VATICAN CITY, SEP 4, 2004 (VIS) - This morning at Castelgandolfo, Pope John Paul received the Letters of Credence of Donald Smith, Canada's new ambassador to the Holy See. In his speech in English to the diplomat, he recalled his visits to Canada, "especially the joyous occasion of World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto."
He stated that "Canada's generous and practical contributions to the building of a world of peace, justice and prosperity are widely recognized by the international community. Indeed, solidarity with developing nations is a well-known and laudable trait of your people, evidenced, among other things, by your nation's notable involvement in peace-keeping missions and the production of low-cost medicines for poorer nations." And he noted that "during thirty-five years of diplomatic relations the Holy See has worked together with Canada on a number of projects for the betterment of disadvantaged people and communities, including the promotion and application of the Ottawa Convention on landmines and the WTO agreement on intellectual property and public health."
"Such gestures of solidarity," said the Holy Father, "spring from values and convictions which have shaped Canadian society throughout its history and upon which all authentic social progress depends."
He went on to say that "Canada's openness to migration has brought increasing diversity and a great richness to your culture, fostering mutual accommodation and respect between ethnic groups. ... The successful integration of the multiple ethnic communities ... also illustrate for other nations that the respect due to every person is rooted in the common origin of all men and women, rather than in the fact of differences between peoples. It is this sublime and fundamental truth concerning the human person - created male and female in the image and likeness of God - which constitutes the immutable basis for all other anthropological truths."
John Paul II then underscored that "for generations Canadians have recognized and celebrated the place of marriage at the heart of your society. ... The institution of marriage necessarily entails the complementarity of husbands and wives who participate in God's creative activity through the raising of children. Spouses thereby ensure the survival of society and culture, and rightly deserve specific and categorical legal recognition by the State. Any attempts to change the meaning of the word "spouse" contradict right reason: legal guarantees, analogous to those granted to marriage, cannot be applied to unions between persons of the same sex without creating a false understanding of the nature of marriage."
The Pope closed by expressing confidence that "the splendid vision of supportive and stable family life, so dear to the people of Canada, will continue to offer to society the foundation upon which the aspirations of your nation can be built." He highlighted the Catholic Church's role in assisting "in upholding the essential social foundations of civic life" and in forming youth, "especially through her schools, and her social apostolate."
CD/LETTERS CREDENCE/CANADA VIS 20040906 (470)
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