To the Polish Community in Zaire (4 May 1980)

On Sunday, 4 May 1980, in Kinshasa, the Holy Father addressed the Polish Community of Zaire, bringing with him “the image of the Mother of God of Czestochowa,” to whom the first Polish missionaries in Africa entrusted their work of evangelism.

Dear brothers and sisters, missionaries;
Dear compatriots, who are participating in this exceptional meeting on African soil:

1. It is with deep emotion that I meet you here in Africa, where you represent our common homeland and the Church that carries out her salvific mission there. I greet you with the venerable expression of our fathers: Praised be Jesus Christ! These words contain all the depth of the affective content that recalls the homeland, the family, the parish, the environment in which you grew up and, later, fascinated by the invitation to "follow me", you have left, to become sowers of the Word. of God; and they also express, in a certain sense, the very substance of the missionary vocation, the ideal of the work of evangelization.

In the name of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, you have come here so that all peoples may praise the Lord, so that all nations may give him glory (cf. Ps 116 [117] ).

"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who proclaims salvation!" ( Is 52, 7).

In the name of Jesus Christ, I have undertaken this pilgrimage to the living sanctuary of the human heart in Africa, to share in the joys of the Jubilee of this young Church and, at the same time, to thank God with it for the graces he has bestowed on her above all. in this century, and to entrust to divine mercy the promising future of this Church.

2. In the name of Jesus Christ I meet you, dear missionaries, brothers and sisters. I am glad to be able to insert myself, during these days, in a special way in your daily missionary work and share your apostolic effort, by carrying out this service in favor of our brothers on the African continent.

We know well that we owe our faith to others who, driven by the call of the divine Word, came to our land and sowed the joyful news among our ancestors, announced peace, revealed happiness and proclaimed salvation; they grafted them onto the mysteries of divine life and inserted them into the living organism of the Church.

The living testimony of the maturity of each Church is not reduced only to its openness to the Word of God, to the salvific good, but is also the capacity to give to others what she herself lives. With this donation, he not only manifests her maturity, but also deepens and consolidates it. For this reason, like the whole Church, the local Churches also wish to become missionaries, the subject of this "missionary action" of the Church. Despite the fact that in the course of history we have not always had favorable conditions to manifest this missionary character externally, nevertheless, the missionary spirit was and is deeply rooted in the faith of our people. And missionary problems always find a deep echo within the heart of the People of God in our homeland. Despite the aforementioned difficulties, the Church in our homeland has written a splendid missionary page; It is enough to remember Blessed Maximilian M. Kolbe, Blessed Maria Teresa Ledochowska, Father Bejzym, not to mention many other lesser known and anonymous workers in the missionary field.

Continue writing this missionary page. You are proof of this, present here, and all those who could not come.

How happy I am as Pope and as a Pole, when I receive news that a priest, a nun, or a lay person leaves Poland for mission land; and these news, thank God, are more and more frequent.

5. In the name of Jesus Christ I meet with you, compatriots present here, and with all those absent —perhaps not numerous— whom fate has brought here and who have found your second homeland on the African continent.

With you who, by performing your service, serve the homeland.

With you, missionaries of human values, who have come here to share, on this continent that is developing and needs help, your knowledge, your experience and your ability, in respect for human dignity and rights .

This respect for the dignity and freedom of oneself and of others is deeply rooted in our Christian and national tradition, because we know the price of these fundamental and inviolable human values. And we know that an authentic good cannot be brought to another man, if other purposes contrary to that good are hidden, or perhaps secondary interests.

4. I hope that our African brothers, among whom you work, can say about you what is read in the text of Isaiah: "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings the good news , which proclaims salvation!".

5. I have brought with me to Zaire the image of the Mother of God of Czestochowa, so dear to us. In this way, I refer to that splendid tradition of the first missionaries in Africa, who entrusted their evangelizing task to the Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church and our Mother.

I also entrust each and every one of you to Her: your work and your solicitude, your crosses and your joys, your fatigues and your dedication. May She always remind you that you are servants of Christ, who listen to his Word and do what he commands.

To her. To the Black Madonna, Mother of Mercy, Mother of life and hope, Queen of Peace, I entrust above all the Church of Africa, its present and its future; all the problems she faces in this black land.

6. I continue my missionary trip and you stay here with God!

Almighty God bless you: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

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