Arriving at the Rio de Janeiro Airport (11 June 1982)

On Friday, 11 June 1982, during his stop at the airport in Rio Janeiro, the Holy Father addressed the Cardinal Archbishop and authorities about his longing for peace, as a representative of the Prince of Peace.

Mr. Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Mr. Cardinal Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro and brothers in the Episcopate,
Mr. Minister of Aeronautics and other Authorities,
Ladies and Gentlemen and beloved Brazilians.

1. Upon setting foot on the soil of Brazil, even if for brief moments - in this technical stopover on my trip to Argentina - many feelings and grateful memories fill my heart. I would like the great joy and affection that move this feeling and reliving of mine to be free from every shadow of worry; However, it is always with great joy that I now, through those present, address my most cordial greetings to the dear Brazilian people.

I thank you for this presence which becomes more significant and moving due to the time of night in which it occurs. I thank everyone: the Minister of Foreign Affairs personally, as well as the Authorities he represents here, and in particular the President of the Republic; I thank the Cardinals and Bishops, who here, with dear brother Eugenio de Araújo Sales, testify to me of the living presence of the Church in Brazil, also represented by the local diocesan community of Rio de Janeiro, and by other faithful who have come here from various dioceses .

Rio de Janeiro! Brazil! How many memories, in this moment and in this place, these names bring to life in my spirit the twelve days of my pastoral visit to the Lands of the Holy Cross: from the unforgettable meeting with the Church of this beloved Nation, from Rio Grande do Sul to Belém do Para and the heart of the Amazon! “Thank God” for everything.

I remember, with particular clarity, every Brazilian I met then and who welcomed me so cordially; in his face I tried to see the face of Christ again: the Christ of the Beatitudes, the Christ the Redeemer and Lord, the Christ Prince of Peace. In fact, peace, the foundation of all good, continues to be the fruit of constant education, based on truth, respectful of freedom and a gift of God entrusted to men.

2. The lips say the great things that are in the heart, dear brothers and sisters of Brazil; and thoughts of peace predominate in my heart. In the Brazil that I visited two years ago - a visit which, like the one I am preparing to make in Argentina, was characterized by its pastoral and ecclesial character, without any political intention - I enclosed every people of this Continent of hope in an embrace of peace , as I also did on the previous trip to Mexico; and, in the communion of the Church, one and universal, I prayed with the Pastors of all Latin America for the advent of a more peaceful, more just and more fraternal world (cf. John Paul II, Allocutio in urbe Roma habita , 1 Feb. 1979: Teachings of John Paul II , II [1979] 336).

I could not remain silent about this profound longing for peace, the moment I arrived in Brasilia. I then said that the Pope had directed his steps there also to encourage everything that is done here for the promotion of peace; I said that he wanted to do it "also with his presence, he who has the building of peace as an important task of his mission" (John Paul II, Allocutio in urbe Brasilia habita , 4, 30 June 1980 : Teachings of John Paul II , III, 1 [1980] 1937).

This trip today to Argentina, as a continuation of the apostolic trip I made to Great Britain, during which I did not cease to implore peace, is also an extension of the two previous trips I made to this dear Latin American continent, and is part of the picture of the constant concern of the "Church which always nourishes love towards every single nation, never failing to defend universal unity, peace and mutual understanding between men" (cf. John Paul II, Epistula ad fideles argentinos missa , 5 , 25 May 1982 : Vide supra , p. 1866).

3. It is a journey of love, hope and good will of a father in faith, who reaches out to his suffering children; driven by thoughts of charity, reconciliation and peace, as a representative of the Prince of Peace; and goes to arouse and unite the commitment of all men of good will, with the profound desire that Christ the Savior himself will come to our aid and that soon from this world of ours the angelic canticle of the Night of Bethlehem will be able to be raised: “ Glory to God in the highest”, and peace on earth among men of good will (cf. Luke 2:14).

And broadening the perspective beyond the conflict, which currently brings desolation and death among the belligerent peoples in the South Atlantic, my heart aches with all the hearts wounded by the evil of war in other parts of the world.

It is with the greatest esteem, therefore, that I renew to every child of this beloved Brazilian nation the invitation to work and grow in solidarity for universal peace; It is with particular intensity of affection that I urge the Church of Brazil to raise to God incessant prayers for peace in union with the Pope, especially during this short visit: peace in the spirit, in coexistence among men, and peace among peoples in the great human family.

With esteem and affection I hereby renew my sincere wishes for the growing prosperity of the dear Brazilian people, free from the sinister shadows of violence and always characterized by respect for life, by the sense of justice and harmony and in the service of the cause of international peace. These wishes in my heart become a prayer, to implore the graces of God for every Brazilian through the intercession of our Lady Aparecida.

I invite you to pray here with me, united fraternally as brothers of the same family: we invoke God our Father, as Christ taught us so that the world may increasingly be a human family in love and peace:

“Our Father in heaven / hallowed be your name / your kingdom come / your will be done / on earth as it is in heaven. / Give us this day our daily bread, / forgive us our debts / as we forgive our debtors. / Do not lead us into temptation, / but deliver us from evil. Amen!".

Blessed be the name of the Lord. Now and always.

Our help is in the name of the Lord. He made the heaven and the earth. Bless you Almighty God, Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen!

Praised be Jesus Christ!

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