To the German Bishops' Conference (18 November 1980)
ShareIn Fulda, on 18 November 1980, the Holy Father addressed the German Episcopal Conference, likening it to the "fraternal communion that united the apostles around Christ".
Distinguished, dear Brothers in the Episcopate!
1. Today's memorable encounter at the tomb of St. Bonifatius takes place against the background of a rich and great history of the German people, which was significantly influenced by Christianity. Shaped by a variety of forces, over the course of the centuries there have been manifold impulses of a religious, cultural and political nature far beyond its borders. I only need to remind you of the honorable name “Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation”, which is steeped in history.
Your people gave the church seven popes, including today's Netherlands, of whom history reports that they conscientiously exercised their ministry as supreme shepherds of Christianity - even in the greatest external and internal turmoil of the time. A main concern of almost all of them in their often short pontificates was the renewal of the church. A special mention deserves the zealous effort of Pope Adrian VI. to preserve and restore the unity of Christianity. Some of them, as popes, paid a personal visit to their German homeland and their former dioceses.
The inner renewal of religious and ecclesiastical life and the ecumenical effort to bring the separated Christians closer together and understanding are the main concerns of my apostolic journeys to the various local churches and continents. They are the same during my pastoral visit to the Church in your country and during this meeting of ours today. The spiritual renewal of the Church and the unity of Christians are the express mandate of the Second Vatican Council, to which the Pope, bishops, priests and the faithful are equally committed. Taking on these tasks with shared responsibility is the urgent need of the hour. They are the great challenge and duty above all of our collegial responsibility as pastors of the Church. The following considerations and statements should also apply and serve you.
From the first hour of my pontificate, I understood the supreme pastoral ministry in particular as a service to the collegiality of the bishops united to the Successor of Peter, and conversely I understood the "collegialitas effectiva et affectiva" of the bishops as an important help for my own ministry .
So, when I visit your country, I feel compelled to express my communion with you and to strengthen it with my witness. My thoughts go back to September 1978, when I was among you here, in the same room in Fulda, for a fraternal exchange between the episcopates of my home country of Poland and your country. It pleases me to see the same faces again, and at the same time my prayerful memory goes out to those whom the Lord has since called from among us. Finally, I would like to give a special greeting to those confreres who have meanwhile been received into the College of Successors of the Apostles in your country.
2. Have courage in witnessing together.
"If we rightly address every human being and in a special way every Christian with "brothers", then this word receives", as I wrote in my letter to all episcopal brothers in the world for Maundy Thursday 1979, "for us bishops and our mutual relations has a very special meaning: it is, in a way, directly related to that fraternal communion that united the apostles around Christ".
I am happy and grateful that I have already experienced this unity with the Successor of Peter and this unanimity with one another in your conference on many occasions. I would like to strongly encourage you in this attitude. And so I say to you: Do not let yourself be misled by the opinion that is often heard that a high degree of unanimity within a bishops' conference is at the expense of the vitality and credibility of episcopal testimony. The opposite is the case. Certainly, in a fraternal atmosphere, everyone should contribute without fear or reservations, surely everyone should help build the unity of the body, which contains many gifts, with their own contribution. But the fruitfulness of these ministries and gifts depends on their fitting into the one life of the one Spirit.
3. Be lovingly concerned for the unity of the presbyterate in each diocese.
The expectations and demands placed on priests have grown in a way that is stressful for them in recent decades. Due to the decreasing number of priests, more tasks are coming their way. Due to the many professional and voluntary services of the laity in pastoral care, the priests are even more challenged in their task of spiritual leadership. In a society that is encompassed by an increasingly dense network of communications, an ever more varied spiritual debate becomes necessary for the priest. Many priests wear themselves out with work, but become lonely and lose their bearings. It is all the more important that the unity of the presbytery is lived and experienced. Support anything that encourages priests to meet and help one another to live together from the Word and Spirit of the Lord.
