Departure from the Federal Republic of Germany (19 November 1980)

On 19 November 1980, the Holy Father gave a final Address in Munich at his departure from the Federal Republic of Germany, speaking again of his longing that all Christians might be one.

Dear Mr. Federal President!
Dear Cardinal, dear Brothers in the Episcopate!
Ladies and gentlemen!

1. My pastoral journey through Germany is coming to an end. At the moment of farewell, I would like to express my sincere gratitude! Gratitude to God and man for the gift of this unique event.

I would like to ask you, dear Mr. President, to accept my heartfelt thanks for the extremely friendly welcome I have received from the individual places I have visited and from the citizens of your country.

I would like to say a very special thank you to the innumerable helpers who have been trying so hard to organize this trip for weeks with such great success and who must have worked overtime on the job. I am thinking here above all of the city administrations, the police, the federal border guards - especially the helicopter pilots - the Malteser auxiliary service, the local commissions of the individual dioceses. A hearty God-Vergelt's to you all!

During this journey we were reminded of important stations in the history of the Church and the people of this country. I was aware that I was making a pilgrimage through a country whose Christian roots go back to Roman times; a country where St. Bishop and martyr Boniface laid the foundations of this local church in the 8th century; a country from which a historically significant series of popes and emperors, saints and scholars emerged in the Middle Ages. It is the land where 700 years ago St. Albert died with the nickname "the Great" and in which the "Confessio Augustana" was proclaimed 450 years ago.

2. When I commemorate with reverence this more distant past in some of its greatest landmarks, I nevertheless cannot ignore the events of the more recent history. Not so long ago I was here in your country, as Archbishop and Cardinal of Kraków, in September 1978, together with a delegation of Polish bishops.

That visit took place just a few weeks after the election of Pope John Paul I and - who would have thought it back then - just a few days before his death. Likewise, no one could have guessed that divine Providence would shortly thereafter entrust me to inherit the throne of Peter after him.

Two motives prompt me to mention these distant and near historical events here in parting. The first motive is that that visit of the Polish bishops, led by the Primate of Poland, witnessed an important development that was taking place and is still going on between your homeland and my country: I mean that process which made it possible to overcome the tragic consequences of World War II .World War has as its goal, above all those consequences which have left their mark on the hearts of the people. I know them from my personal experience, having lived with my own nation deeply the cruel reality of this world war.

In this context, I also feel great gratitude for the return visit that the German cardinals and bishops recently made in a group in Poland. I will be very grateful to you, dear brothers, if you continue to strive to deepen these contacts. In doing so, we have in mind the history of the church and Christianity of this nation in its 1000-year dimension, in which the life of its citizens was often not easy. This nation has been given to you by divine providence as your immediate eastern neighbor. The guiding principle for these relationships may always be the teaching that the II.

Vatican Council on the mutual exchange of goods between the Churches, which are rooted in different nations, languages ​​and historical relationships. Such an exchange of spiritual goods is part of the essence of that "communion" through the Church of Jesus Christ.

Yes, that's what it's about! We must do everything in our power to give a new basis and form to the life and cohesion of the people and nations of this continent and thus to overcome the consequences of that terrible experience of our century. The martyrs and saints of all times up to Blessed Maximilian Kolbe have shown us that "Christ's love is stronger", as the motto of the last Catholic Day in Berlin put it.

According to this principle, building a better future for nations and people is not only possible, but a grave obligation for us: the most urgent task of our time in this second millennium AD, which has already entered its final phase.

That is why I am so grateful for the invitation to this pastoral journey, which I was able to make to you later this year, to show you my ministry as Bishop of Rome and Successor of St. to give to Peter.

3. The second motive for my above considerations consists in the fact that I not only heard a special call from the distant and recent past from the invitation that the Cardinal of Cologne and then all the cardinals and bishops together extended to me, but also the challenge for the future, the direction of which is indicated by the teaching and spirit of Vatican II. Especially in your country, where Martin Luther was born and the Confessio Augustana was proclaimed 450 years ago, this challenge for the future seemed to me extremely important and decisive.

