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Message of Pope
Benedict XVI VATICAN CITY, APR 20, 2005
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BENEDICT XVI, A POPE OF
CHRIST, COMMUNION, COLLEGIALITY
 VATICAN
CITY, APR 20, 2005 (VIS) - Following is the complete text of the first
message of Pope Benedict XVI which he delivered in Latin at the end of
this morning's Mass with the members of the College of Cardinals in
the Sistine Chapel. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected as the 264th
successor to St. Peter in early evening yesterday.
"Grace and peace in abundance to all of you! In my soul there are
two contrasting sentiments in these hours. On the one hand, a sense of
inadequacy and human turmoil for the responsibility entrusted to me
yesterday as the Successor of the Apostle Peter in this See of Rome,
with regard to the Universal Church. On the other hand I sense within
me profound gratitude to God Who - as the liturgy makes us sing - does
not abandon His flock, but leads it throughout time, under the
guidance of those whom He has chosen as vicars of His Son, and made
pastors.
"Dear Ones, this intimate recognition for a gift of divine mercy
prevails in my heart in spite of everything. I consider this a grace
obtained for me by my venerated predecessor, John Paul II. It seems I
can feel his strong hand squeezing mine; I seem to see his smiling
eyes and listen to his words, addressed to me especially at this
moment: 'Do not be afraid!'
"The death of the Holy Father John Paul II, and the days which
followed, were for the Church and for the entire world an
extraordinary time of grace. The great pain for his death and the void
that it left in all of us were tempered by the action of the Risen
Christ, which showed itself during long days in the choral wave of
faith, love and spiritual solidarity, culminating in his solemn
funeral.
"We can say it: the funeral of John Paul II was a truly
extraordinary experience in which was perceived in some way the power
of God Who, through His Church, wishes to form a great family of all
peoples, through the unifying force of Truth and Love. In the hour of
death, conformed to his Master and Lord, John Paul II crowned his long
and fruitful pontificate, confirming the Christian people in faith,
gathering them around him and making the entire human family feel more
united.
"How can one not feel sustained by this witness? How can one not
feel the encouragement that comes from this event of grace?
"Surprising every prevision I had, Divine Providence, through the
will of the venerable Cardinal Fathers, called me to succeed this
great Pope. I have been thinking in these hours about what happened in
the region of Cesarea of Phillippi two thousand years ago: I seem to
hear the words of Peter: 'You are Christ, the Son of the living God,'
and the solemn affirmation of the Lord: 'You are Peter and on this
rock I will build my Church ... I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven'.
"You are Christ! You are Peter! It seems I am reliving this very
Gospel scene; I, the Successor of Peter, repeat with trepidation the
anxious words of the fisherman from Galilee and I listen again with
intimate emotion to the reassuring promise of the divine Master. If
the weight of the responsibility that now lies on my poor shoulders is
enormous, the divine power on which I can count is surely
immeasurable: 'You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church'.
Electing me as the Bishop of Rome, the Lord wanted me as his Vicar, he
wished me to be the 'rock' upon which everyone may rest with
confidence. I ask him to make up for the poverty of my strength, that
I may be a courageous and faithful pastor of His flock, always docile
to the inspirations of His Spirit.
"I undertake this special ministry, the 'Petrine' ministry at the
service of the Universal Church, with humble abandon to the hands of
the Providence of God. And it is to Christ in the first place that I
renew my total and trustworthy adhesion: 'In Te, Domine, speravi; non
confundar in aeternum!'
"To you, Lord Cardinals, with a grateful soul for the trust shown
me, I ask you to sustain me with prayer and with constant, active and
wise collaboration. I also ask my brothers in the episcopacy to be
close to me in prayer and counsel so that I may truly be the 'Servus
servorum Dei' (Servant of the servants of God). As Peter and the other
Apostles were, through the will of the Lord, one apostolic college, in
the same way the Successor of Peter and the Bishops, successors of the
Apostles - and the Council forcefully repeated this - must be closely
united among themselves. This collegial communion, even in the
diversity of roles and functions of the Supreme Pontiff and the
bishops, is at the service of the Church and the unity of faith, from
which depend in a notable measure the effectiveness of the
evangelizing action of the contemporary world. Thus, this path, upon
which my venerated predecessors went forward, I too intend to follow,
concerned solely with proclaiming to the world the living presence of
Christ.
"Before my eyes is, in particular, the witness of Pope John Paul
II. He leaves us a Church that is more courageous, freer, younger. A
Church that, according to his teaching and example, looks with
serenity to the past and is not afraid of the future. With the Great
Jubilee the Church was introduced into the new millennium carrying in
her hands the Gospel, applied to the world through the authoritative
re-reading of Vatican Council II. Pope John Paul II justly indicated
the Council as a 'compass' with which to orient ourselves in the vast
ocean of the third millennium. Also in his spiritual testament he
noted: ' I am convinced that for a very long time the new generations
will draw upon the riches that this council of the 20th century gave
us'.
"I too, as I start in the service that is proper to the Successor
of Peter, wish to affirm with force my decided will to pursue the
commitment to enact Vatican Council II, in the wake of my predecessors
and in faithful continuity with the millennia-old tradition of the
Church. Precisely this year is the 40th anniversary of the conclusion
of this conciliar assembly (December 8, 1965). With the passing of
time, the conciliar documents have not lost their timeliness; their
teachings have shown themselves to be especially pertinent to the new
exigencies of the Church and the present globalized society.