Three things are particularly important to me here:
1) The seminars. They should be places where genuine priestly fellowship and friendship can grow, and where a clear, sustainable decision can be made in life.
2) Theology should enable witnesses of faith and lead to deepening of faith, so that the priests understand people's questions, but also the answers of the gospel and the church.
3) The priests should be helped to fulfill the high demands of celibate life and devotion to Christ and people and to authenticate them through priestly simplicity, poverty and availability. Spiritual community in particular can provide valuable services here.
4. Take seriously the prayer of Christ the High Priest that all be one as an urgent mandate to heal the divisions of Christianity.
You live in the country of origin of the Reformation. Your church and social life is deeply marked by the schism that has now lasted for more than four and a half centuries. You must not reconcile yourselves with the failure of Christ's disciples to bear witness of unity before the world.
Unbreakable loyalty to the truth, listening openness to the other, sober patience on the way, sensitive love are required. The compromise doesn't count; only carries that unity which the Lord himself established: unity in truth and in love.
Today one hears again and again that the ecumenical movement of the churches towards one another is stagnating, that after the spring of the conciliar awakening an epoch of cooling began. Despite some unfortunate difficulties, I cannot agree with this verdict.
The unity that comes from God is given to us on the cross. We must not want to avoid the cross by attempting rapid attempts at harmonization in what is different, while ignoring the question of truth. But we must not give up on each other either, because coming closer demands of us the patient and suffering love of the crucified one. Let's not let ourselves be diverted from the arduous path, either to stand still or to choose seemingly shorter paths that are detours.
Ecumenical movement, efforts for unity must not be limited to the churches emerging from the Reformation - in your country, too, dialogue and brotherly relations with other churches and ecclesial communities, such as the churches of Orthodoxy, are of the utmost importance. Nevertheless, the commemoration of the "Confessio Augustana" published 450 years ago is a special call to dialogue with the Reformation-influenced Christianity, which makes up such a large part of the population and history of your country.
5. Gather God's people, ward off false pluralism, strengthen true communio.
I have already spoken of the great value of fraternal unity in the college of bishops and in the presbyterate. But this unity is to be the soul, out of which also the unity of the whole people of God lives in all communities. It is by no means a question of curbing or limiting the legitimate variety of expressions of spirituality, of piety, of theological schools. But all this should be an expression of the fullness and not an expression of the poverty of faith.
In your society, thanks be to God, proclamation and church life can freely develop outwardly. And yet the struggle to which you are called is demanding. Sometimes people find themselves mentally in the situation of a department store where all sorts of goods are advertised and offered for self-service. In the life views of many people among you, elements of Christian tradition are mixed with completely different views. The outer freedom to think and say what one wants is sometimes confused with the inner arbitrariness of conviction; indifference to so many opinions and interpretations takes the place of a clear orientation.
But what is your overall task and your chance in view of the situation drawn up?
I want to shout out two words to you. First: Proclaim the word in all clarity, undeterred by applause or rejection! Ultimately, it is not we who promote the success or failure of the gospel, but God's Spirit. Believers and non-believers alike have a right to hear clearly the authentic message of the Church.
The second: Preach the Word with all the surrendering, seeking, understanding love of the Good Shepherd. Listen to the questions asked by those who think they can no longer find an answer in Jesus Christ and his Church. Firmly believes that Jesus Christ has connected himself with every human being and that every human being can find himself, his genuine human values and questions, in him.
I would particularly like to recommend two groups to your pastoral care: on the one hand, there are those who drew the wrong conclusion from the impulses of the Second Vatican Council, that the dialogue in which the church enters is incompatible with the unequivocally binding nature of church teaching and norms, with the authority of the hierarchical office irrevocably instituted by Christ's mission in the Church. Shows that both belong together: loyalty to the unavailable mission and closeness to people with their experiences and questions.
