● DISCORSO DEL SANTO PADRE

● SALUTO DELL’EM.MO CARD. ANGELO SODANO

Ha avuto inizio questa mattina, nella Sala Bologna del Palazzo Apostolico Vaticano, l’Incontro Interdicasteriale con i Cardinali statunitensi e con la Presidenza della Conferenza dei Vescovi Cattolici degli Stati Uniti.
Pubblichiamo di seguito il discorso che il Santo Padre Giovanni Paolo II ha rivolto ai partecipanti all’Incontro e il saluto dell’Em.mo Card. Angelo Sodano, Segretario di Stato, all’apertura dei lavori:

Dear Brothers,

1. Let me assure you first of all that I greatly appreciate the effort you are making to keep the Holy See, and me personally, informed regarding the complex and difficult situation which has arisen in your country in recent months. I am confident that your discussions here will bear much fruit for the good of the Catholic people of the United States. You have come to the house of the Successor of Peter, whose task it is to confirm his brother Bishops in faith and love, and to unite them around Christ in the service of God's People. The door of this house is always open to you. All the more so when your communities are in distress.

Like you, I too have been deeply grieved by the fact that priests and religious, whose vocation it is to help people live holy lives in the sight of God, have themselves caused such suffering and scandal to the young. Because of the great harm done by some priests and religious, the Church herself is viewed with distrust, and many are offended at the way in which the Church's leaders are perceived to have acted in this matter. The abuse which has caused this crisis is by every standard wrong and rightly considered a crime by society; it is also an appalling sin in the eyes of God. To the victims and their families, wherever they may be, I express my profound sense of solidarity and concern.

2. It is true that a generalized lack of knowledge of the nature of the problem and also at times the advice of clinical experts led Bishops to make decisions which subsequent events showed to be wrong. You are now working to establish more reliable criteria to ensure that such mistakes are not repeated. At the same time, even while recognizing how indispensable these criteria are, we cannot forget the power of Christian conversion, that radical decision to turn away from sin and back to God, which reaches to the depths of a person's soul and can work extraordinary change.

Neither should we forget the immense spiritual, human and social good that the vast majority of priests and religious in the United States have done and are still doing. The Catholic Church in your country has always promoted human and Christian values with great vigor and generosity, in a way that has helped to consolidate all that is noble in the American people.

A great work of art may be blemished, but its beauty remains; and this is a truth which any intellectually honest critic will recognize. To the Catholic communities in the United States, to their Pastors and members, to the men and women religious, to teachers in Catholic universities and schools, to American missionaries in all parts of the world, go the wholehearted thanks of the entire Catholic Church and the personal thanks of the Bishop of Rome.

3. The abuse of the young is a grave symptom of a crisis affecting not only the Church but society as a whole. It is a deep-seated crisis of sexual morality, even of human relationships, and its prime victims are the family and the young. In addressing the problem of abuse with clarity and determination, the Church will help society to understand and deal with the crisis in its midst.

It must be absolutely clear to the Catholic faithful, and to the wider community, that Bishops and superiors are concerned, above all else, with the spiritual good of souls. People need to know that there is no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who would harm the young. They must know that Bishops and priests are totally committed to the fullness of Catholic truth on matters of sexual morality, a truth as essential to the renewal of the priesthood and the episcopate as it is to the renewal of marriage and family life.

4. We must be confident that this time of trial will bring a purification of the entire Catholic community, a purification that is urgently needed if the Church is to preach more effectively the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all its liberating force. Now you must ensure that where sin increased, grace will all the more abound (cf. Rom 5:20). So much pain, so much sorrow must lead to a holier priesthood, a holier episcopate, and a holier Church.

God alone is the source of holiness, and it is to him above all that we must turn for forgiveness, for healing and for the grace to meet this challenge with uncompromising courage and harmony of purpose. Like the Good Shepherd of last Sunday's Gospel, Pastors must go among their priests and people as men who inspire deep trust and lead them to restful waters (cf. Ps 22:2).

I beg the Lord to give the Bishops of the United States the strength to build their response to the present crisis upon the solid foundations of faith and upon genuine pastoral charity for the victims, as well as for the priests and the entire Catholic community in your country. And I ask Catholics to stay close to their priests and Bishops, and to support them with their prayers at this difficult time.

The peace of the Risen Christ be with you!

[00633-02.01] [Original text: English]

Your Eminences,
Dear Brothers in the Episcopate,

I wish to open this meeting with the words of Psalm 133, which we often sing: "Ecce qua m bonum et quam iucundum habitare fratres in unum", "How good and how pleasant it is when brothers live in unity" (v. 1).

This is a distressing time for the Church and for all of us. Still, the joy of Easter must be the disposition of our heart and the source of our confidence in addressing the present difficulties.

It is true that the immediate reason for this fraternal meeting of the Pastors of various particular Churches in the United States of America with the Holy Father and some of his collaborators is our common concern about what has emerged so forcefully in the last three months. It is a sign of charity to "rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep", "gaudere cum gaudentibus et fiere cum flentibus", as Saint Paul wrote to the Romans (Rom 12: 15).

As we begin this meeting, the Holy Father has asked me to convey greetings to you, the Cardinals and Bishops from the United States. He has urged me to assure you of the importance he attaches to this meeting, in which we will study the many issues involved and share our pastoral experience.

As you are well aware, this meeting has come about for two purposes. On the one hand, a number of American Bishops expressed a desire to inform the Holy See of the difficulties in which they have found themselves in these last months. On the other, the various Roman Dicasteries also wish to hear at first hand from the American Cardinals and the leading officials of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops an overall evaluation of the situation.

We have come together today, conscious of the great responsibility which Christ has laid upon us for the good of God's People. Let us not be disheartened by the difficulties involved; let us seek the way forward in fidelity to the great tradition of the Church, Mother and Teacher, instrument of justice, mercy, and redemption.

Our task is to reflect on the problems of the present moment with great openness of spirit, knowing that the Church should be transparent. The Church loves the truth, and must always put it into practice in charity, following what St Paul taught nearly two thousand years ago: "veritatem facientes in caritatem" (Eph 4:15).

[00634-02.01] [Original text: English]