VATICAN CITY, JUNE 30, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the plurilingual address Benedict XVI delivered today upon receiving in Paul VI Hall the 40 metropolitan archbishops who received the pallium Wednesday. Families and friends accompanied the archbishops, who represented archdioceses in 25 countries.
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[In Italian, the Pope began:]Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Still very alive in our minds and hearts are the sentiments and emotions we experienced yesterday in the Vatican basilica on the occasion of the celebration of the Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, in which I had the joy of conferring the pallium on you, metropolitan archbishops, appointed in the course of the past year. Today’s meeting gives me the opportunity to prolong the climate of ecclesial communion and to renew my cordial greeting to you, dear brothers in the episcopate, as well as to your families and to those who wished to participate in this happy event. I extend my affectionate good wishes to your particular Churches, which I remember in prayer, asking that they be animated by a constant evangelical drive. In the first place I address you, dear pastors of two Italian dioceses. I greet you, Archbishop Cesare Nosiglia of Turin, and you, Archbishop Vincenzo Bertolone of Catanzaro-Squillace. May the Lord bless and help you always in your daily episcopal ministry, to make the communities entrusted to you grow, united and missionary, according to charity, firm in hope and rich in the dynamism of faith.
[In French, he said:]On this feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, I am happy to welcome the French-speaking pilgrims who came to Rome for the imposition of the pallium on the new metropolitan archbishops. I address my warm greetings to Archbishop Antoine Ganyé of Cotonou, Benin; Archbishop Paul Ouédraogo of Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Fasso; Archbishop Jean-Pierre Tafunga Mbayo of Lumumbashi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Archbishop Gérald Lacroix of Quebec, Canada, and Archbishop Pierre-Marie Carré of Montpellier, France.
Take to the bishops, to the priests and to all the faithful of your countries my cordial greetings and the guarantee of my spiritual closeness. You who received the pallium, liturgical sign that expresses the bond of communion that unites you in a particular way to the Successor of Peter, be joyful and faithful witnesses of the love of the Lord who seeks to gather his children in the unity of one family! May God bless you!
[In English, he said:]I extend warm greetings to the English-speaking metropolitan archbishops upon whom I conferred the pallium yesterday: Archbishop James Peter Sartain of Seattle, United States; Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller of San Antonio, United States; Archbishop Jose Serofia Palma of Cebu, the Philippines; Archbishop Thaddeus Cho Hwan-kil of Daegu, Korea; Archbishop Jude Ruwa’ichi of Mwanza, Tanzania; Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria, South Africa; Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, United States; Archbishop Rémi Joseph Gustave Sainte-Marie of Lilongwe, Malawi; Archbishop José Horacio Gómez of Los Angeles, United States; Archbishop Thumma Bala of Hyderabad, India; Archbishop Augustine Obiora Akubeze of Benin City, Nigeria; Archbishop Charles Henry Dufour of Kingston in Jamaica; Archbishop George Stack of Cardiff, Wales; and Archbishop Sergio Lasam Utleg of Tuguegarao, the Philippines. 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.
The pallium is received from the hands of the Successor of Peter and worn by the archbishops as a sign of communion in faith and love and in the governance of God’s People. It also recalls to pastors their responsibilities as shepherds after the Heart of Jesus. To all of you I affectionately impart my apostolic blessing as a pledge of peace and joy in the Lord.
[In Spanish, he said:]I greet with affection the Spanish-speaking archbishops and all those who have accompanied them in the significant ceremony of imposition of the pallium that distinguishes them as metropolitans. In particular, I greet the Archbishop Jesús Rubén Salazar Gómez of Bogota; Archbishop Fausto Gabriel Trávez Trávez of Quito; Archbishop Oscar Julio Vian Morales of Guatemala; Archbishop Gonzalo Restrepo Restrepo of Manizales, Colombia; Archbishop Juan Alberto Puiggari of Parana, Argentina; Archbishop Jairo Jaramillo Monsalve of Barranquilla, Colombia; Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati Andrello of Santiago de Chile; Archbishop Fernando Natalio Chomalí Garib of Concepcion, Chile; and Archbishop Darío de Jesús Monsalve Mejía of Cali, Colombia.
If the pallium reminds them of their special responsibility in regard to the suffragan Churches and their particular bond of unity with the See of Peter, it is for you to support them with greater closeness in prayer and collaboration in the ministry entrusted to them. Invoking the protection of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, I impart from my heart the apostolic blessing, which it pleases me to extend to all the pastors and faithful of these particular Churches in Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Argentina and Chile.
[In Portuguese, he said:]I greet with great affection the metropolitans of Angola and Brazil who received the pallium, liturgical sign that expresses a particular union of your archdioceses with the See of Peter: Archbishop Luis María Pérez de Onraita Aguirre of Malanje; Archbishop José Manuel Imbamba of Saurimo; Archbishop Murilo Sebastião Ramos Krieger of Sao Salvador da Bahia; Archbishop Pedro Brito Guimarães of Palmas; Archbishop Jacinto Bergmann of Pelotas; Archbishop Hélio Adelar Rubert of Santa Maria; Archbishop Pedro Ercílio Simon of Passo Fundo; Archbishop Dimas Lara Barbosa of Campo Grande; and Archbishop Sérgio da Rocha of Brasilia.
May the Lord Jesus who chose you as Shepherds of his flock protect you in your daily ministry and transform you into faithful heralds of the Gospel with the strength of the Holy Spirit. I also welcome your families and friends and the faithful of your respective particular Churches who have accompanied you to Rome. I assure you and your archdiocesan communities of my remembrance in daily prayer and, from the depth of my heart I impart to you the apostolic blessing.
[In Latvian, he said:]I address my cordial greeting to Archbishop Zbigņev Stankevičs of Riga, and to all those accompanying him, expressing my best wishes for a fruitful ministry.
[In Slovenian, he said:]I address my cordial greeting to Archbishop Marjan Turnšek of Maribor, and to the Slovaks accompanying him, wishing him a fruitful ministry and imparting to all the apostolic blessing.
[In Italian, he said:]Dear friends, let us thank the Lord who in his infinite goodness does not cease to send pastors to his Church. To you, dear metropolitan archbishops, I assure my spiritual closeness and my prayerful support of your pastoral service, whose requirement is love of Christ, to whom nothing must be preferred. In his treatise on the Our Father, St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, states: “Let us prefer absolutely nothing to Christ, because neither has he preferred anything to us. May he give us the will to remain inseparably united to his love, to stay beside his cross with courage and giving firm witness.” May the Virgin Mary, Regina Apostolorum, watch over us and sustain you, and may my blessing accompany you, which from my heart I renew to each one of you, to your loved ones and to all who are under your episcopal care.
[Translation by ZENIT]