The other group: those who do not feel at home in the Church of today or even threaten to split off from it - partly because of inappropriate or too thoughtlessly drawn conclusions from the Second Vatican Council. Here it is important, with all determination, but at the same time with all caution, to convey to these people the experience that the Church of Vatican II and Vatican I and of Trent and the first Councils is one and the same Church.
The importance of solid faith mediation should not be overestimated here. How grateful I am for what has proven its worth in the so-called community catechesis: Believers testify to their faith and pass it on to others!
Of course, the drawn faith situation challenges the priests themselves in particular. In the course of a few years, will the entire faith, as presented by the Church, really be proclaimed for everyone everywhere? Encourage it, take care of it. And do your best to ensure that religious education and catechesis open the path of faith and life with the Church to those who grow up in what is often a very different everyday experience.
6. Do your utmost to ensure that the inviolable standards and norms of Christian action come into their own in the lives of believers in a manner that is both clear and inviting.
A deep chasm is opening up between the habits of a secularized society and the demands of the gospel. Many want to participate in church life, but can no longer find a connection between their living environment and Christian principles. It is believed that the Church adheres to its norms out of rigidity and that this violates the mercy that Jesus shows us in the Gospel. The harsh demands of Jesus, his word: "Go and sin no more!" are overlooked. One often withdraws to one's personal conscience, but forgets that this conscience is the eye, which does not possess the light by itself, but only when it looks to the authentic source of the light.
Another thing: In view of all the mechanization, functionalization and organization, a deep distrust of institutions, norms and regulations is awakening, especially among the younger generation. The church with its hierarchical constitution, with its ordered liturgy, with its dogmas and norms, is contrasted with the spirit of Jesus. But the spirit needs vessels to preserve and transmit it.
Christ himself is the origin of that mission and authority of the church in which his promise is fulfilled: "I am with you always, to the close of the age".
Dear brothers, keep all the troubles and questions of the people present in your heart - and straight there undeterred proclaim the demands of Jesus without any compromises... Do this because you care about the people. Only the human being who is capable of a complete and final decision, the human being in whom body and soul are in harmony, the human being who is ready to use all his strength for his salvation, is immune to the secret decomposition of the basic human substance.
Therefore pay special attention to the youth, in whom so much promising awakening, but also so much alienation from the Church can be observed! Turn to marriages and families with special care and affection - the Synod of Bishops, which has just ended in Rome, must not remain theoretical, but must be filled with life. The alienation of large parts of the working population from the church, the distance between intellectuals and the church, the need of women for their Christian and human nature, which has been fully accepted, realized and fulfilled in such changed conditions: these keywords expand the field of our common effort so that the people also believe tomorrow.
I am convinced that an upsurge in moral consciousness and Christian life is closely, indeed indissolubly, linked to one condition: the stimulation of personal confession. Make this a priority of your pastoral concern!
7. Pay particular attention to the future of vocations and pastoral ministries.
Within a decade the number of priests available for pastoral ministry will decrease by a good third within a decade. I heartily share the concern this causes you. I share your conviction that it is good to do all we can to promote the ministry of the permanent deacon and also the service of the laity, which is voluntary but also professional, for pastoral work. But the ministry of the priest cannot be replaced by other ministries. Your tradition of pastoral care cannot simply be compared with conditions in Africa or Latin America. And yet it strikes me that I have found widespread greater optimism there with far fewer numbers of available ministers than in western Europe. I consider it one of the most important duties, with all the effort of prayer and spiritual witness, to make God's call to young people to present themselves in undivided service to the Lord heard, that the prerequisites in the family, in the communities, in the associations of young people. But panic in the face of difficult circumstances blocks our sober view of what the Lord wants from us. The fact that the feeling for the evangelical counsels and for priestly celibacy is diminishing means just as much a spiritual emergency as the shortage of priests. Certainly the salvation of the soul is the supreme law. But this salvation of souls requires that we also activate the congregations themselves, that we encourage everyone who has been baptized and confirmed to testify of faith, that we foster spiritual vitality in our families, groups, churches and movements. Then the Lord will be able to speak and call - and we will hear.
