BURUNDI BISHOPS: WORK FOR FRATERNITY AND UNITY

VATICAN CITY, MAY 28, 2005 (VIS) - This morning, Benedict XVI received members of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Burundi, who have just completed their "ad limina" visit.

  At the beginning of his address in French, the Pope recalled Archbishop Michael A. Courtney, who was murdered in December 2003 while serving as apostolic nuncio to Burundi. "He was faithful, even to the point of sacrificing his life to the mission with which the Holy Father had entrusted him in the service of your dear country, and of the local Church."

  The Holy Father went on to refer the five-yearly "ad limina" visits bishops make to the Holy See, and the reports they present that underline "the Catholic Church's active role in promoting peace and reconciliation in your country, especially during this election period."

  "The suffering occasioned by the war - during which, we must recall, many Christians bore heroic witness to their faith - cannot conceal the desire to work, for Christ and in His name, towards fraternity and unity among everyone." On this subject, the Pope called on pastoral activity plans and on diocesan synods to contribute "to announcing the Gospel, to healing memories and hearts, to favoring solidarity among all citizens, eliminating the spirit of vengeance and of resentment, and tirelessly calling for forgiveness and reconciliation."

  After highlighting the fact that ten years ago John Paul II had promulgated the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation "Ecclesia in Africa," the Holy Father expressed the hope that this document becomes "a Magna Carta of your commitment to the mission with which you have been entrusted, in communion with the other local Churches."

  The Pope asked the bishops to follow the faithful carefully "so that they experience ever more intensely the requirements of their Baptism. Many of them know extreme poverty and interior distress, and are tempted to return to ancient practices not purified by the Spirit of the Lord, or to sects." For this reason, he went on, "solid Christian formation is necessary, without neglecting efforts of inculturation, especially in the field of translating the Bible and the texts of the Magisterium."

  Benedict XVI concluded by giving thanks "for the apostolic commitment shown, often in difficult conditions, by priests, and male and female religious in your dioceses, both locals and those who have come from other areas. Nor do I forget the catechists, worthy helpers in the apostolate, or all the faithful who participate in the development of human beings and of society within the ambit of the Church's activity of social promotion, and her service in the world of education and health care."
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