Farewell to Guatemala (March 1983)

On Wednesday, 9 March 1983, the Holy Father bade farewell to Guatemala as he neared the end of his Apostolic Journey.

Mr. President, Brother Bishops, and all Guatemalans

My apostolic visit to Central America, which began a week ago, is about to conclude.

In these last few days I have been able to meet the dear people of Guatemala several times, not only during liturgical celebrations or religious meetings but in many other places along my journey through your avenues and squares. Also when heading to or returning from visits to other neighboring countries.

There were occasions when I was able to discover in your faces and in your attitudes that human warmth, sincere and cordial, open and hospitable, which denotes the delicacy of feelings of the Guatemalan soul. But above all, I felt the pulse of faith that vibrated in your spirit and in your external manifestations; it was the deep harmony with the one who represents so much to the Christian people in the religious order: with the Pope, Successor of Saint Peter and Vicar of Christ, who came to see you for the first time, to encourage you in your Christian life.

If this perception was strong during my stay in the nation's capital, it was no less vivid during the time spent in Quezaltenango, with the indigenous people and catechists .

Therefore, in the depths of my spirit there will be the most pleasant memory of all the children of Guatemala — both Latin and indigenous — over whom I will continue to implore in prayer the gifts of fraternity, justice, peace, made of mutual respect and collaboration, with equal dignity; whether in religious life, in civil coexistence, at work or in the fair insertion of everyone in different social environments:

To my dear brothers in the Episcopate, to the beloved priests, nuns, catechists and lay people committed to ecclesiastical activity, as well as to the religious — with whom I had a very grateful encounter in Guatemala — I once again entrust my message of faith, of peace, of promotion and coexistence, so that the seed sown produces abundant fruit.

I thank God for the time I was able to spend among you encouraging reconciliation. And my gratitude extends equally, with deep sincerity, to those who welcomed me so cordially and contributed to the success of the visit. First of all, to the President of the Nation, to whom my respectful recognition is addressed, to the Authorities, various entities and to so many people. To everyone, my repeated thanks.

But when leaving Guatemalan land, no. I can also stop raising my thoughts to the Central American countries that I visited in the past few days. How many memories come to my mind when I go over the stages of my trip in Honduras, El Salvador, Panama, Nicaragua and Costa Rica! Names that are associated with those of Belize and Haiti that I will visit today.

They are homelands of admirable peoples, who wish to preserve their centuries-old Christian identity and live in a climate of justice and peace. People whose suffering I perceived so clearly.

I could not bring them a ready solution, in the face of complex problems that are beyond the capacity of the Church.. But, I approached them with respect and affection, with a word that would give voice, before the world, to their silent and sometimes painful sufferings. forgotten; with a word of invitation to the transformation of interior attitudes, which lead to the path to peace in justice and dignity; with a word of encouragement and hope, which can still be renewed in hearts destroyed by pain and violence.

As I say goodbye and reiterate my affectionate blessing to each people and person of these countries, I ask the Almighty to awaken new energies of goodwill; to finally put an end to the noise of war; that moves hearts along paths of justice; May he bless those who work honestly for good, those who help those who suffer, those who welcome and extend a fraternal hand to exiles or refugees; those who, in some way, wipe away — in a humanitarian and Christian way — the painful face of the Central American man, which is the face of Christ. So be it.

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