Vatican
City, 6 January 2013 (VIS) - Today, Sunday the Solemnity of the
Lord's Epiphany, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Holy Mass in the
Vatican Basilica and conferred episcopal ordination on Angelo
Vincenzo Zani, elected titular archbishop of Volturno and named
secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education; Fortunato
Nwachukwu, elected titular archbishop of Acquaviva and named
apostolic nuncio to Nicaragua; Georg Ganswein, private secretary to
Benedict XVI, named titular archbishop of Urbisaglia and prefect of
the pontifical household; and Nicolas Henry Marie Denis Thevenin,
elected titular archbishop of Eclano and named apostolic nuncio to
Guatemala. Concelebrating with the Holy Father were Cardinal Tarcisio
Bertone, SDB, Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, and the four
archbishops-elect. The rite of ordination took place after the
proclamation of the Gospel and the announcement of the date of
Easter, which will be celebrated on 31 March this year.
During
the homily the Holy Father spoke of the Three Wise Men, referring to
them as "seekers after God", for whom "the truth meant
more than the taunts of the world". Speaking about what it means
to be a bishop the Pope affirmed that he "must be courageous"
and have "the courage to contradict the prevailing mindset".
Below
you will find the complete text of Benedict XVI's words:
"For
the Church which believes and prays, the Wise Men from the East who,
guided by the star, made their way to the manger of Bethlehem, are
only the beginning of a great procession which winds throughout
history. Thus the liturgy reads the Gospel which relates the journey
of the Wise Men, together with the magnificent prophetic visions of
the sixtieth chapter of the Book of Isaiah and Psalm 71, which depict
in bold imagery the pilgrimage of the peoples to Jerusalem. Like the
shepherds, who as the first visitors to the newborn Child in the
manger, embodied the poor of Israel and more generally those humble
souls who live in deep interior closeness to Jesus, so the men from
the East embody the world of the peoples, the Church of the Gentiles
– the men and women who in every age set out on the way which leads
to the Child of Bethlehem, to offer him homage as the Son of God and
to bow down before him. The Church calls this feast “Epiphany” –
the appearance of the Godhead. If we consider the fact that from the
very beginning men and women of every place, of every continent, of
all the different cultures, mentalities and lifestyles, have been on
the way to Christ, then we can truly say that this pilgrimage and
this encounter with God in the form of a Child is an epiphany of
God’s goodness and loving kindness for humanity (cf. Tit 3:4).
Following
a tradition begun by Pope John Paul II, we celebrate the feast of the
Epiphany of the Lord also as the day when episcopal ordination will
be conferred on four priests who will now cooperate in different ways
in the ministry of the Pope for the unity of the one Church of Jesus
Christ in the multiplicity of the Particular Churches. The
connection between this episcopal ordination and the theme of the
pilgrimage of the peoples to Jesus Christ is evident. It is the task
of the Bishop in this pilgrimage not merely to walk beside the
others, but to go before them, showing the way. But in this liturgy
I would like to reflect with you on a more concrete question. Based
on the account of Matthew, we can gain a certain idea of what sort of
men these were, who followed the sign of the star and set off to find
that King who would establish not only for Israel but for all mankind
a new kind of kingship. What kind of men were they? And we can also
ask whether, despite the difference of times and tasks, we can
glimpse in them something of what a Bishop is and how he is to carry
out his task.
These
men who set out towards the unknown were, in any event, men with a
restless heart. Men driven by a restless quest for God and the
salvation of the world. They were filled with expectation, not
satisfied with their secure income and their respectable place in
society. They were looking for something greater. They were no
doubt learned men, quite knowledgeable about the heavens and probably
possessed of a fine philosophical formation. But they desired more
than simply knowledge about things. They wanted above all else to
know what is essential. They wanted to know how we succeed in being
human. And therefore they wanted to know if God exists, and where
and how he exists. Whether he is concerned about us and how we can
encounter him. Nor did they want just to know. They wanted to
understand the truth about ourselves and about God and the world.
Their outward pilgrimage was an expression of their inward journey,
the inner pilgrimage of their hearts. They were men who sought God
and were ultimately on the way towards him. They were seekers after
God.
Here
we come to the question: What sort of man must he be, upon whom hands
are laid in episcopal ordination in the Church of Jesus Christ? We
can say that he must above all be a man concerned for God, for only
then will he also be truly concerned about men. Inversely, we could
also say that a Bishop must be a man concerned for others, one who is
concerned about what happens to them. He must be a man for others.
But he can only truly be so if he is a man seized by God, if concern
for God has also become for him concern for God’s creature who is
man. Like the Wise Men from the East, a Bishop must not be someone
who merely does his job and is content with that. No, he must be
gripped by God’s concern for men and women. He must in some way
think and feel with God. Human beings have an innate restlessness
for God, but this restlessness is a participation in God’s own
restlessness for us. Since God is concerned about us, he follows us
even to the crib, even to the Cross. “Thou with weary steps hast
sought me, crucified hast dearly bought me, may thy pains not be in
vain”, the Church prays in the Dies Irae. The restlessness of men
for God and hence the restlessness of God for men must unsettle the
Bishop. This is what we mean when we say that, above all else, the
Bishop must be a man of faith. For faith is nothing less than being
interiorly seized by God, something which guides us along the
pathways of life. Faith draws us into a state of being seized by the
restlessness of God and it makes us pilgrims who are on an inner
journey towards the true King of the world and his promise of
justice, truth and love. On this pilgrimage the Bishop must go
ahead, he must be the guide pointing out to men and women the way to
faith, hope and love.
