(Vatican Radio) – In his intervention to the Synod of Bishops Wednesday morning
Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone announced that Pope Benedict
XVI will be calling his diplomatic representatives across the globe – known as Apostolic
Nuncios – to Rome for a special meeting. Below find the full transcript of Cardinal
Bertone’s intervention:
The transmission of the faith is a very fundamental
task of the Church in being able to represent a description of her very own essence:
she is in fact a community since always composed of the double movement of receiving
and transmitting the precious treasure of the faith. This task is declined in a different
way according to the situations and historical eras and today has taken on the profile
of new evangelization in an ever growing way, that is to say the renewed announcement
addressed to those who, while already being in contact, in different ways, with the
Christian message, found themselves in being, to use the images of an evangelical
parable, like the rocky terrain, or the one infested by briars, or even like the road,
where the evil steals the good seed of the Word (cf. Mt 13:18-22). In this intervention
I would like to underline the contribution that the Pontifical Representatives and
the whole of the structures of the Holy See, which coordinate the mission, hope to
offer to the transmission of the faith in the context of the new evangelization. In
the first place, this is a specific service, which is that of watching over and protecting
the libertas Ecclesiae. This is a service that is necessary for the mission of the
Church, where “the legal or social order is inspired by philosophical and political
systems which call for strict control, if not a monopoly, of the state over society”,
as well as in “countries which accord great importance to pluralism and tolerance,
but where religion is increasingly being marginalized” (Cf. Benedict XVI, Speech to
the Members of the Diplomatic Corps to the Holy See, January 10 2011). In these
contexts, the action of the Pontifical Representatives, through the instruments of
diplomatic dialogue with civic authorities and in accord with the episcopacy, aims
not to seek anachronistic privileges, but to guarantee to the Church, in the best
way possible, that freedom in the internal government and practice of one’s mission
that is legitimately claimed, and that, when present, is reflected in benefits to
others and other religious traditions, and nurtures the harmony of all society. In
a similar way, the work of the Observers and Representatives of the Holy See at International
Organizations, along with the service of the cause of peace and the defense of fundamental
human rights, turns to guaranteeing the right of citizenship to the Church, for her
institutions and, I would say, for the Christian vision of the human person, today
endangered by certain basic elements of the so-called dominant culture. With this
service, the Pontifical Representatives also are conscious of the direct responsibility
they have, as members of the Episcopal College, as to the proclamation of the Gospel
and thereby the promotion of new evangelization. This responsibility, first of
all, is aimed at favoring communion between the members of the Episcopal College and
the Roman Pontiff. Making present the solicitude, proper to the Successor of Peter,
for the whole Church, her representatives are by nature called to being the builders
of communion, which in itself is a powerful factor of evangelization (cf. Jn 13:35).
First of all, this is a gift that comes from above, a gift however that appeals to
our collaboration and is translated into a committed and daily task, which allows
our different sensibilities to be translated into wealth and not into antagonism. I
would like to assure, before this qualified assembly, the commitment that the Nuncios
and the Apostolic Delegates mean to activate to favor, on one hand, the welcome at
the episcopacies of the Pontifical Magisterium and the indications from the organisms
of the Holy See, and on the other hand, in helping the Pope and his collaborators
to always better know and understand the reality of the local Churches, their riches
and their difficulties. Then, we must not forget the more direct work of the service
of evangelization performed by the Pontifical Representatives, when they are called
to the various Dioceses for episcopal consecration, special occasions, or pastoral
visits. Through this form of ministry they make present in a very special way, among
the People of God, the person of the Pope, his care and solicitude for Christ’s whole
flock, a presence that is especially felt by the faithful, and which contributes to
making the Church’s Catholicity more visible. Undoubtedly, the ministry of the
Pontifical Representatives lives throughout history, walks with the Church and always
needs to renew and perfect itself to be up to the needs of our times. For this reason,
the Holy Father decided to call all the Nuncios, the Apostolic Delegates and the permanent
Observers to a meeting for reflection in Rome next June, following on from the one
held over ten years ago on the occasion of the Great Jubilee 2000. It will be an opportunity
for an exchange of experiences and to deepen the feeling of mission for the Pontifical
Representatives in today’s circumstances. I am certain that I can count on your prayers
for this.