TO LAY PEOPLE IN EASTERN EUROPE: THIS IS A TIME FOR HOPE

VATICAN CITY, OCT 13, 2003 (VIS) - Made public today was a message from John Paul II to the participants in the First Congress for Eastern European Lay Catholics which took place from October 8 to 12 in Kiev, Ukraine. The meeting was organized by the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

In the message, dated October 4, the Pope writes that "the harsh legacy of atheistic totalitarian regimes, which have left emptiness and deep scars on consciences, requires that the countries of Eastern Europe take up today the hard work of proceeding with religious, moral and civil reconstruction; of strengthening refound sovereignty, freedom and democracy; of mending the economy."

"For the laity, this is a time of hope and courage! The Church needs you and knows that she can entrust great responsibilities to you." After asking them not to get discouraged in the face of the "challenges of our day," the Holy Father says: "Make your families true domestic Churches and your parishes true schools of prayer and Christian life. You have regained freedom at the price of great suffering; do not ever let it turn into the pursuit of false ideals suggested by the utilarianism, individualistic hedonism or unrestrained consumerism that characterize so much of modern culture. Preserve your rich Christian traditions, resisting the insidious temptation to exclude God from your lives or to reduce faith to gestures and sporadic, superficial occurrences."

The Pope concludes by indicating that "the lay faithful, with a proper formation and always in respect of freedom, in brotherly love, in dialogue and in cooperation, can open new paths to Christian unity, which is a 'walking together towards Christ' ... You too are called to bear witness to Christ together with all our Christian brothers and sisters. ... Pray unceasingly so that what seems impossible by the standards of human logic will be made possible by God, Who offers His powerful assistance. Bring to fulfillment the commandment of His Son: 'Ut unum sint'."

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