VATICAN CITY, NOV 14, 2002 (VIS) - Pope John Paul today visited the Italian parliament and became the first Roman Pontiff in history to address the joint houses of parliament. The Pope has previously addressed national parliaments in the tiny Republic of San Marino, in Canberra, the capital of Australia and in Warsaw in his native Poland.
The Vatican issued a commemorative medal for this occasion that will be given to lawmakers, and Italy's communications ministry has issued a commemorative postcard showing the Italian parliament as a backdrop for Pope John Paul II.
The Holy Father left the Vatican at 10:45 this morning, accompanied by Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano, Archbishops Leonardo Sandri, substitute for General Affairs, and Jean-Louis Tauran, secretary for Relations with States and Bishops James Harvey, prefect of the papal Household and Stanislaw Dziwisz, adjunct prefect. The papal cars drove a heavily guarded route, arriving at Montecitorio Palace in Rome's historic center in ten minutes.
The Pope and his entourage were welcomed by the presidents and secretaries general of the house and senate and by an honor guard. Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and the president of the Council of Ministers, Silvio Berlusconi, received the Pope before he entered the chamber to give his address. Once in the chamber, a carabinieri band played both the Italian and pontifical anthems, after which Pier Ferdinando Casini, president of the house and Senator Marcello Pera, president of the senate, made brief welcoming remarks.
John Paul II began his speech by thanking the President and Parliament for the "marvelous welcome ... in this illustrious seat of government."
"Truly deep is the bond that exists between the Holy See and Italy!" he exclaimed. "We all know that this association has gone through widely different phases and circumstances, subject to the vicissitudes and contradictions of history." However, he said, this bond "has had highly positive results, both for the Church of Rome, and therefore for the Catholic Church, and for the beloved Italian Nation."
Referring later to Italian history, the Pope affirmed that the country's "social and cultural identity, and the civilizing mission it has exercised and continues to exercise in Europe and the world, would be most difficult to understand without reference to Christianity, its life-blood."
The Holy Father invited lawmakers to trust in the "in the heritage of virtues and values handed down by your forebears" since "it is on the basis of this trust that it will be possible to give clear answers to the issues of the moment, however complex and difficult they may be, and even more, to look boldly to the future, asking what more Italy can do for the progress of civilization."
The Pope stated that in order for Italy to be better able to express its characteristic qualities "it needs to increase its solidarity and internal cohesion." Solidarity, he added, "has profound roots in the heart and in the customs of the Italian people, and one of the ways in which it is currently being expressed is in numerous and praiseworthy forms of volunteer work."
"As political leaders and institutional representatives," he affirmed, "you yourselves can give a particularly important and effective example in this field. Your example will be all the more meaningful insofar as the dialectic of politics tends rather to emphasize differences."
John Paul II stressed that "the challenges facing a democratic State demand from all men and women of good will, irrespective of their particular political persuasion, supportive and generous cooperation in building up the common good of the Nation. Such cooperation however cannot prescind from reference to the fundamental ethical values inscribed in the very nature of the human person. ... In fact, as I noted in another Encyclical Letter, 'Centesimus Annus', if there exists no ultimate truth to guide and direct political life 'ideas and convictions can easily be manipulated for reasons of power. As history demonstrates, a democracy without values easily turns into open or thinly disguised totalitarianism'."
"I cannot fail to mention, on such a solemn occasion," underscored the Pope, "another grave threat that bears upon the future of this Country, one which is already conditioning its life and its capacity for development. I refer to the crisis of the birthrate, the demographic decline and the ageing of the population. Raw statistical evidence obliges us to take account of the human, social and economic problems which this crisis will inevitably impose on Italy in the decades to come."
He noted that "The Church's contribution to the development of an attitude and culture by which this reversal of tendency can become possible is her pastoral action in favour of families and openness to life." However, he said, "there is also ample room for political initiatives which, by upholding recognition of the rights of the family as the natural society founded upon marriage, ... can make the task of having children and bringing them up less burdensome both socially and economically."
Turning to the formation and education of individuals, John Paul II stated that "At a time of often radical change, when past experience seems increasingly irrelevant, there is an ever greater need for a solid formation of the person. This too, distinguished Representatives of the Italian people, is an area which calls for the broadest cooperation, to ensure that the primary responsibilities of parents can find adequate support."
He went on to say that "The thoughtful person understands clearly that the human measure of a person is who he 'is' rather than what he 'has'. The human value of each individual is directly and essentially related to being, not having. For this reason a nation concerned for its own future promotes the development of its learning centres in a healthy climate of freedom, and leaves no effort undone to improve their quality."
"The genuinely 'human' nature of society," noted the pontiff, "is shown especially in the attention which it is able show towards its weakest members. If we consider Italy's development in the almost sixty years since the devastation of the Second World War, we can only admire the immense progress made towards a society in which all are guaranteed acceptable living conditions. But it is likewise necessary to acknowledge the continuing grave crisis of unemployment affecting the young in particular, and the many forms of poverty, deprivation and marginalization, both old and new, involving numerous individuals and families, whether Italians or immigrants to this country. Great therefore is the need for a willing and comprehensive network of solidarity."
Stating that public institutions must support such solidarity, the Holy Father specified that "In this context, and without prejudice to the need to guarantee the security of citizens, attention needs to be given to the prison situation, where inmates often live in conditions of appalling overcrowding. A gesture of clemency towards prisoners through a reduction of their sentences would be clear evidence of a sensitivity which would encourage them in their own personal rehabilitation for the sake of a constructive re-insertion into society."
"A self-confident and internally cohesive Italy can be a great enrichment for the other nations of Europe and the world," affirmed the Pope. "I wish to share this conviction with you at this time, when the institutional shape of the European Union is being defined and its expansion to include many countries of Central and Eastern Europe appears imminent, as it were sealing the end of an unnatural division."
Regarding this expansion, he said: "There is a need to guard against a vision of the Continent which would only take into account its economic and political aspects, or which would uncritically yield to lifestyles inspired by a consumerism indifferent to spiritual values. ... There must be a commitment to ensuring that it is supported on those ethical foundations which were once its basis, while at the same time making room for the richness and diversity of the cultures and traditions which characterize individual nations."
"The new century just begun brings with it a growing need for concord, solidarity and peace between the nations," underscored John Paul II. "Tragically our hopes for peace are brutally contradicted by the flaring up of chronic conflicts, beginning with the one which has caused so much bloodshed in the Holy Land. There is also international terrorism, which has taken on a new and fearful dimension, involving in a completely distorted way the great religions. Precisely for this reason, the world's religions are challenged to show all their rich potential for peace by directing and as it were 'converting' towards mutual understanding the cultures and civilizations which draw inspiration from them."
In closing, the Holy Father said that "In this great enterprise, on whose outcome depends the future of the human race in coming decades, Christianity has its own particular genius and responsibility: by proclaiming the God of love, it presents itself as the religion of mutual respect, forgiveness and reconciliation. Italy and the other nations historically rooted in the Christian faith are in a sense inherently prepared to open up for humanity new pathways of peace, not by ignoring the danger of present threats, yet not allowing themselves to be imprisoned by a 'logic of conflict incapable of offering real solutions."
At the end of his speech, Pope John Paul was given the silver bell which had announced the start of today's public session of the Italian parliament. He then went to the Hall of Ministers where he met Italy's leading political and juridical figures. He left Montecitorio Palace for the Vatican shortly after 1 p.m.
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