Vatican
City, 11 January 2013 (VIS) - Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of
the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, during his visit to Egypt
(6–11 January) to celebrate the Year of Faith with the local
Church, met with those responsible for apostolic events in that
country. Speaking to them in Cairo this past Wednesday, 9 January, he
said to the prelates and others present: "You are the ones who
have made yourselves personally available to serve the Church and you
have received the ecclesial task of committing yourselves, in
faithfulness and constructive cooperation with pastors, so that the
life of the Catholic community in Egypt may know how to efficiently
announce the Son of God through sacramental life, catechesis, and
charity—especially in charitable aid, in education, and in the
concrete and daily service of our many brothers and sisters."
"Doubtlessly,"
he continued, "you are experiencing the desert of this very
difficult present situation. Perhaps we must guard against letting
the desert advance in our consciences and our hearts precisely while
we are trying to advance the Gospel. Do not forget that the Son of
God's intense days were preceded and followed by an even more intense
dialogue with the Father. … Let us also, dear friends, pause at the
oasis of Elim spoken of in the book of Exodus so that, despite the
serious worries that the present holds for Christians in the Middle
East and in your own dear country, our faithfulness may be
reinvigorated while embracing the beauty of friendship with God."
Continuing,
the cardinal recalled his meeting in Alexandria with the Egyptian
Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Franciscan Missionary
Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, emphasizing the "primacy
of charitable action in benefit of the children of this nation".
He observed that the construction of the church in Sharm el-Sheikh
was "an exceptional example of Christian charity. Many
contributed generously: the area's ecclesial community, the
Pontifical Representation, and some assistance agencies belonging to
ROACO (Reunion of Organisations for Aid to the Oriental Churches) of
which the prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches is
president."
"We
cannot nor do we want to forget," he stressed, "Egypt's
secular tradition: the heights of religiousness and culture that it
has know and which must be confirmed in the present and the future: a
culture ever open to the revelation of God. … Safeguarding and
cultivating the faith in the cultural arena constitutes a privileged
part of our pastoral mission and, perhaps, collaboration between the
various centres that have for some time inspired the apostolic and
missionary activity of this nation should be incentivized.
In
conclusion, the cardinal entrusted the objectives of the Year of
Faith, called by the Holy Father on 11 October 2012, to those
responsible for apostolic events. "First of all, we are asked in
grace to remain close to the life of the church and to participate
directly in it so that we may grow in awareness of the gift we have
received increasing, above all, our personal and communal sacramental
life."
"In
this way, we may share the Church's mission to all peoples. We are
expecting a renewed missionary impulse from the Year of Faith because
throughout the world the most diverse religions are meeting and
facing one another. And we are hoping for the confirmation of the
Church's presence in the world, with its due support and the defence
of Christians who are not granted religious freedom. The ability to
profess one's own creed must be guaranteed to everyone without
exception, and thus also to Christians."
Finally,
the third objective of the Year of Faith is "to knock at the
hearts of tired and indifferent Christians so that they might
rediscover the joy of Christ and return to Him in order to have true
and eternal life."
Yesterday,
Thursday, the cardinal inaugurated the church of Our Lady of Peace in
Sharm el-Sheikh. Cardinal Sandri's visit also had the purpose of
remembering the centennial of the founding of the Egyptian Sisters of
the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the bicentennial of the founding of the
Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The
prelate also met with the Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria,
Cardinal Antonios Naguib, and with bishops in Egypt. Likewise, in
the sphere of relations with the Orthodox Churches, Cardinal Sandri
met with the head of the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, His
Beatitude Pope Theodore II, and the new head of the Coptic Orthodox
Church of Alexandria, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II.
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