POPE STRESSES UNITY, ECUMENISM, RESTORATION OF CHURCH GOODS

VATICAN CITY, MAY 7, 1999 (VIS) - In the early afternoon the Pope arrived at the apostolic nunciature in Bucharest where he held a meeting with the members of the Romanian Episcopal Conference, who were joined by the cardinals and bishops travelling with the Holy Father.

The episcopal conference, whose statutes were approved in 1993, has 17 members: nine of the Latin rite, seven of the Greek-Catholic rite and one of the Armenian rite.

The nunciature, which had been closed in 1950 by the Communist authorities and had fallen into disrepair, was renovated following the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Romania in 1990. The newly-restored nunciature was inaugurated on November 5, 1992.

In his address to the prelates, John Paul II had warm greetings for the priests, religious, deacons and lay faithful of the Catholic Church in Romania and for their "enthusiasm and dedication to the cause of the Kingdom of God."

"Be the image of Christ for your faithful," he said, "above all as builders of communion. In this year of the Father we must feel ever more strongly Christ's longing for unity. ... The bishop is the guarantor of communion and his paternal role must be to help the community to grow as a family." Here the Pope stressed the various "forms and exigencies" of communion: Between bishops and other bishops, "in particular with the Bishop of Rome, Successor of Peter," and among bishops, priests, religious and the laity. He also highlighted the importance of such communion "when, as in Romania's case, the Church's tradition is expressed in different rites."

Essential to this unity, the Pope affirmed, are the formation of seminarians, the ongoing training of priests and the education of the religious as well as of the laity. "May seminarians," he said, "be the apples of your eyes." He lauded Romania's numerous vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated life.

He underlined the urgent need for a well-trained laity, "especially in those countries which have come through the communist experience. ... The irreplaceable duty of the laity is to bring the Gospel to those areas of social, economic and political life where the clergy do not normally operate."

John Paul II then spoke of the events of 1989, which led to the return of democracy to Romania and to greater freedom for the Catholic Church to "freely undertake its pastoral activity." He remarked that the Church had owned many schools before World War II, and stated: "With the confiscation of goods, this important ecclesial work was missing. While I recognize that it would be difficult to return to the pre-existing situation, it would be a duty in justice to give back the schools and other confiscated patrimony, thus allowing the Church to also undertake her educational mission."

On the question of the restitution of goods, "above all for the Catholic Church of Romanian-Byzantine rite," he said: "Obviously justice demands that what has been taken away should be, as far as possible, given back." He said this need not take place simultaneously but should include that patrimony important for the liturgy, such as cathedrals and diaconial churches.

Pope John Paul then turned to the ecumenical commitment, saying that "we must all work .... on the dialogue, both theological and operational, with other Churches and Christian communities. ... I hope that in Romania too, ecumenical initiatives can be organized with our Orthodox brothers and other Christian communities on the occasion of the Jubilee year."

Closing remarks focussed on the Catholic Church's commitment to dedicate special attention to the family, to "inculcating respect for the life of every person, from the moment of conception up to natural death," and to providing "concrete and generous attention ... towards the poorest and most marginalized."

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