). Nor can we fail to mention the catechists who play an essential
part in meeting the spiritual needs of your communities, especially
in those areas where there are simply not enough priests to preach
the Gospel and exercise the pastoral ministry. They therefore need
to have a deep awareness of their role and should be helped in every
possible way to meet their responsibilities and obligations towards
their own families.
7. Beloved Brothers in the Episcopacy, I pray that our time together
will confirm you in the faith and encourage you to persevere in
the work of Christ, the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls (cf.
1 Pet 2:25). Walk always with those entrusted to your pastoral care,
showing them a father’s love, especially those suffering the
scourge of violence, the pain of AIDS, the affliction of any other
of a host of situations bringing hardship and difficulty. Make it
your aim always to bring your people to an ever deeper knowledge
of their Christian faith and identity. For it is thus that the Church
will be ever better equipped to make the saving truth of the Gospel
effectively present in Ugandan society.
Our hope and confidence – like that of the Holy Martyrs who,
both in the south and in the north of the country, bore the ultimate
witness to Christ – are founded on the power of the Risen
Lord, whose saving grace "does not disappoint" (Rom 5:5).
Invoking upon you and the faithful of your local communities the
heavenly assistance of the Ugandan Martyrs, and commending you to
the intercession of Mary, the Mother of the Church, I cordially
impart my Apostolic Blessing. |
|
|
|
|
