(17 Dec 09 - RV) Pope Benedict met with bishops from Belarus Thursday at the conclusion
of their Ad Limina visit.
In his discourse, the Pope recommended a renewed
witness to unity, the fostering of relations with the civil authority, ecumenical
relations and dialogue with other cultures and religions.
The Bishops were
led by Msgr. Aleksander Kaskiewicz, president of the Bishops' Conference of the former
Soviet Union nation.
Pope Benedict XVI encouraged Belarusians to "proclaim
with renewed and incisive enthusiasm the perennial message of the Gospel in a society
– he stressed - which is not immune to the temptations of secularism, hedonism and
relativism," seen in the falling birth rate, the fragility of families, the illusion
of finding fortune by emigrating.
Faced with these challenges the pastors
of the Church must have "the power of faith," "rooted in a solid tradition," preserving
"the profound Christian identity of the nation, in respectful dialogue with other
cultures and religions”.
The Pope recommended "special attention" to the "educational
dimension" of young people as well as to "a solid and rigorous theological and spiritual
formation" of candidates for the priesthood.
Pope Benedict then called for
"concrete gestures" to affirm a brotherhood of peace, especially by invoking the "fraternal
cooperation of the Orthodox Church of Belarus, whose pastors share" in a common commitment
to the good of the faithful".