Televised Message to the Swiss (11 June 1984)

On Monday, 11 June 1984, the Holy Father sent a televised message to the Swiss, only portions of which have been translated into English.

…. I am very happy to have, for the first time, the opportunity to address, through the media, each and every citizen and resident of Switzerland, where I will have the pleasure of going. And, to greet you, I dare to repeat the very greeting of the resurrected Jesus to his disciples: “Peace be with you” ( Jn 20:19).

As you know, this wish - which is so strong - is addressed to each of the Lord's disciples, to those of today as well as to those of yesterday. More than a wish, it is a promise of the Spirit, of which peace is one of the "fruits" (Cf. Gal . 5:22); it is also a call and an encouragement to a magnificent and demanding vocation.

But I believe that peace can be or can become like the particular vocation of a country. This call has often been heard in the history of Switzerland, when internal difficulties threatened you. But your confidence in the superior forces of peace allowed you to overcome them. History, at the international level, will also remember that you have been able to be, and that you still are, active cooperators of so many efforts, humble and difficult, undertaken by men of good will, so that the ideal of peace remains despite everything a place of authentic hope.

Yes, “peace be with you”! And may my pilgrimage among you be a new expression and a new experience of it, in the charity of Christ!….

© Copyright 1984 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

 Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana