TO TAIWANESE BISHOPS: OVERCOME THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE PAST

VATICAN CITY, JAN 29, 2002 (VIS) - This morning, the Pope received in audience the bishops of Taiwan at the close of their "ad limina" visit. John Paul II began his address by recalling the hope he expressed in the Apostolic Letter "Novo millennio ineunte," written at the end of the Jubilee Year 2000, that the particular Churches may undertake with renewed commitment the task of "living a Christian life marked by communion, charity and witness before the world."

"Over the past year," said the Pope, "the Catholic community in Taiwan has taken up this mission by reflecting on the theme: 'New Century, New Evangelization,' with the aim of contributing with concrete initiatives to the renewal of Church life in your dioceses." The Pope emphasized that such initiatives "will bear fruit provided that they reflect the two dimensions necessary in all the Church's activities: ... a spirit of prayer and contemplation ... (and) the duty to proclaim Christ, convinced that the spreading of the Gospel is 'the primary service which the Church can render to every individual and to all humanity in the modern world'."

John Paul II recalled that "faced with the difficulties affecting the life of faith today, it could be tempting for pastors to adopt an attitude of resignation and say, like the Apostle Peter: 'Master, we toiled all night and took nothing'." However, he went on to stress: "Convinced that Jesus Christ ... is the Good News for the men and women of every time and place in their search for the meaning of life, ... we should never be afraid of proclaiming the full truth about Him, in all its challenging reality. The Good News has an intrinsic power of its own to draw people."

"You do not work alone," the Pope told the bishops, "the mission belongs to all of God's people. Your priests are your closest collaborators in the work of evangelization. Lives of priests, in direct contact with both Christians and non-Christians in parishes and the various places where they exercise their pastoral ministry, are the measure of each community's vitality."

The Pope then expressed words of "gratitude, appreciation and encouragement to the men and women who belong to Taiwan's numerous institutes of consecrated life. ... There is a widespread demand today for authentic spirituality, which expresses itself in large part as a renewed need for prayer. This is particularly true in societies such as your own which on the one hand has a rich heritage of spiritual traditions and on the other is threatened by currents of materialism and individualism." He invited consecrated men and women "to cultivate carefully the life of prayer" and to be "true teachers of prayer for clergy and laity alike."

Speaking of the laity, the Pope affirmed that they have a specific responsibility and mission within the Church: to be "salt of the earth" and "light of the world." And he observed: "In the local Church in Taiwan their role is all the more vital: though by comparison their number is small, they act as a leaven in society. ... Through their faith, goodness and loving service, they can lead to the spread of an authentic Christian culture."

In conclusion, John Paul II mentioned the help given by the Church in Taiwan to the Church in other parts of Asia: "Your concern is expressed particularly in the attention you give to your brothers and sisters on the mainland who have in common with you so many cultural, spiritual and historical values. In this, your efforts are aimed at promoting mutual understanding, reconciliation and fraternal love among all the Catholics of the great Chinese family. I am confident that these efforts, carried out in communion with other particular Churches and the See of Peter, will help to overcome the difficulties of the past, so that ever new opportunities for dialogue and reciprocal human and spiritual enrichment may arise."

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