April 2005: Pope Benedict thanks College of Cardinals for his election
(Vatican Radio) It was a whirlwind of activities in the Vatican for the newly elected
Pope Benedict XVI that week which saw the conclave choose him as pontiff on Tuesday
April 19, 2005. It wasn’t until Friday the 22nd that the new Pope had
the opportunity to meet the College of Cardinals for their first working meeting,
and to thank them for having elected him as Successor of St. Peter, despite his “human
frailty.” We step back in time to listen to this piece drawn from our archives -
from that first week of Benedict’s papacy. Tracey McClure reports as Pope Benedict
greets the College of Cardinals in their first official meeting in the frescoed and
marbled Clementine Hall in the Apostolic Palace…
Listen:
Find below
the full text of Pope Benedict’s April 22, 2005 address to the College of Cardinals
in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall: Venerable Brother Cardinals, 1. I am also
meeting you today and I would like to tell you in a simple, brotherly way of the state
of mind that I am experiencing in these days. The intense emotions that I felt on
the occasion of the death of my Venerable Predecessor John Paul II and then during
the Conclave, and especially at its conclusion, amount to a deep need for silence
and two complementary sentiments: a profound, heartfelt desire to give thanks and
a feeling of human powerlessness as I face the lofty task that awaits me. First
of all, gratitude. I feel it my duty, in the first place, to thank God who wanted
me, despite my human frailty, as the Successor of the Apostle Peter, and has entrusted
to me the task of governing and guiding the Church so that she may be the sacrament
of unity in the world for the entire human race (cf. , n. 1). We are certain: it
is the eternal Pastor who leads his flock with the power of his Spirit and assures
it in every age to the Pastors whom he has chosen. In these days, the Christian people
have prayed in unison for the new Pontiff, and my first Meeting with the faithful
in the evening of the day before yesterday in St Peter's Square was truly moving:
to everyone, Bishops, priests, men and women Religious, young people and the elderly,
I extend my most heartfelt gratitude for their spiritual solidarity. 2. I feel
I owe deep thanks to each one of you, Venerable Brothers, beginning with Cardinal
Angelo Sodano, who has just expressed affection and cordial good wishes to me on behalf
of you all. With him I thank the Camerlengo, Cardinal Eduardo Martínez Somalo, for
his generous service in this sensitive period of passage. I would next like to
extend my sincere gratitude to all the members of the College of Cardinals for their
active collaboration in the management of the Church during the . I would like to
greet with special affection the Cardinals who were prevented by age or illness from
taking part in the Conclave. I am grateful to each one for your example of availability
and fraternal communion as well as for your intense prayers, both of which are expressions
of faithful love for the Church, the Bride of Christ. In addition, I cannot fail
to address my heartfelt thanks to all those, in their different capacities, who cooperated
in the organization and unfolding of the Conclave and helped the Cardinals in many
ways to spend these days laden with responsibility in the safest and most tranquil
manner. 3. Venerable Brothers, I owe you my most personal gratitude for the trust
you have placed in me by electing me Bishop of Rome and Pastor of the universal Church.
It is an act of trust that encourages me to undertake this new mission more serenely,
for I am convinced that in addition to God's indispensable help I can also count on
your generous collaboration. Please never let me lack your support! If on the
one hand I am aware of my personal limitations and limited abilities, on the other
hand I well know the nature of the mission entrusted to me and am preparing myself
to carry it out with an attitude of inner dedication. It is not a matter of honours
but of a service to be rendered with simplicity and willingness, imitating our Teacher
and Lord who did not come to be served but to serve (cf. Mt 20: 28), and at the Last
Supper washed the Apostles' feet, commanding them to do likewise (cf. Jn 13: 13-14).
It only remains for me, and for all of us together, to accept from Providence the
will of God and to do our best to measure up to it, helping one another to carry out
our respective tasks in the service of the Church. 4. I would like at this moment
to think back to my Venerable Predecessors, Bl. John XXIII, the Servants of God Paul
VI and John Paul I, and especially John Paul II, whose witness in his last days gave
us more support than ever and whose lively presence we still continue to feel. The
sorrowful event of his death, after a period of great trials and suffering, proved
to have the paschal features for which he had expressed the hope in his (24 February-1
March 1980). The light and strength of the Risen Christ shone out in the Church from
that sort of "last Mass" that he celebrated in his agony, which culminated in the
"Amen" of a life entirely offered, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the world's
salvation. 5. Venerable Brothers! Each one of you will now be returning to your
respective Sees to resume your work, but spiritually we will remain united in the
faith and love of the Lord, in the bond of the Eucharistic celebration, in persistent
prayer and in the sharing of our daily apostolic ministry. Your spiritual closeness,
your enlightened advice and your effective cooperation will be a gift for me for which
I will always be grateful and an incentive to fulfil the mandate entrusted to me with
total fidelity and dedication. I entrust all of us and the expectations, hopes
and worries of the entire community of Christians to the Virgin Mother of God, who
accompanied the steps of the newborn Church with her silent presence and comforted
the faith of the Apostles. I ask you to walk under the motherly protection of Mary,
Mater Ecclesiae, docile and obedient to the voice of her divine Son, Our Lord Jesus
Christ. As I call upon her constant patronage, I impart to each one of you and to
all those whom divine Providence entrusts to your pastoral care my heartfelt Apostolic
Blessing.