"In a very significant way, my pontificate starts as the Church
is living the special year dedicated to the Eucharist. How can I not
see in this providential coincidence an element that must mark the
ministry to which I have been called? The Eucharist, the heart of
Christian life and the source of the evangelizing mission of the
Church, cannot but be the permanent center and the source of the
petrine service entrusted to me.
"The Eucharist makes the Risen Christ constantly present, Christ
Who continues to give Himself to us, calling us to participate in the
banquet of His Body and His Blood. From this full communion with Him
comes every other element of the life of the Church, in the first
place the communion among the faithful, the commitment to proclaim and
give witness to the Gospel, the ardor of charity towards all,
especially towards the poor and the smallest.
"In this year, therefore, the Solemnity of Corpus Christ must be
celebrated in a particularly special way. The Eucharist will be at the
center, in August, of World Youth Day in Cologne and, in October, of
the ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops which will take place on
the theme "The Eucharist, Source and Summit of the Life and
Mission of the Church.' I ask everyone to intensify in coming months
love and devotion to the Eucharistic Jesus and to express in a
courageous and clear way the real presence of the Lord, above all
through the solemnity and the correctness of the celebrations.
"I ask this in a special way of priests, about whom I am thinking
in this moment with great affection. The priestly ministry was born in
the Cenacle, together with the Eucharist, as my venerated predecessor
John Paul II underlined so many times. 'The priestly life must have in
a special way a 'Eucharistic form', he wrote in his last Letter for
Holy Thursday. The devout daily celebration of Holy Mass, the center
of the life and mission of every priest, contributes to this end.
"Nourished and sustained by the Eucharist, Catholics cannot but
feel stimulated to tend towards that full unity for which Christ hoped
in the Cenacle. Peter's Successor knows that he must take on this
supreme desire of the Divine Master in a particularly special way. To
him, indeed, has been entrusted the duty of strengthening his
brethren.
"Thus, in full awareness and at the beginning of his ministry in
the Church of Rome that Peter bathed with his blood, the current
Successor assumes as his primary commitment that of working tirelessly
towards the reconstitution of the full and visible unity of all
Christ's followers. This is his ambition, this is his compelling duty.
He is aware that to do so, expressions of good feelings are not
enough. Concrete gestures are required to penetrate souls and move
consciences, encouraging everyone to that interior conversion which is
the basis for all progress on the road of ecumenism.
"Theological dialogue is necessary. A profound examination of the
historical reasons behind past choices is also indispensable. But even
more urgent is that 'purification of memory,' which was so often
evoked by John Paul II, and which alone can dispose souls to welcome
the full truth of Christ. It is before Him, supreme Judge of all
living things, that each of us must stand, in the awareness that one
day we must explain to Him what we did and what we did not do for the
great good that is the full and visible unity of all His disciples.
"The current Successor of Peter feels himself to be personally
implicated in this question and is disposed to do all in his power to
promote the fundamental cause of ecumenism. In the wake of his
predecessors, he is fully determined to cultivate any initiative that
may seem appropriate to promote contact and agreement with
representatives from the various Churches and ecclesial communities.
Indeed, on this occasion too, he sends them his most cordial greetings
in Christ, the one Lord of all.
"In this moment, I go back in my memory to the unforgettable
experience we all underwent with the death and the funeral of the
lamented John Paul II. Around his mortal remains, lying on the bare
earth, leaders of nations gathered, with people from all social
classes and especially the young, in an unforgettable embrace of
affection and admiration. The entire world looked to him with trust.
To many it seemed as if that intense participation, amplified to the
confines of the planet by the social communications media, was like a
choral request for help addressed to the Pope by modern humanity
which, wracked by fear and uncertainty, questions itself about the
future.
"The Church today must revive within herself an awareness of the
task to present the world again with the voice of the One Who said: 'I
am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness
but will have the light of life.' In undertaking his ministry, the new
Pope knows that his task is to bring the light of Christ to shine
before the men and women of today: not his own light but that of
Christ.
"With this awareness, I address myself to everyone, even to those
who follow other religions or who are simply seeking an answer to the
fundamental questions of life and have not yet found it. I address
everyone with simplicity and affection, to assure them that the Church
wants to continue to build an open and sincere dialogue with them, in
a search for the true good of mankind and of society.
"From God I invoke unity and peace for the human family and
declare the willingness of all Catholics to cooperate for true social
development, one that respects the dignity of all human beings.
"I will make every effort and dedicate myself to pursuing the
promising dialogue that my predecessors began with various
civilizations, because it is mutual understanding that gives rise to
conditions for a better future for everyone.
"I am particularly thinking of young people. To them, the
privileged interlocutors of John Paul II, I send an affectionate
embrace in the hope, God willing, of meeting them at Cologne on the
occasion of the next World Youth Day. With you, dear young people, I
will continue to maintain a dialogue, listening to your expectations
in an attempt to help you meet ever more profoundly the living, ever
young, Christ.
"'Mane nobiscum, Domine!' Stay with us Lord! This invocation,
which forms the dominant theme of John Paul II's Apostolic Letter for
the Year of the Eucharist, is the prayer that comes spontaneously from
my heart as I turn to begin the ministry to which Christ has called
me. Like Peter, I too renew to Him my unconditional promise of
faithfulness. He alone I intend to serve as I dedicate myself totally
to the service of His Church.
"In support of this promise, I invoke the maternal intercession
of Mary Most Holy, in whose hands I place the present and the future
of my person and of the Church. May the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul,
and all the saints, also intercede.
"With these sentiments I impart to you venerated brother
cardinals, to those participating in this ritual, and to all those
following to us by television and radio, a special and affectionate
blessing."
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