Holy Mass in Curitiba (6 July 1980)

On 6 July 1980, the Holy Father celebrated Mass in Curitiba, Brazil. In his homily, the Pope, regarding the mixture of races before him, reflected on Saint Peter, proclaiming the Gospel to the diverse peoples in Jerusalem on Pentecost in their own native tongues. 

Dear brothers in the episcopate and in the priesthood,
dear sons and daughters, religious and laity.

1. How can I thank divine providence which has given me the grace of this meeting with the people of Curitiba and with the pilgrims who have come from all over Paranà and from the neighboring state of Santa Catarina? May the Eucharist you wished to place at the center of the meeting serve as thanksgiving, as its soul and inspiration.

Now, in this Eucharist, two pages of the New Testament have just resounded that a Pope, successor of the Apostle Peter, cannot hear without intimate trepidation, without the awareness of his own littleness before the mission reopening in him, like a wound received - but also without a renewed trust in him who can do everything (cf. Phil 4:13)

One reports the episode of Cesarea di Filippo: the clear confession of Peter (You are the Christ, the Son of the living God), to which the mysterious and prodigious confession of Christ responds (You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church ). Over two thousand years, 264 times this same word was spoken to the ears and conscience of a frail and sinful man. 264 times a new Peter was placed alongside the first to be the foundation stone of the Church. Last in time, it is to me that the promise of Cesarea di Filippo was repeated, and it is in the function of Peter that I am among you. With what message?

The same that emerges from the other page read in this liturgy. Peter, the ardent but fearful, the friend, the renegade, the repentant, had just received the Holy Spirit. And with the power of the Spirit he proclaims to a Jerusalem full of pilgrims: "This man whom you handed over, having him crucified, God raised him up and made him Lord" (cf. Acts 2:23-34.36 ) . All that Peter will say up to the last confession on the hill of the Vatican, which crowns that of Cesarea di Filippo, is reduced to these sentences. All that Peter's successor has to say is perhaps contained in these simple words: "God made him Lord". After all, this is what the Pope feels: the sweet and urgent duty to announce, wherever he passes, with the strength and fervor of one who announces good news.

2. But the successor of Peter now finds here a new title of similarity with his distant and first predecessor, in his preaching reported in the reading of this liturgy. This State of Paranà, this city of Curitiba where I am, gives a good idea of ​​Jerusalem on the morning of Pentecost, due to the immense variety of races of those who hear the good news of Jesus Christ proclaimed. There. according to the fascinating enumeration of the Acts of the Apostles, Parthians, Medes, Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia and Egypt. Here, amalgamated by the land that welcomed them, but somehow present and recognizable in the faces of their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Portuguese, Italian, Ukrainian, German, Japanese, Romanian, Spanish, Syrian,

Well before I imagined coming all the way here and foreseeing this meeting, I already knew this aspect of Paranà, the point of arrival of many migratory currents, the meeting point of brothers who have come from the farthest corners of the world. In this phenomenon, which the cold label of "immigration" defines so poorly, hides an admirable richness of human aspects and - why not? - evangelicals.

3. First of all, the frank and generous welcome which, as soon as it gained political independence, this country began to offer to the most diverse populations. When difficult historical circumstances brought down the specter of hunger on various European countries, immense lands in southern Brazil offered themselves willing to cultivate them, but above all a new homeland was given to those who rushed. When excess population began to create serious living space problems in a nation, Brazil was able to open up its almost unlimited spaces with prodigality and intelligence. There is an art in welcoming, there is a certain way of receiving: things which are impossible to codify in immigration laws and regulations, but which Brazil, thanks to the qualities of its people, knows and applies perfectly.

Because with a greater naturalness than this it is not possible. I don't think I've seen in any other place immigrants and their children and grandchildren feeling so passionate about the land that welcomed them or their fathers, so "parochial" linked to Brazil, at the same time as they do not deny their countries of origin.

I therefore want, as a son of a homeland from which many children have come here, to pay a heartfelt tribute to the great and unmistakable hospitality of this country.

4. And now here is the second aspect. Welcomed without hesitation or preconceptions, the immigrant immediately repaid the hospitality received. It is no exaggeration to say that modern Brazil, which I have already seen pulsating with vitality in Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, São Paulo and Porto Alegre, and which I now see pulsating here, is also the product of hard but free and joyful work of hundreds of thousands of immigrants. I think that together with São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul, Paranà is a magnificent example of this. And there is no doubt that the industriousness of the immigrant, added to that of the long-standing Brazilians, could only enrich the country's progress with a new meaning. Would it be excessive to speak of a deeply supportive and fraternal imprint of this progress?

