CULTURE ALSO FORMS THE SPIRITUAL MAKE-UP OF THE CHURCH

VATICAN CITY, DEC 15, 2001 (VIS) - John Paul II today received representatives of the academic senate of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University of Warsaw, Poland, who conferred upon him a doctorate "honoris causa."

The Pope affirmed that he received this title "with gratitude ... especially because this year, on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of (Cardinal Wyszynski's) birth, the memory of this great pastor and statesman is particularly vivid."

The Holy Father noted that the Cardinal's mission as pastor "is usually associated with his work of preparing the Church in Poland to enter the new millennium of Christianity" and with "his firm position" as a statesman in the face of Communist atheism. "Thanks to this position, the Church, in difficult and trying conditions, succeeded in maintaining her due place in national life and in maintaining a just direction in her internal development."

"It is necessary to emphasize the fact, which seems to be rarely given attention, that Cardinal Wyszynski, both as pastor and as statesman, placed great emphasis on the role of culture - in its broadest sense - in forming the spiritual face of the Church and the nation. ... The cultural past, the heritage of creative effort in the thoughts and deeds of generations animated by the spirit of faith rooted in the Gospel, is the foundation of the identity of the Polish nation."

If in Cardinal Wyszynski's time it was necessary to reaffirm the importance of culture for the survival of the nation in the face of totalitarianism, "it seems that today," the Pope affirmed, "it is necessary to go further. We are witnessing the process of the unification of European States and of the globalization of numerous sectors of world life. This cannot be carried out without taking into consideration nations' spiritual and cultural traditions. Therefore, it is necessary to act in order for the process to take place with the positive and creative participation of individuals, and of those sectors responsible for culture and for the conservation and development of the heritage of the centuries."

"You are a symbol of the Europe which you must build together," said the Pope, citing the words he used last week in addressing university students in St. Peter's Basilica. He went on to invite members of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University to contribute "to forming the spiritual face not only of Poland but of all of Europe. It is a great task - it could even seem ambitious - but it is a mission to which all European scientific circles built upon Christian tradition are called."

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