VATICAN CITY, SEP 8, 2006 (VIS) - The new ambassador of Chile to the Holy See, Pedro Pablo Cabrera Gaete today presented his Letters of Credence to the Holy Father who, in his address to the diplomat, praised "the spiritual proximity of the Chilean people to Peter's Successor, a proximity created over history in unison with the Church's constant activities through her members and institutions."
The Pope recalled how Chile is approaching its bicentenary as a republic "with the hopes that arise from a particularly significant period in which notable development goals have been achieved, institutions have become consolidated and a climate of peaceful coexistence seems to have been established." He also highlighted how these factors, "alongside the opening of horizons beyond your own confines, are certainly cause for satisfaction, and a new call to a sense of responsibility in order to uphold the highest ideals which are what give rise to all true progress and, in the end, make that progress possible."
"In this regard," Benedict XVI said, "the Church accomplishes her mission by announcing the Gospel of Christ, projecting her light onto the reality of the world and human beings, thereby proclaiming their most exalted dignity." The Church, he added, "shares the thirst for a justice undiminished by insufficient respect for the dignity of man and the inalienable rights deriving from that dignity."
Among these rights, "mention must first be made of the right to life in all phases of its development and in whatever situation it may be; ... the right to form a family based on the bonds of love and faithfulness established in marriage between a man and a woman, something which must be protected and supported; ... and the primary right to educate children according to the ideals with which the parents want to enrich them."
"The dear land of Chile," said the Holy Father, "has abundant historical and spiritual resources with which to face the future with well-founded hopes of attaining new goals of humanity, thus also contributing to supporting bonds of cooperation and peaceful coexistence in the concert of nations."
The Pope concluded his remarks to the diplomat by recalling the Chilean Sts. Teresa de los Andes and Fr. Alberto Hurtado, and expressed the hope that "the many gifts of nature the Creator has granted the sons and daughters of Chile," may continue "to give fruits that open a more prosperous future to new generations, that they may be lovers of peace and maintain a transcendent sense of life, in accordance with the country's centuries-old Christian roots."
CD/LETTERS OF CREDENCE/CHILE:CABRERA VIS 20060908 (440)
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