Vatican
City, 22 March 2013
(VIS) – “Through you I encounter your peoples, and thus in a
sense I can reach out to every one of your fellow citizens, with
their joys, their troubles, their expectations, their desires,”
said the Holy Father this morning to members of the diplomatic corps
accredited to the Holy See whom he received in audience in the Sala
Regia of the Vatican Apostolic Palace.
Currently,
180 States maintain full diplomatic relations with the Holy See, to
which number are also added the European Union, the Sovereign
Military Order of Malta, and a mission of a special nature: the
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which is headed by a
director. The most recent State to establish diplomatic relations
with the Holy See, at the level of an Apostolic Nunciature, was the
Republic of South Sudan on 22 February of this year.
Speaking
in Italian, the Pope first greeted the dean of the diplomatic corps,
Jean-Claude Michel of the Principality of Monaco, and then stated
that the relations that so many nations maintain with the Holy See
“are truly a source of benefit to mankind. That, indeed, is what
matters to the Holy See: the good of every person upon this earth!
And it is with this understanding that the Bishop of Rome embarks
upon his ministry, in the knowledge that he can count on the
friendship and affection of the countries you represent, and in the
certainty that you share this objective. At the same time, I hope
that it will also be an opportunity to begin a journey with those few
countries that do not yet have diplomatic relations with the Holy
See, some of which were present at the Mass for the beginning of my
ministry, or sent messages as a sign of their closeness—for which I
am truly grateful.”
Continuing,
the Holy Father explained the reasons why he chose his papal name,
thinking of St. Francis of Assisi, “a familiar figure far beyond
the borders of Italy and Europe, even among those who do not profess
the Catholic faith. One of the first reasons was Francis’ love for
the poor. How many poor people there still are in the world! And what
great suffering they have to endure! After the example of Francis of
Assisi, the Church in every corner of the globe has always tried to
care for and look after those who suffer from want, and I think that
in many of your countries you can attest to the generous activity of
Christians who dedicate themselves to helping the sick, orphans, the
homeless and all the marginalized, thus striving to make society more
humane and more just.”
“But
there is another form of poverty”, he observed. “It is the
spiritual poverty of our time, which afflicts the so-called richer
countries particularly seriously. It is what my much-loved
predecessor, Benedict XVI, called the 'tyranny of relativism', which
makes everyone his own criterion and endangers the coexistence of
peoples. And that brings me to a second reason for my name. Francis
of Assisi tells us we should work to build peace. But there is no
true peace without truth! There cannot be true peace if everyone is
his own criterion, if everyone can always claim exclusively his own
rights, without at the same time caring for the good of others, of
everyone, on the basis of the nature that unites every human being on
this earth.”
“One
of the titles of the Bishop of Rome is 'Pontiff', that is, a builder
of bridges, with God and between people. My wish is that the dialogue
between us should help to build bridges connecting all people, in
such a way that everyone can see in the other not an enemy, not a
rival, but a brother or sister to be welcomed and embraced! My own
origins impel me to work for the building of bridges. As you know, my
family is of Italian origin; and so this dialogue between places and
cultures a great distance apart matters greatly to me, this dialogue
between one end of the world and the other, which today are growing
ever closer, more interdependent, more in need of opportunities to
meet and to create real spaces of authentic fraternity.”
Repeating
that the role of religion is fundamental to this task, Francis
affirmed that: “It is not possible to build bridges between people
while forgetting God. But the converse is also true: it is not
possible to establish true links with God, while ignoring other
people. Hence it is important to intensify dialogue among the various
religions, and I am thinking particularly of dialogue with Islam. At
the Mass marking the beginning of my ministry, I greatly appreciated
the presence of so many civil and religious leaders from the Islamic
world. And it is also important to intensify outreach to
non-believers, so that the differences which divide and hurt us may
never prevail, but rather the desire to build true links of
friendship between all peoples, despite their diversity.”
“Fighting
poverty, both material and spiritual, building peace and constructing
bridges: these, as it were, are the reference points for a journey
that I want to invite each of the countries here represented to take
up. But it is a difficult journey, if we do not learn to grow in love
for this world of ours. Here too, it helps me to think of the name of
Francis, who teaches us profound respect for the whole of creation
and the protection of our environment, which all too often, instead
of using for the good, we exploit greedily, to one another’s
detriment.”
“Thank
you again,” the pontiff concluded, “for all the work that you do,
alongside the Secretariat of State, to build peace and construct
bridges of friendship and fraternity. Through you, I would like to
renew to your Governments my thanks for their participation in the
celebrations on the occasion of my election, and my heartfelt desire
for a fruitful common endeavour. May Almighty God pour out his gifts
on each one of you, on your families and on the peoples that you
represent. Thank you!”
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