What kind of future is it? It is about the future that emerges for us as disciples of Christ from the prayer of Jesus in the Upper Room, from the prayer: I ask you, Father, "let all be one". This prayer of the Lord becomes the source of a new life and a new longing for all of us. As Bishop of Rome and successor of St. Peter I place myself completely in the current of this longing; in this I recognize the language of the Holy Spirit and the will of Christ, to which I want to be obedient and faithful to the last.

I want to serve unity, I want to walk all the paths that Christ, after the experience of centuries and millennia, leads us to unity in that flock in which he alone is the only and sure Good Shepherd.

That is why it was my great wish to make this visit in this important ecumenical jubilee year. I would therefore like to sincerely thank the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany and the Working Group of Christian Churches for taking part in the meeting with the Pope and for taking up dialogue with me in their own country.

I have the firm hope that Christian unity is already on the way in the power of the Spirit of truth and love. We know how long the times of separation and division were. However, we do not know how long the road to unity will take. But we know one thing all the more certain: We must continue on this path with perseverance - keep going and not stand still. We have to do a lot for this, but above all persevere in prayer, in an ever more powerful and heartfelt prayer. Unity can only be given to us as a gift from the Lord, the fruit of His Passion and Resurrection in the appropriate "fullness of time."

"Watch and pray" in the Garden of Gethsemane of the many experiences of history, lest you fall into temptation and stop on the way!

4. Once again I would like to thank you, dear Mr. Federal President, and all the representatives of the state authorities for the invitation you have given me.

In parting, I express my best blessings to all the citizens of your country, including all your German brothers and sisters who live beyond the borders of your country, as well as all those who have emigrated to different countries of the world, sometimes for generations.

Permit me to combine these wishes with an invitation and an appeal. It is true that some time has passed since the last war catastrophe with its terrible images, which swept across Europe and our home countries like an earthquake. And yet even today the call has to be repeated again and again, the call for a future world that, according to the words of the Second Vatican Council, should be “more humane” and this for all people on earth. You will agree that such a wish presents a challenge. Because the human world and life in it can only become more worthy of human beings if the human being constantly strives to become more worthy of his humanity, in all areas and dimensions of his existence!

I will be deeply indebted to Divine Providence when this yearning wish is fulfilled in your hearts and in your environment, when it becomes more and more a reality for you, for each individual and for all in the midst of other people and nations. I will be just as grateful when you, sons and daughters of such an important nation, heirs of an excellent culture and descendants of such great figures in the history of Europe and the world, become more and more pioneers of that civilization of love which alone can, our world to make more humane.

May this be the historical answer of the future to the painful experiences of the past. I address this wish indirectly to the whole of Europe, in which your country is providentially central. The whole of Europe is to be wished for that civilization of love which is inspired by the spirit of the Gospel and at the same time deeply humanistic. It corresponds to the deep needs and desires of people - also in the social dimension of their existence. In this dimension, the civilization of love means that form of coexistence and living together between peoples in which Europe would form a real family of peoples. Just as in every human family everyone who belongs to it receives all respect, so in the family of nations all nations - large, medium and small - be respected. These nations already have their long history, their full identity and their own culture. This own historical maturity corresponds to the right to self-determination, whereby of course the corresponding rights of other nations must also be duly taken into account.

It is time that we began to think about the future of Europe, not from the position of power and predominance, not from the position of economic dominance or self-interest, but from the point of view of the civilization of love that makes it possible for every nation to be themselves, and allowed all nations together to free themselves from the threat of a new war and mutual annihilation. Love allows everyone to feel truly free and equal in dignity. The policy of sincere solidarity, which makes it impossible for anyone to use someone else for their own benefit, must also contribute to this; at the same time, it excludes every form of exploitation and oppression!

These are my wishes, which I express to you in the last moments of my presence in your country. This also includes all my gratitude for these days that I was able to spend with you, in your country.

God bless this country and all its inhabitants!

God bless Europe and its future!

© Copyright 1980 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana