Papal Address Upon Leaving United States 20 Apr 08 JFK Airport, New York City,
USA
Mr. Vice-President, Distinguished Civil Authorities, My Brother Bishops, Dear
Brothers and Sisters, The time has come for me to bid farewell to your country.
These days that I have spent in the United States have been blessed with many memorable
experiences of American hospitality, and I wish to express my deep appreciation to
all of you for your kind welcome. It has been a joy for me to witness the faith and
devotion of the Catholic community here. It was heart-warming to spend time with
leaders and representatives of other Christian communities and other religions, and
I renew my assurances of respect and esteem to all of you. I am grateful to President
Bush for kindly coming to greet me at the start of my visit, and I thank Vice-President
Cheney for his presence here as I depart. The civic authorities, workers and volunteers
in Washington and New York have given generously of their time and resources in order
to ensure the smooth progress of my visit at every stage, and for this I express my
profound thanks and appreciation to Mayor Adrian Fenty of Washington and Mayor Michael
Bloomberg of New York. Once again I offer prayerful good wishes to the representatives
of the see of Baltimore, the first Archdiocese, and those of New York, Boston, Philadelphia
and Louisville, in this jubilee year. May the Lord continue to bless you in the years
ahead. To all my Brother Bishops, to Bishop DiMarzio of this Diocese of Brooklyn,
and to the officers and staff of the Episcopal Conference who have contributed in
so many ways to the preparation of this visit, I extend my renewed gratitude for their
hard work and dedication. With great affection I greet once more the priests and
religious, the deacons, the seminarians and young people, and all the faithful in
the United States, and I encourage you to continue bearing joyful witness to Christ
our Hope, our Risen Lord and Savior, who makes all things new and gives us life in
abundance. One of the high-points of my visit was the opportunity to address
the General Assembly of the United Nations, and I thank Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
for his kind invitation and welcome. Looking back over the sixty years that have
passed since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I give thanks for all that
the Organization has been able to achieve in defending and promoting the fundamental
rights of every man, woman and child throughout the world, and I encourage people
of good will everywhere to continue working tirelessly to promote justice and peaceful
co-existence between peoples and nations. My visit this morning to Ground Zero
will remain firmly etched in my memory, as I continue to pray for those who died and
for all who suffer in consequence of the tragedy that occurred there in 2001. For
all the people of America, and indeed throughout the world, I pray that the future
will bring increased fraternity and solidarity, a growth in mutual respect, and a
renewed trust and confidence in God, our heavenly Father. With these words, I
take my leave, I ask you to remember me in your prayers, and I assure you of my affection
and friendship in the Lord. May God bless America!