Pope's Address on consigning "Ecclesia in Medio Oriente"
(Vatican Radio) Address of the Holy Father on consigning of the Apostolic post-Synodal
Exhortation during Holy Mass at Beirut's City Centre Waterfront on Sunday 16 September
2012.
Below the full text:
Your Beatitudes, Your Eminences, Dear
Brother Bishops and Priests, Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The
liturgical celebration in which we have just taken part was an opportunity to thank
the Lord for the gift of the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of
Bishops, held in October 2010 on the theme: The Catholic Church in the Middle East:
Communion and Witness. “Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and
soul” (Acts 4:32). I would like to thank all the Synod Fathers for their contribution.
My gratitude also goes to the Secretary-General of the Synod of Bishops, Archbishop
Eterović, for the work achieved and for his words on your behalf. Having signed
the post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Medio Oriente, I am pleased now
to present it to all the local churches through you, the Patriarchs and Bishops, both
Eastern and Latin, of the Middle East. With the consigning of this document there
now begins its study and appropriation by all the members of the Church, pastors,
consecrated persons and lay people, so that everyone will find new joy in the pursuit
of his or her mission, encouraged and fortified to put into action the message of
communion and witness understood in the various human, doctrinal, ecclesiological,
spiritual and pastoral aspects of this Exhortation. Dear brothers and sisters of Lebanon
and the Middle East, I hope that this Exhortation will be a guide to follow the various
and complex paths where Christ goes before you. May communion in faith, hope and charity
be strengthened in your countries and in every community so as to make credible your
witness to the Triune God, who has drawn close to each one of us. Dear Church
in the Middle East, draw from the source of salvation which became a reality in this
unique and beloved land! Follow in the footsteps of your fathers in faith, who by
tenacity and fidelity opened up the way for humanity to respond to the revelation
of God! Among the wonderful diversity of saints who flourished in your land, look
for examples and intercessors who will inspire your response to the Lord's call to
walk towards the heavenly Jerusalem, where God will wipe away every one of our tears
(cf. Rev 21:4)! May fraternal communion be a support for you in your daily life and
the sign of the universal brotherhood which Jesus, the firstborn of many, came to
bring! Thus, in this region which saw his actions and heard his words, may the Gospel
continue to resonate as it did 2,000 years ago, and may it be lived today and for
ever!