Faith’s
inner pilgrimage towards God occurs above all in prayer. Saint
Augustine once said that prayer is ultimately nothing more than the
realization and radicalization of our yearning for God. Instead of
“yearning”, we could also translate the word as “restlessness”
and say that prayer would detach us from our false security, from our
being enclosed within material and visible realities, and would give
us a restlessness for God and thus an openness to and concern for one
another. The Bishop, as a pilgrim of God, must be above all a man of
prayer. He must live be in constant inner contact with God; his soul
must be open wide to God. He must bring before God his own needs and
the needs of others, as well as his joys and the joys of others, and
thus in his own way establish contact between God and the world in
communion with Christ, so that Christ’s light can shine in the
world.
Let
us return to the Wise Men from the East. These were also, and above
all, men of courage, the courage and humility born of faith. Courage
was needed to grasp the meaning of the star as a sign to set out, to
go forth – towards the unknown, the uncertain, on paths filled with
hidden dangers. We can imagine that their decision was met with
derision: the scorn of those realists who could only mock the
reveries of such men. Anyone who took off on the basis of such
uncertain promises, risking everything, could only appear ridiculous.
But for these men, inwardly seized by God, the way which he pointed
out was more important than what other people thought. For them,
seeking the truth meant more than the taunts of the world, so
apparently clever.
How
can we not think, in this context, of the task of a Bishop in our own
time? The humility of faith, of sharing the faith of the Church of
every age, will constantly be in conflict with the prevailing wisdom
of those who cling to what seems certain. Anyone who lives and
proclaims the faith of the Church is on many points out of step with
the prevalent way of thinking, even in our own day. Today’s
regnant agnosticism has its own dogmas and is extremely intolerant
regarding anything that would question it and the criteria it
employs. Therefore the courage to contradict the prevailing mindset
is particularly urgent for a Bishop today. He must be courageous.
And this courage or forcefulness does not consist in striking out or
in acting aggressively, but rather in allowing oneself to be struck
and to be steadfast before the principles of the prevalent way of
thinking. The courage to stand firm in the truth is unavoidably
demanded of those whom the Lord sends like sheep among wolves.
“Those who fear the Lord will not be timid”, says the Book of
Sirach (34:16). The fear of God frees us from the fear of men. It
liberates.
Here
I am reminded of an episode at the very beginning of Christianity
which Saint Luke recounts in the Acts of the Apostles. After the
speech of Gamaliel, who advised against violence in dealing with the
earliest community of believers in Jesus, the Sanhedrin summoned the
Apostles and had them flogged. It then forbade them from preaching in
the name of Jesus and set them free. Saint Luke continues: “As
they left the council, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy
to suffer dishonour for the name of Jesus. And every day… they did
not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah” (Acts
5:40ff.). The successors of the Apostles must also expect to be
repeatedly beaten, by contemporary methods, if they continue to
proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that can be heard and
understood. Then they can rejoice that they have been considered
worthy of suffering for him. Like the Apostles, we naturally want to
convince people and in this sense to obtain their approval.
Naturally, we are not provocative; on the contrary we invite all to
enter into the joy of that truth which shows us the way. The
approval of the prevailing wisdom, however, is not the criterion to
which we submit. Our criterion is the Lord himself. If we defend
his cause, we will constantly gain others to the way of the Gospel.
But, inevitably, we will also be beaten by those who live lives
opposed to the Gospel, and then we can be grateful for having been
judged worthy to share in the passion of Christ.
The
Wise Men followed the star, and thus came to Jesus, to the great
Light which enlightens everyone coming into this world (cf. Jn 1:9).
As pilgrims of faith, the Wise Men themselves became stars shining in
the firmament of history and they show us the way. The saints are
God’s true constellations, which light up the nights of this world,
serving as our guides. Saint Paul, in his Letter to the Philippians,
told his faithful that they must shine like stars in the world (cf.
2:15).
Dear
friends, this holds true for us too. It holds true above all for you
who are now to be ordained Bishops of the Church of Jesus Christ. If
you live with Christ, bound to him anew in this sacrament, then you
too will become wise men. Then you will become stars which go before
men and women, pointing out to them the right path in life. All of
us here are now praying for you, that the Lord may fill you with the
light of faith and love. That that restlessness of God for man may
seize you, so that all may experience his closeness and receive the
gift of his joy. We are praying for you, that the Lord may always
grant you the courage and humility of faith. We ask Mary, who showed
to the Wise Men the new King of the world (cf. Mt 2:11), as a loving
mother, to show Jesus Christ also to you and to help you to be guides
along the way which leads to him. Amen".
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