I do not want to pass over in silence, during this Eucharist, a tribute of affection to the immigrants who helped build Paranà and Brazil. Their coming here has not always been pleasant. Many times it has been a story of suffering and bitterness that of every family and every group that came here. None of those thorns that normally accompany leaving one's homeland in search of another will be missing. In spite of everything, those men and women were able to acclimate to the new land, build a new homeland, create families whose material poverty went hand in hand with very high human, moral and religious values. Above all, they knew how to love their new homeland and work for it. Give her children and grandchildren of first quality in the priesthood, in the arts, in politics, in literature.

5. The third aspect is what I see today: the prodigious integration into the mixture of races of which Brazil gives an example. I had occasion to say it, but I gladly repeat it because of the admiration - and the emotion that the fact arouses in me: of all the beauties of your country, I don't know if I will carry in my heart images of beauty more touching and significant than that of the concord, spontaneous joy, the sense of authentic fraternity that characterizes the coexistence of the most diverse races here.

Many citizens of Italian origin are also present at this festive meeting, to whom I would like to address an affectionate greeting and cordial best wishes.

Mine is the greeting of the Pope, that is, of the Bishop of Rome, of that Rome which is not only the center of Catholicism, but is also the capital of your dear homeland, which you left to look for work, but which you keep in your heart and at the top of your thoughts with immense love, for what it has meant for you, for your relatives, for the history of the world and for the history of Christianity itself.

I urge you to conserve those treasures of light, of truth, of culture, of art, but especially those great human and Christian values ​​which have always characterized and made the true glory of the Italian people: their cordiality towards all; openness to universal solidarity; the great human charge; attachment to the family nucleus; the sense of duty; commitment to work.

Preserve intact, indeed make it bear fruit, with a coherent and clear testimony, the treasure of the Christian faith, which was given to you with Baptism.

Be proud to be Christians! Always show it with your word, with your behavior, in the workplace, in the family, in the profession, without any human respect!

May my Apostolic Blessing confirm my wishes!

I would also like to address a word of greeting and affection to the population of German origin, which is particularly numerous in the southern region of Brazil and whose presence has proved to be important for the social development of the country. Like emigrants from other nations, your predecessors too made a decisive contribution to the reclamation and cultivation of Brazil. They have left an imprint on villages, cities and entire regions with the spiritual and cultural heritage of their homeland and this is wedged, a very important element, into the Brazilian people and their culture.

As supreme pastor of the Church, dear brothers and sisters of German stock, I wish on this occasion to remind you above all that this heritage of your fathers is primarily a Christian heritage, and that faith in Christ and your membership in the Church of Jesus Christ are precious and incomparable treasures, which you have received from the hands of your predecessors. It is worth recalling here how many priests and religious have come from your ranks, who have brought religious life in large numbers to many fields of this country. Fidelity to your spiritual and cultural heritage therefore means in a special way fidelity to your religious origins and to a Christian way of life in your families, communities, profession and society.

With this visit, the Successor of Saint Peter wishes to encourage and strengthen you, together with all your brothers in the faith, in this fidelity to your Catholic faith. Therefore I cordially impart to you and to all your brothers and sisters of German origin in Greater Brazil the Apostolic Blessing.
 

Ein herzliches Wort des Grußes und der Verbundenheit richte ich auch an die deutschstämmige Bevölkerung, die gerade in den südlichen Regionen von Brasilien besonders zahlreich und von Bedeutung für die soziale und gesellschaftliche Entwicklung des Landes ist. Wie die Einwanderer anderer Nationen haben auch eure Vorfahren zur Urbarmachung und Kultivierung Brasiliens einen entscheidenden Beitrag geleistet. Sie haben Dörfer, Städte und ganze Gegenden durch das geistige und kulturelle Erbe ihrer deutschen Heimat geprägt und dieses als wertvollen Bestandteil im brasilianischen Volk und seiner Kultur verankert.

Als oberster Hirte der Kirche möchte ich euch, liebe Brüder und Schwestern deutscher Abstammung, bei dieser Gelegenheit jedoch vor allem daran erinnern, daß dieses Erbe eurer Väter wesentlich ein christliches ist, daß der christliche Glaube und eure Zugehörigkeit zur Kirche Jesu Christi die unvergleich lich kostbaren Schätze sind, die ihr aus den Händen eurer Vorfahren empfangen habt. Bleibt dessen eingedenk, wie viele Priester und Ordensleute gerade aus eurer Mitte hervorgegangen sind und das religiöse Leben in weiten Gebieten dieses Landes maßgeblich mitgestaltet haben. Treue zu eurem geistig-kulturellen Erbe bedeutet deshalb in einer besonderen Weise Treue zu euren religiösen Überzeugungen und zu einer christlichen Lebensführung in euren Familien und Gemeinden, in Beruf und Gesellschaft.

Der Nachfolger des heiligen Petrus möchte durch diesen Besuch euch zusammen mit allen Glaubensbrüdern in dieser Treue zu eurem katholischen Glauben und in der Liebe zur Kirche ermutigen und stärken. Dazu erteile ich euch und allen euren deutschstämmigen Brüdern und Schwestern im weiten Brasilien von Herzen den Apostolischen Segen.
 

Italian translation of the speech given in Ukrainian

And now I turn to you, dear Ukrainians.

I also thank you who wished to greet in my person the Vicar of Christ on earth.
Here in Curitiba is the center of your ecclesiastical life, since here is the seat of your diocese, which was erected by my predecessor Paul VI of venerable memory; here in Curitiba your religious life began, as here, over 80 years ago, the first Ukrainian Catholic priest celebrated the first holy liturgy in your rite for your ancestors on the feast of Saint John the Baptist, and for this reason it is dedicate your cathedral and your diocese.

Now, in honor of the forerunner of Christ, you Ukrainian Catholics are about to build a new cathedral church here in Curitiba. And just today I gladly bless the first stone of this temple.

Together with the first stone, I wholeheartedly bless all of you gathered here.

In the first place I bless the current zealous pastor Bishop Jefrem Krewey and his predecessor Bishop Josyf Martenetz, a man of virtue and prayer.

I bless all the priests, both secular and religious, who work for the sanctification of your immortal souls. I bless all those who help them in their pastoral work; namely: the handmaid nuns of the Immaculate Conception, the Basilian nuns, the catechist nuns of Saint Anne, the nuns of Saint Joseph, and the catechist nuns of the Sacred Heart.

I bless the pupils of the minor and major seminaries, the hope of your diocese, as well as the Basilian scholastics.

I bless the sick in your hospitals, all those who are afflicted in body and soul.

I bless the children in your orphanages. I bless all of you, old and young: fathers and sons, all present here, as well as all Ukrainians throughout Brazil.

Be faithful to God's commandments, be loyal citizens of the state in which you live.

Value your rite, love it, as it preserves your national identity.

Merciful God keep you in his protection through the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary and the saints of your Church.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Allow me to add to what I said yesterday, dear brothers and sisters, a recollection of some of our patrons, who have been able to translate the mystery of the cross, the mystery of divine love into the particular language of daily life and in different ages, since inizlo, and have imprinted it in the hearts of generations of believing men and in the history of our nation and country: Saint Wojciech (Adalbert), Saint Stanislaus Kostka, Saint Andrew Bobola, Blessed Ladislaus of Gielniow, Simon of Lipnica, Salomea , Ceslao, Kinga, Edvige Regina, Massimiliano Maria Kolbe, a particular witness of the cross of Christ in our times, Maria Teresa Ledochowska and many others not canonized, but so present in the life of the Church and of the homeland. I also want to recall those who have lived here, in this land,

How much I wish that their legacy lives and develops in you, that they themselves are revived in our times and in the new generations, to the extent of needs and duties!

Dear brothers and sisters, I greet you all, I thank you for the expressions of union with the Holy See and for the prayers you raise to God according to my intentions. Pray also that I may best fulfill my present pastoral visit to Brazil, my service to the Church in this country.

All of you who are here, your families, neighbors, friends, acquaintances, those who are here in spirit and heart, I cordially bless with the sign of the cross of Christ, in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

6. Celebrating here, under the invocation of Pentecost mentioned in the first reading, the Eucharist which is the sacrament of unity and fraternity of Christ's disciples, but which is also the seed of unity and fraternity in the world, I would like to make a request to you, and one for you.

For you I ask God with the greatest fervor, that the deep racial integration that exists between you never cool off, but rather that it reinvigorate and grow. That in this fraternity between the various peoples there is no lack of special solidarity with your indigenous brothers. May there still be openness among you to welcome many other human groups who need a new homeland because they are deprived of their own.

And I ask you, with the affection of a father and the trust of a brother, that you always keep this aspect of your being. And this request of mine expands into a wish that, in our world where there is still so much discrimination, men understand each other more and more, accept each other for what they have in common, to make solidarity grow, love and fraternity among peoples and to consolidate the foundations of peace.

May the Virgin Mary, Our Lady Aparecida, receive the Pope's prayer in this regard.

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