Vatican City, 29 June 2014 (VIS) –
This morning in the Vatican basilica, on the occasion of the
Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Pope Francis imposed the pallium
– symbol of the bond of unity with the see of Peter – on
twenty-four new metropolitan archbishops. It will be imposed on a
further three – the archbishops of Lilongwe, Malawi; Mandalay,
Myanmar; and Freiburg im Bresgau, Germany – in their metropolitan
sees.
Pope Francis concelebrated the
Eucharist with the new archbishops. As is customary on the feast day
of the patron saints of Rome, the event was attended by a delegation
from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, sent by the
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomaios I and led by Metropolitan of
Pergamo Ioannis (Zizioulas), co-president of the Mixed Commission for
Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox
Church.
In his homily, the Holy Father spoke
about various problems and the two issues the clergy can be led to
face as a result: fear, and the pastoral responsibility for combating
it. He began by considering the beginning of Peter's service in the
Christian community of Jerusalem, where fear still reigned because of
Herod's persecution of members of the Church.
“There had been the killing of James,
and then the imprisonment of Peter himself, in order to placate the
people. While Peter was imprisoned and in chains, he heard the voice
of the angel telling him, 'Get up quickly… dress yourself and put
on your sandals… Put on your mantle and follow me!'. The chains
fell from him and the door of the prison opened before him. Peter
realised that the Lord had 'rescued him from the hand of Herod'; he
realized that the Lord had freed him from fear and from chains. Yes,
the Lord liberates us from every fear and from all that enslaves us,
so that we can be truly free. Today’s liturgical celebration
expresses this truth well in the refrain of the Responsorial Psalm:
'The Lord has freed me from all my fears'”.
“The problem for us, then, is fear
and looking for refuge in our pastoral responsibilities. I wonder,
dear brother bishops, are we afraid? What are we afraid of? And if we
are afraid, what forms of refuge do we seek, in our pastoral life, to
find security? Do we look for support from those who wield worldly
power? Or do we let ourselves be deceived by the pride which seeks
gratification and recognition, thinking that these will offer us
security? Dear brother bishops, where do we find our security?”
“The witness of the Apostle Peter
reminds us that our true refuge is trust in God. Trust in God
banishes all fear and sets us free from every form of slavery and all
worldly temptation. Today the Bishop of Rome and other bishops,
particularly the metropolitans who have received the pallium, feel
challenged by the example of Saint Peter to assess to what extent
each of us puts his trust in the Lord. Peter recovered this trust
when Jesus said to him three times: 'Feed my sheep'. Peter thrice
confessed his love for Jesus, thus making up for his threefold denial
of Christ during the passion. Peter still regrets the disappointment
which he caused the Lord on the night of his betrayal. Now that the
Lord asks him: 'Do you love me?', Peter does not trust himself and
his own strength, but instead entrusts himself to Jesus and his
mercy: 'Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you'.
Precisely at this moment fear, insecurity and cowardice dissipate”.
“Peter experienced how God’s
fidelity is always greater than our acts of infidelity, stronger than
our denials. He realises that the God’s fidelity dispels our fears
and exceeds every human reckoning. Today Jesus also asks us: 'Do you
love me?'. He does so because he knows our fears and our struggles.
Peter shows us the way: we need to trust in the Lord, who 'knows
everything' that is in us, not counting on our capacity to be
faithful, but on his unshakable fidelity. Jesus never abandons us,
for he cannot deny himself. He is faithful. The fidelity which God
constantly shows to us pastors, far in excess of our merits, is the
source of our confidence and our peace. The Lord’s fidelity to us
keeps kindled within us the desire to serve him and to serve our
sisters and brothers in charity”.
“The love of Jesus must suffice for
Peter. He must no longer yield to the temptation to curiosity,
jealousy, as when, seeing John nearby, he asks Jesus: 'Lord, what
about this man?'. But Jesus, before such temptations, says to him in
reply: 'What is it to you? Follow me'. This experience of Peter is a
message for us too, dear brother archbishops. Today the Lord repeats
to me, to you, and to all pastors: Follow me! Waste no time in
questioning or in useless chattering; do not dwell on secondary
things, but look to what is essential and follow me. Follow me
without regard for the difficulties. Follow me in preaching the
Gospel. Follow me by the witness of a life shaped by the grace you
received in baptism and holy orders. Follow me by speaking of me to
those with whom you live, day after day, in your work, your
conversations and among your friends. Follow me by proclaiming the
Gospel to all, especially to the least among us, so that no one will
fail to hear the word of life which sets us free from every fear and
enables us to trust in the faithfulness of God. Follow me!”.
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