Papal Greeting to Metropolitan Archbishops

VATICAN CITY, JULY 2, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the brief address Benedict XVI gave Saturday to the 43 metropolitan archbishops upon whom he had imposed the pallium on Friday, and their delegations.

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Dear brothers and sisters,

I am happy to greet all of you, who have come to Rome, to the tomb of the Apostles, with your metropolitan archbishops, upon whom I had the joy to bestow the pallium yesterday in the Vatican Basilica during the course of a solemn celebration commemorating the holy Apostles Peter and Paul. In this meeting of ours we wish, as it were, to continue the climate of profound ecclesial communion, which we experienced yesterday. In fact, the presence of the metropolitan archbishops, who come from different parts of the world, manifests the visible universality of the Church, called to make Christ known and proclaim the Gospel to all continents in various languages.

I greet each of you with affection, venerable and esteemed metropolitan brothers, and with you I greet your relatives, friends and the faithful entrusted to your pastoral care, who are your crown in these significant days. I also greet the dioceses from which you hail.

[Following this general greeting the Holy Father then addressed each group in the appropriate language. In English he said:]

My thoughts turn in the first place to you, dear pastors of the Church

I extend warm greetings to the English-speaking Metropolitan Archbishops upon whom I conferred the Pallium yesterday. From the United States of America: Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, Archbishop William Skurla of Pittsburgh, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver. From Papua New Guinea: Archbishop Francesco Panfilo of Rabaul. From the Philippines: Archbishop Luis Tagle of Manila, Archbishop Jose Advincula of Capiz, Archbishop Romulo Valles of Davao, Archbishop John Du of Palo. From Bangladesh: Archbishop Patrick D’Rozario of Dhaka. From the Antilles: Archbishop Joseph Harris of Port of Spain. From Zambia: Archbishop Ignatius Chama of Kasama. From India: Archbishop John Moolachira of Guwahati, Archbishop Thomas D’Souza of Calcutta. From Pakistan: Archbishop Joseph Coutts of Karachi. From Australia: Archbishop Timothy Costelloe of Perth, Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane. From Korea: Archbishop Andrew Yeom Soo Jung of Seoul. From Nigeria: Archbishop Alfred Martins of Lagos. I also welcome their family members, their relatives, friends and the faithful of their respective Archdioceses who have come to Rome to pray with them and to share their joy.

[Concluding the audience in Italian he said:]

Dear brothers and sisters, bring back to your communities the experience of intense spirituality and authentic evangelical unity of these days so that it touch the heart of believers and reverberate through the whole society, leaving traces of good. May the intercession of the heavenly Mother of God and the Apostles Peter and Paul obtain for the Christian people the capacity to make the words of truth that the Lord Jesus left us as a gift shine in the world through the tenacious and limpid witness of individuals. With these sentiments I bestow from my heart the Apostolic Benediction. 

[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]