I have pointed out the great importance of the presbytery around the bishop. Couldn't the spiritual service be carried out more effectively through a closer cooperation of the priests? I would also like to point out once again the great importance of the spiritual community of priests, which is able to free the individual from being overwhelmed and isolated. To the extent that you support the common witness of the presbyterate in celibacy and a way of life in the spirit of the evangelical counsels, the Lord will not scrimp with his gifts of grace.
8. Cultivate a global heart and vision in your believers.
Let me continue my appeal for the Berlin Catholic Day: Help build a worldwide "civilization of love"! I would first like to point out the dimension of the "worldwide". Being Christian and being human today must be universal, must be “catholic”. Combine the use of your material willingness to help with the use of your mental and spiritual powers for the whole and be ready to receive and learn! There is so much unspent humanity, spiritual experience, constructive testimony of faith in the young churches that our weary Occident is able to become young and new from it.
Of course, we cannot ignore a painful reality. In many parts of the world the Church is being persecuted, many Christians, many people are prevented from exercising their full rights of freedom. Do not take freedom in your society for granted, but as an obligation for others who do not have this freedom!
Your country is in Europe. As Archbishop of Kraków, I was able to work with many of you repeatedly to revitalize Europe, to anchor its unity in the supporting intellectual and spiritual foundations. Remember that Europe can only be renewed and united from those roots that made Europe! Finally, remember, especially in your country: Europe not only spans north and south, but also west and east!
A piece of Europe, a piece of the world is becoming more and more present in your country through the many foreigners who live and work among you. Here you are faced with an ecclesiastical and socially pressing task. Remember the one who died for all and made us all brothers and sisters.
9. Stand up for human rights and for the sustainable foundations of human coexistence in your society.
You live in a society in which a high degree of protection for freedom and human dignity is guaranteed. Be thankful for that, but don't allow arbitrariness to be propagated in the name of freedom that calls into question the inviolability of the life of every human being, including the unborn. Imagine also the dignity and rights of marriage and family! Only the respect of unavailable basic rights and basic values guarantees that freedom that does not lead to self-destruction! Remember: just as little as law and morality are the same thing, the legal protection of basic moral convictions is just as urgent.
The church in your country has a wealth of institutions of education and training, of charity, of social service. Defend the opportunity to make your Christian contribution to shaping society. On the other hand, think about it: A credible testimony can only grow from inner anchoring in Jesus Christ and not from merely keeping up with other forces in society.
10. Against entitlement and consumerism, set the alternative of living in the spirit of Christ.
On the one hand, entitlement and consumerism are growing so that having counts more than being. On the other hand, we are reaching the limits of economic and technical growth. Instead of progress, are we perhaps building a road to the downfall and ruin of life on our earth? The example of Christians is required, who, hoping for things to come, do not set their hearts on things that are ephemeral and thus develop a civilization of love. Therefore, promote the willingness to make sacrifices and renunciation, which is so indispensable for being a Christian, let us also recognize the importance of the evangelical counsels for society as a whole!
11. "God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love and a sound mind".
Dear, dear brothers in the episcopal office! Your mission is difficult. In order that the apostles, whose successors we are, could fulfill it, the Lord gave them his Holy Spirit.
We want to give space to this spirit within us and between us. His characteristics are: strength, prudence, love, strength, unconcerned about applause or opposition, to let the Lord himself speak and work; Power whose innermost measure is the weakness of the cross. Prudence, which looks unperturbed at the truth of Jesus Christ, but which also listens impartially to the questions and concerns of people today. Finally and above all, love that stakes, endures and hopes for everything; Love that creates unity because it goes to the cross with Jesus Christ, uniting heaven and earth and connecting all that are separated. I promise you that I will support you as a brother in your burdens and I ask you for unbreakable, ever-deeper unity in this spirit. Mary, Queen of the Apostles and Mother of the Church,
© Copyright 1980 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
