Mass in Brazzaville (5 May 1980)

On Wednesday, 5 May 1980, the Holy Father celebrated Mass in Brazzaville, Congo. In his homily, the Pope spoke of the Church as a tree, planted by Christ in the Holy Land, into which the community of Congolese believers has been grafted.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

“Sing to God, in your hearts, your gratitude” [ 1 ].

1. Today it is the Bishop of Rome who comes to you, the Successor of the Apostle Peter to whom Jesus said: "Strengthen your brothers" [ 2 ]. So I come to strengthen you in faith, charity and hope.

I come to strengthen you in the faith that you already have thanks to an evangelization that has borne fruit. I will tell you about this evangelization to encourage you to continue it.

I am coming to stimulate your charity among yourselves and towards everyone, “the love that makes unity in perfection”. For this, I remind you of the words of the Apostle Paul: “Cloth your hearts with tenderness and kindness, with humility, meekness, patience, putting up with one another and forgiving each other” [ 3 ] . Didn't Jesus say: "Love your enemies, so that you may truly be your Father's sons" [ 4 ]?

I am coming to strengthen your hope so that no trial may divert you from the path on which you are engaged or from the goal of your Christian life: the salvation of your souls, the building up of the Church.

And I do this by linking your Catholic community to the universal Church which is unique in the diversity of its members.

2. But first of all, the Pope would not have had the opportunity to come to you if he had not been preceded, for just a century, by brave missionaries, who, for their part, did not had other concern than your spiritual good. They arrived at your home, burning with love for Christ and for you, to offer you the Gospel which they themselves had received. For all faith comes from Christ, through the Apostles. “How can you believe without hearing Him first? And how to hear without a preacher? And how to preach without first being sent? » [ 5 ].

These missionaries have been welcomed into your home. They must have started by living with you, by praying in your midst, by showing their love ― because this love is the heart of our message ―in the form of friendship, hospitality, mutual aid and also care and instruction. They preached the Gospel because they knew your hunger for the Word of God. Some of your fathers adhered to the faith. They prepared for baptism for a long time. From there was born the Church in the Congo. But the concern of the missionaries was also to prepare among the sons of this nation evangelizers, catechists, and soon priests, men and women religious. In your country, the Church has developed rapidly, to the point that a large number of your compatriots have entered into its family. We will not forget the amount of patience, trials, pains, joys and hope of the missionaries and the merits of your fathers.

Today the Church is led by Congolese bishops, who have been made your Pastors, through the laying on of the hands of their elders. It is a sign of the maturity of your Church. Your community even gave the universal Church a cardinal, that is to say a collaborator more especially linked to the Pope and to the Church of Rome, and whom we all mourn. Your communities are called to strengthen and grow. Live in thanksgiving!

3. Let us reflect for a moment, Brothers and Sisters, on this evangelization that must be pursued. Gospel means “Good News”. What good news?

The Gospel does not promise wealth, nor easy living conditions, nor even daily bread, although it makes it our duty to work towards it, in solidarity, with courage and a sense of justice; without neglecting to ask them at the same time from God and give thanks to Him, to Him who is the Author of all good.

Perhaps you then identify the Good News with peace? In fact, it is a wonderful thing that peace in society, peace in families, the peace of a free life, and above all peace in everyone's heart, the peace of an upright conscience that lives in serenity and confidence, before God and before men. “May the peace of Christ reign in your hearts,” says Saint Paul [ 6 ].

But this peace itself comes from the Good News of the love of God who first loved us and forgave us. "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life, ... that the world might be saved through him" [7 ] . As noted in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi of my venerable predecessor Paul VI : “This attestation of God will perhaps join for many the unknown God whom they adore without giving him a name”. For us, “the Creator is not an anonymous and distant power: he is Father. “We are called sons of God, indeed we are”, and therefore we are brothers one to another in God” [ 8 ].

