In the Cathedral of Brazzaville (5 May 1980)

On Monday, 5 May 1980, the Holy Father addressed the Episcopate, consecrated persons, and all the faithful, in the Cathedral of Brazzaville, to encourage them while entrusting them to the Lord.

Dear Brothers in the Episcopate,
and you who have consecrated your life to the Lord,
and you the faithful of the Church in the Congo.

1. Receive the paternal and affectionate greeting of the Vicar of Christ, who has come to see you as a pilgrim of the Gospel, to tell you like the Apostle Paul: “I remember the part you have taken in the Gospel, from the first day until now; I am sure of it, moreover, He who began this excellent work in you will continue its accomplishment until the Day of Christ Jesus... Yes, God is my witness that I love you tenderly in the heart of Christ Jesus!”[ 1 ].

This constant concern that I feel for you, I wanted to express it to you personally, so great was my desire to see you, to encourage you all and to bless you. You yourselves wished to be able to give the Pope, during his trip to Africa, witness to your faith and your fidelity to the Church. In responding with joy to your invitation, I am aware that we find ourselves, one and the other, at a very special moment, and that the Lord asks us to make it fruitful. Beyond the human and spiritual joy of this meeting between brothers in Jesus Christ, it is the very presence of Christ that seizes us in this venerable place, the first episcopal seat of the Congo. To Him, who was sent into the world that we might live by Him”[ 2], let us turn our gaze together in a prayer of thanksgiving and supplication.

2. A prayer of thanksgiving for all that he has already done in you and with you, all of you whom he has called to go and bear fruit. Is it not because of your persevering efforts that the seed sown by the first missionaries has been able to produce widely?

That the formation of catechists, systematically undertaken, today offers a remarkable tool for evangelization? I know, moreover, that a number of young people show themselves to be available to cooperate in the religious instruction of school children, and to transmit to them their own reasons for hope. I also know that everywhere, in the parishes as in the outposts, we are not afraid of difficulties, we work with courage to announce the Good News. There is, it seems to me, a proof of maturity. The disciples of Jesus will drink his cup[ 3 ]. This is why they were chosen. This, too, He made known to them, and that is why he henceforth calls them his friends[ 4]. When I see here, in Africa, all these courageous Christians, I cannot help thinking that, nowadays, Christ has many friends in Africa and that the Church in Africa is ripe to face all the adversities and all the trials .

Courage, loyalty, the enthusiasm to possess a treasure and the desire to share it , such are the qualities of the apostle, and you have to cultivate them. In the eyes of men this treasure is impalpable; it can only be mysterious. But you yourselves know and, in a certain way, you live these words so deep that the Scripture puts in the mouth of Peter: “Silver and gold I have none, but this what I have, I give to you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk”[ 5 ].

In the history of the Congo, faithful witnesses have already stood up, faithful to their God, faithful to the Gospel message, faithful to the universal Church and to the teaching of the Pope. I also want to give thanks for all of them, and especially for the example left by the dear and venerable Cardinal Emile Biayenda. His tragic passing made you cry a father. I myself mourned a much loved brother. I come to mourn him and to pray here, on his tomb, in the midst of you, with you, sure that if Christ wanted him to be with him from now on, it is because his place was ready for eternity[ 6 ], and that he can thus better still intercede for you and for his fatherland. In this sense, his pastoral ministry continues at your service. Blessed are you, Lord, for having given us this Pastor, this son of the Congolese Nation and of the Church, Cardinal Biayenda!

3. And now, Lord, I beg You for my brothers and sisters the Catholics of the Congo. I entrust them to You, since You have allowed me to visit them in their homes. I commend to You their faith, young but so full of vitality, that it may grow, that it may be pure and beautiful, and communicative, that it may continue to be able to express itself and be proclaimed freely, for eternal life is is that they know the only true God and his messenger, Jesus Christ[ 7 ]. I also entrust them to Your Holy Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church and our Mother. May she take them under her maternal protection and watch over them in their difficulties! May she teach them to stand at the foot of Your Cross and to gather around Her in expectation of Your coming, when the times are fulfilled!

With them, I pray to You for their unity, which draws its source from You, and without which their witness would be weakened: unity of the episcopal body, unity in the clergy and in the dioceses, ability to collaborate beyond any ethnic or social, unity also with the See of Peter and the whole of the Church. You cannot close your ears to this prayer, You who gave yourself up to gather the children of God.

Listen again to the invocation that we address to You on this day for the sanctification of priests, men and women religious and of all those who, in the various centers of formation, are preparing to consecrate their lives to You. Responding to your call, may they know how to renounce the things of this world for You, any search for material or human glory, and show themselves available to the urgent needs of the Church in whatever mission that will be entrusted to them[ 8 ] . Happy in their total gift, happy in their celibacy, may they deepen, those whose Eucharist marks the summit of every day, what it means to offer one's life as a sacrifice for the salvation of men.

In your goodness, I know that you will remember in a special way the sacrifice of the missionaries, who, out of love for you, left their country of origin, their families, all that they had, to come and live among of their Congolese brothers, to love this People who have become theirs and to serve it. Reward, Lord, so much generosity! May it be recognized, may it inspire other vocations, may it awaken in everyone a true missionary spirit.

Surround also and particularly with your benevolence your humble servants, the bishops to whom you have entrusted these local Churches. I am close to them this morning to strengthen them in your name. There they are, the three pastors from the Congo, and most of their colleagues from neighboring Episcopal Conferences with whom they usually meet under the chairmanship, today, of Monsignor N'Dayen, Archbishop of Bangui. There are even some bishops from other nearby countries. They brought their pastoral concerns and all the intentions entrusted to them by their communities. Yes, as You asked Peter and his successors, I want to bring them the quiet strength and the certainty of Your assistance in their so meritorious daily work. And I want to assure those who were unable to join us of my fraternal and spiritual closeness, to take on my shoulders part of their burden, while some suffer so cruelly from the sufferings of their people. Dear confreres of Chad, it is of you that I think first and foremost, and of the flock entrusted to you. May God help you heal wounds and heal hearts! May he give you peace!

4. Brothers and sisters, I cannot continue any longer. So many thoughts fill my mind that I would have liked to talk to you about. It seemed to me that, limited by the programme, the Pope could at least dedicate this meeting to a common prayer, thus implicitly inviting you to do the same on every occasion, so that you really announce what you have contemplated from the Word of Life[ 9 ]. This is what is expected of God's ministers. Everything else, others can give. If you want to be zealous, first be pious, and you will understand everything . Live in union with God. He will help you bear human tribulations, because you will learn to connect them to the Cross, to Redemption. But more than that, he will come into you and make his home there.

Pray for me too, my beloved in the Lord. Do you promise me? I promise you for my part that this new link which has just been established with this part of Africa will translate concretely, in the memory of your faces, of your people, of those who benefit from your pastoral care or whom you represent here somehow. To all of you, my blessing and my most fervent good wishes. And may God also bless your homeland and all the surrounding nations.

 [ 1 ] Phil . 1, 5-6. 8.

 [ 2 ] 1 Ib . 4, 9.

 [ 3 ] Cfr. Mark . 10, 39.

 [ 4 ] Cfr. Io . 15, 15.

 [ 5 ] Act . 3, 6.

 [ 6 ] Cfr. Io . 14, 2-3.

 [ 7 ] Cfr. ibid . 17, 3.

 [ 8 ] Cfr. Ad Gentes , 20.

 [ 9 ] Cfr. 1 Io . 1, 1.

© Copyright 1980 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

 Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana