Patriarchal Archbasilica of St
John Lateran
Saturday, 23 September 1978
Heartfelt
thanks to the Cardinal Vicar for the delicate words with which—in the name of
the Episcopal Council, the Chapter of the Lateran, the Clergy, the men and
women Religious, and of the faithful—he decided to express the devotion and the
intentions of effective collaboration in the diocese of Rome. The first concrete
evidence of this collaboration is the immense sum placed at my disposal in
order to provide with a church and a parochial structure a peripheral area of
the City hitherto deprived of this essential community help for the Christian
life. Truly touched, I thank you.
The
Master of Ceremonies has chosen the three lessons for this solemn liturgy. He
has judged them suitable, and I wish to explain them to you.
The
first lesson (Is 60:16) can be referred to Rome. Everyone knows that the Pope acquires
authority over the whole Church in as much as he is Bishop of Rome, that is,
successor of Peter in this city. Thanks especially to Peter, the Jerusalem of which Isaiah spoke can be considered a
figure, a foretelling of Rome.
Of Rome, too, in as much as it is the See of Peter, the place of his martyrdom
and the centre of the Catholic Church, it can be said: "the Lord will
arise upon you, and his glory will be seen ... the nation shall come to your
light" (Is 60:2). Recalling the pilgrimages of the Holy Year and those
that continue with a constant flow during the normal years, one can, with the
prophet, address Rome as follows: "Lift up your eyes round about and see;
... your sons shall come from afar ... the abundance of the sea shall be turned
to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you" (Is 60:4,5). This is
an honour for the Bishop of Rome and for you all. But it is also a
responsibility. Shall the pilgrims find here a model of a true Christian
community? With the help of God shall we, bishop and faithful, be able to cause
to come true here the words of Isaiah, written under those first cited, namely:
"Violence shall no more be heard in your land ... your people shall all be
righteous" (Is 10:18, 21)?A few moments ago, Professor Argan, Syndic of Rome,
made me a courteous address of greetings and good wishes. Some words of his
caused me to think of one of the prayers that I recited as a child with Mamma.
It went like this: "the sins that cry for vengeance in the presence of God
are ... to oppress the poor, to defraud the workers of a just wage." In
his turn, the Parish Priest questioned me at school on the Catechism: "Why
are the sins that cry for vengeance in the presence or God among the more
grievous and harmful?" Reply: ... "Because they are directly contrary
to the good of mankind and are most hateful in as much as, more than others,
they provoke the chastisements of God" (Catechism of Pius X, 154). Rome will be a true
Christian community if God is honoured by you not merely with a multitude of
the faithful in the churches, not merely with private life that is lived
morally, but also with love for the poor. These, the Roman deacon Lawrence
said, are the true treasures of the Church. They must be helped, however, by
those who can, to have more and to be more, without becoming humiliated and
offended by ostentatious riches, by money squandered on futile things and not
invested—in so far as is possible—in enterprises of advantage to all.
The
second lesson (Heb 13:7-8; 15-17; 20-21) can be applied to the faithful of Rome. As I have said, the
Master of Ceremonies has chosen it. I confess that when it speaks of obedience
it places me in a slight embarrassment. Today, when personal human rights are
confronted with the rights of authority and of the law, it is so difficult to
convince! In the Book of Job there is a description of a war-horse: he leaps
like a locust and snorts; he paws the ground with his hoof, then he hurls
himself fiercely forward; when the trumpet sounds he neighs with delight; he
smells the battle from afar, the cries of the captains and the noise of the
troops (cf. Job 39:10-25). The symbol of liberty. Authority, on the contrary,
is like the prudent rider: he mounts the horse and, now with gentle voice, now
making judicious use of the spurs, of the bridle and of the whip, he urges it
on or controls its impetuous course, curbs it and restrains it. To reconcile
the horse and the rider, liberty and authority, has become a social problem. It
is likewise with the Church. At the Council there was an attempt to resolve it
in the fourth chapter of Lumen Gentium. Here are the Conciliar indications for
the" rider": "The sacred pastors know very well how much the
laity contribute to the welfare of the whole Church. They know that they
themselves were not established by Christ to undertake alone the whole salvific
mission of the Church to the world, but that it is their exalted office to be
shepherds of the faithful and to recognise the latter's contribution and
charisms in such a way that all, in their measure, will with one mind cooperate
in the common task" (Lumen Gentium, 30). Further, the pastors are also
aware that "in the decisive battles it is at times from the front that the
happiest initiatives begin" (Lumen Gentium, 37, note 7). On the other
hand, here is a conciliar indication for the "high-spirited
war-horse", that is, for the laity: "the faithful should acquiesce to
the bishop as the Church to Jesus Christ and as Jesus Christ to the
Father" (Lumen Gentium, 27). Let us pray that the Lord will aid both the
bishop and the faithful, both the rider and the horses. It has been said to me
that in the diocese of Rome
there are numerous persons who devote themselves to the faithful, numerous
catechists; many also await a signal to intervene and to collaborate. May the
Lord help us all to build at Rome
a living and active Christian community. It is not pointlessly that I have
quoted the fourth chapter of Lumen Gentium: it is the chapter on
"ecclesial communion". What has been said, however, has special
reference to the laity. The priests, the men and women religious, have a
special position, bound as they are either to the promise or to the vow of
obedience. I recall, as one of the solemn points of my existence, the moment in
which, with my hands in those of the bishop, I said: "I promise".
From that time, I considered myself bound for my whole life, and never have I
thought that it was a matter of an unimportant ceremony. I hope that the
priests of Rome
think likewise. To them and to the Religious, St Francis de Sales would recall
the example of St John
the Baptist who lived in the desert, far from the Lord, yet so greatly desiring
to be near to him. Why? Through obedience: "He knew", writes the
saint, "that to find the Lord outside of obedience meant to lose him"
(F. de Sales, Oeuvres, Annecy, 1806, p. 321).
The
third lesson (Mt 28: 16-20) reminds the Bishop of Rome of his duties. The first
is to teach, proposing the Lord's word with fidelity both to God and to the
listeners; with humility, but with fearless sincerity. Among my holy
predecessors, bishops of Rome,
there are two who are also Doctors of the Church: St Leo, conqueror of Attila,
and St Gregory the Great. In the writings of the first are very high
theological thought and a sparkling Latin style that is marvellously designed;
I do not think that I could imitate him, not even from afar. The second, in his
books, is "like a father who instructs his children and sets them apart
out of his solicitude for their eternal salvation" (I. Schuster, Liber Sacramentorum,
vol. 1, Turin 1920, p. 46). I would like to try to imitate the second, who
dedicates the entire third book of his Regula Pastoralis to the theme of how
teaching should be done, that is, how the pastor should instruct. For forty
whole chapters Gregory indicates in a concrete way various forms of instruction
according to the various circumstances of social conditions, age, health, and
moral temperament of the hearers. Poor and rich, cheerful and melancholic,
superiors and subjects, learned and ignorant, cheeky and shy, and so forth; all
are there in this book, it is like the valley of Jehoshaphat.
At the second Vatican Council, there was a seemingly new thing which came to be
called "pastoral approach", not indeed that which was taught to the
pastors, but that which the pastors did to face up to the needs, the anxieties,
the hopes of men. This "new" approach had already been applied many
centuries earlier by Gregory, both in preaching and in the government of the
Church.
The
second duty, expressed in the word "baptize", refers to the
sacraments and to the whole of the liturgy. The diocese of Rome has followed the programme of the CEI
"Evangelization and Sacraments". It already knows that
evangelization, sacraments, and holy life are three moments on the one course;
evangelization prepares for the sacrament, the sacrament draws him who has
received it to live in a Christian way. I should like this great concept to be
applied in ever increasing measure. I should like also that Rome should in fact give a good example of
Liturgy celebrated devoutly and without ill-placed "creativity".
Certain abuses in liturgical matters have succeeded, through reaction, in
favouring attitudes that have led to a taking up of positions that in
themselves cannot be upheld and are in contrast with the Gospel. In appealing
with affection and with hope to the sense of responsibility of everyone, before
God and the Church, I should like to be able to give an assurance that every
liturgical irregularity will be diligently avoided.
And
now I have come to the last episcopal duty: "to teach and to
observe"; it is the diaconia, the service of guiding and governing.
Although already for twenty years I have been Bishop at Vittorio Veneto and at Venice,
I admit that I have not yet "learned the job" well. At Rome I shall
put myself in the school of St Gregory the Great who writes: "(the pastor)
should, with compassion, be close to each one who is subject to him; forgetful
of his rank he should consider himself on a level with the good subjects, but
he should not fear to exercise the rights of his authority against the wicked.
Remember: while every subject lifts up to heaven that which he has done well,
no one dares to censure that which he has done badly; when he puts down vices
he does not cease, with humility, to recognize himself as on the level of the
brother whom he has corrected; and he considers that he is all the more a
debtor before God, in as much as his actions remain unpunished before men"
(St Gregory the Great, Regula Pastoralis, Part Two, cc. 5 and 6 passim).
The
explanation of the lessons ends here. Let me add only one more thing: it is
God's law that one cannot do good to anyone if one does not first of all wish
him well. On account of this, St Pius V, on becoming Patriarch of Venice,
exclaimed in San Marco: "What would become of me, Venetians, if I did not
love you?" I say something similar: I can assure you that I love you, that
I desire only to enter into your service and to place the poor powers that I
have, however little they are, at the disposal of all.
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