4. This truth has been revealed by God, in Jesus Christ, the one who died and rose again for us, the “First and the Last”, “the Living”, “the faithful and true Witness” [ 9], who unites his disciples in a deeply united family, like the members of his Body, the Church. This truth is attested by twenty centuries of Christian history. It has been lived by millions of disciples of Jesus Christ in all countries, often to sainthood, sometimes to martyrdom. Haven't you ever experienced that it illuminates your lives? It shows you its meaning and purpose. It assures you of the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, who frees you from your sins, from all that threatens, within you and outside of you, to turn you away from righteousness, from purity of life, from justice, peace, reconciliation, sharing, brotherly love. This means that education in the faith lays the moral foundations for a better, truly renewed life in society.― the mass ― , while waiting for eternal life with him. To evangelize is to bring this Good News to all walks of life, to offer it by peaceful means to free consent, and, by its impact, to transform from within, to make humanity itself new [ 10 ] .

5. Certainly, adherence in faith to this Good News requires conversion, not only before baptism, but throughout life. The idols which must be renounced are always reborn, even if they sometimes bear new names, in the old Churches of the West as well as in the young Churches of Africa. There are obstacles at the level of the human spirit ― and materialism, ideological or practical, is not the least ―who can divert from the message of salvation by implying that it is useless or illusory. There are obstacles, even more perhaps, at the level of our personal or family habits, of the customs of society which tend to relegate the Gospel as an ideal that is too difficult. It is true that Jesus said: "Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" [ 11 ].

We must then remember that God is also the God of mercy, just as the Church is a merciful mother: despite the sinful, weak, hesitant character of her children, she invites them to hope, she offers them a Christian ideal , a holiness, not as a burden, but as a light that attracts and elevates hearts. Even if evangelization knows, here and there, progressive and laborious stages ― one has never finished becoming a Christian! ― , the Church knows that the sons of this country are capable of an authentic Christian life. They have already proven it to a large extent. And the Church relies heavily on you.

6. This evangelization of the personal and collective conscience of men must therefore continue along the lines which are similar throughout the Church [ 12], but you need to find here the concrete application, according to your African culture and your current situation. First comes the testimony of your life as Christians, that of families, adults and young people, of consecrated persons: your Christian way of living can arouse, by itself, and with full respect for others, the attraction of the Gospel. There must also be an explicit and precise proclamation of the Gospel, which nourishes the mind and the heart: this is the role of preaching, of the liturgy of the Word, but also of catechesis. Yes, you all need a solid catechesis today, which will deepen your personal attachment to Jesus Christ and allow you to give an account of the hope that is in you. I know that your ministry devotes a lot of effort to this catechesis, and the formation of catechists. I congratulate you. Families and parishes must give priority to this formation, not only of children, but of young people, students, future spouses, also within the framework of preparation for the sacraments. Finally, I hope that your Christian communities will experience the fervor of prayer and the strength of fraternal cohesion.

7. In this work there is room for all the workers of evangelization. I thank the priests, brothers, nuns, lay people who have come from afar, who continue to work here, under the guidance of the Congolese bishops: not only do they still bring you precious support, but they help to connect you to the Church. universal, and I am sure that this experience is beneficial for their own Churches. These priests form a single presbyterium with the priests of this country, to whom I would especially like to express my affection and my confidence. Dear friends, the Lord has called you to serve him, in a total consecration of your life, of which celibacy is one of the signs, by making yourselves available to all. Be the holy priests, the devoted and competent spiritual guides that your people need. It is a great grace! I also hope that many priestly and religious vocations will arise and be strengthened in a solid formation. Finally, I hope that many lay Christians will also bring their irreplaceable help to evangelization, as catechists, and in a personal apostolate, from family to family, from the eldest to the youngest.

8. I know that you pursue evangelization in conditions that are not easy, with often poor means. You have experienced great trials. I would like to strengthen your hope. Commit your needs to the Lord, who is faithful, and support one another. You know who you put your trust in. With Saint Peter I say to you: "Be firm in the faith, knowing that your brothers scattered throughout the world are enduring similar trials" [ 13 ]. And again: "Be well united, full of compassion, brotherly love, mercy and humility" [ 14 ]. The power of God, it is in you, according to your degree of faith and love, and according to your cohesion. Yes, let your unity be flawless: that is your strength.

9. In this way you will also be, in the midst of your compatriots who do not share your faith, artisans of peace, and even the “salt” and the “leaven” of which Jesus speaks, for the fraternal life to which they aspire. I have already hinted that evangelism normally entails concern for human development and social progress. You too are attached to the independence and honor of your nation; you desire an increase in the means of subsistence, a just order for all, a peaceful life. You want to serve your country. You care about the poor. And you know that a soulless civilization would not bring happiness. You are ready to devote your work and your honesty to this work, with respect for all, banishing hatred, violence and lies. Those responsible for the common good cannot ignore that your Christian contribution is beneficial to the country. And I have no doubt that they will continue to grant you the just religious freedom which is recognized for you and the possibility of working, as good citizens, for the development of the nation. May God bless the Congo!

10. Finally, dear friends, I am thinking of your insertion into the universal Church. It is a beautiful and great mystery. The tree of the Church, planted by Jesus in the Holy Land, has continued to grow. All the countries of the old Roman Empire were grafted onto it. My own country, Poland, has known its hour of evangelization, and the Church of Poland has been grafted onto the tree of the Church, to make it produce new fruits. And now your community of Congolese believers has in turn been grafted onto the tree of the Church. The graft lives on the sap circulating in the tree; it can only survive in close union with the tree. But as soon as it is grafted, it brings its heritage to the tree and produces fruits that are its own. It's just a comparison. The Church gives life to the new peoples who have come to her. No new community grafted onto the tree of the Church can live its life independently. It lives only by participating in the great vital current which makes the whole tree live. The Church then receives from it new treasures of vitality and can thus manifest in the world a greater variety of fruits. Such are my wishes for the Church which is in the Congo. May his attachment to the universal Church and to the Successor of Peter be strengthened, who is the principle and the foundation of the unity of all by the will of Jesus Christ, our Lord! May its own vitality, unity and holiness grow! And may it benefit the Church! At the breath of the Holy Spirit! With Mary, the Star of Evangelization! Amen! Alleluia! It lives only by participating in the great vital current which makes the whole tree live. The Church then receives from it new treasures of vitality and can thus manifest in the world a greater variety of fruits. Such are my wishes for the Church which is in the Congo. May his attachment to the universal Church and to the Successor of Peter be strengthened, who is the principle and the foundation of the unity of all by the will of Jesus Christ, our Lord! May its own vitality, unity and holiness grow! And may it benefit the Church! At the breath of the Holy Spirit! With Mary, the Star of Evangelization! Amen! Alleluia! It lives only by participating in the great vital current which makes the whole tree live. The Church then receives from it new treasures of vitality and can thus manifest in the world a greater variety of fruits. Such are my wishes for the Church which is in the Congo. May his attachment to the universal Church and to the Successor of Peter be strengthened, who is the principle and the foundation of the unity of all by the will of Jesus Christ, our Lord! May its own vitality, unity and holiness grow! And may it benefit the Church! At the breath of the Holy Spirit! With Mary, the Star of Evangelization! Amen! Alleluia! Such are my wishes for the Church which is in the Congo. May his attachment to the universal Church and to the Successor of Peter be strengthened, who is the principle and the foundation of the unity of all by the will of Jesus Christ, our Lord! May its own vitality, unity and holiness grow! And may it benefit the Church! At the breath of the Holy Spirit! With Mary, the Star of Evangelization! Amen! Alleluia! Such are my wishes for the Church which is in the Congo. May his attachment to the universal Church and to the Successor of Peter be strengthened, who is the principle and the foundation of the unity of all by the will of Jesus Christ, our Lord! May its own vitality, unity and holiness grow! And may it benefit the Church! At the breath of the Holy Spirit! With Mary, the Star of Evangelization! Amen! Alleluia!

[ 1 ] Col 3, 16.

[ 2 ] Lk 22, 31.

[ 3 ] Col 3, 12-13.

[ 4 ] Mt 5, 44-45.

[ 5 ] Rom 10, 14-15.

[ 6 ] Col 3, 15.

[ 7 ] Jn 3, 16-17.

[ 8 ] No. 26.

[ 9 ] Ap . 1, 17-18; 2, 14.

[ 10 ] Cf. Evangelii Nuntiandi , n. 18.

[ 11 ] Mt 5, 48.

[ 12 ] Cf. Decree Ad Gentes , nn. 11-18; Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi , nn. 21-24.

[ 13 ] Cf. 1 Pet 5, 9.

[ 14 ] Ibid ., 3, 8.

© Copyright 1980 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

 Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana