To the President of Togo

On Friday, 9 August 1985, the Holy Father addressed the President of Togo*, General Gnassingbe Eyadéma, identifying himself as a “bearer of the eternal message of the Gospel, which must always be understood and translated into living and concrete terms.”

Mr. President.

1. The kind words you have just spoken further strengthen my feelings of gratitude for the warm welcome you have given me in your beautiful country. As a sign of special welcome, you have wanted to receive me and my collaborators in your residence, in Pya, your hometown. I thank you warmly for this sign of esteem to which I am sensitive.

The hours that I have been granted to live among you up to this moment have made me appreciate with gratitude the marvelous hospitality of all the Togolese people. I am sure that, on the occasion of my visit, many of your compatriots are wondering about the activities of the Catholic Church and the meaning that the Christian message has for the men of Togo today. In this they are helped by the resonance that, thanks also to your interest, the modern means of communication give to my brief stay among you. I also thank you for this delicate attention, Mr. President. It shows how your country, with its different cultural communities, remains attached to the great principle of religious freedom.

2. The Pope has come to you, bearer of the eternal message of the Gospel, which must always be understood and translated into living and concrete terms so that it reaches men where they are, at the precise moment of their personal and community development.

After more than ninety years of evangelization, Togo has had a broad experience of Christianity, of the many activities of the Church for formation, education, assistance, human and social promotion. In a humble but effective way, four generations of believers have already been able to serve their brothers, striving to put into practice the precept of universal love of neighbor that Christ taught. They have left behind them the numerous achievements that you know well. In them is the visible aspect of the Church's commitment, which attests that, becoming disciples of Christ, Christians do not abandon their human solidarity. Indeed, faith, authentically lived, makes man more present to his duties and his family, social and community responsibilities.

3. The motivation for the Church's multifaceted action is to be found in the Gospel. Through contact with this life-giving word, man learns to know God better and better, to pray to him, to serve him, to seek his will, and consequently, to renew himself, to free himself from his selfishness, to open himself actively to the needs of his brothers, to respect their dignity, to go out to meet them. Christians are convinced that certain challenges of life cannot be met except with the strength and foresight that faith in God grants: the forgiveness of offenses, the acceptance of others, the generous gift of oneself for the service of the community.

The mission of the Church is to make known to all men this Gospel of the love of God, of the love of neighbor, of forgiveness, of the fraternal communion of men among themselves. The Church is not an enterprise of purely human inspiration; it is foreign to any kind of temporal competition. It is entirely at the service of the word of God in which it believes. Its religious mission is inscribed in the sphere of irreducible freedom that is proper to every person and that rightfully belongs to every authentic community of believers.

4. In seeking to live the demands of the Gospel, the Christian does not act in contradiction with his duties as a father or mother, as a son or daughter, as a worker or citizen: he fulfills them with the inner strength of faith.

Among social or ethnic groups, among cultures and different religious confessions, among the nations of the entire world, the Church, faithful to the Gospel, also contributes to weaving ever closer bonds of solidarity and mutual respect. Aware of her own vocation, she contributes to paving new paths for peace and justice. In this mission, the Church is proud to be enriched by the testimony of young communities, as fervent as those of her country.

She knows that the Togolese nation, with its leaders, is interested in international solidarity, as demonstrated by the important meetings taking place in Lomé.

5. Mr. President, you know that the Authorities can always count on the fidelity of Christians to their earthly homeland. They know well the tasks that await them as citizens. With their brothers of other confessions, they participate and will always participate wholeheartedly in the common work. The leaders of States can also count on the prayer of the Church because God, who is the Lord of history, assists them in their important task of serving the common good. Associating myself with this prayer, I willingly implore upon you, Mr. President, upon your collaborators and upon all the Togolese people, the blessings of the Almighty.

* L'Osservatore Romano 10.8.1985 p.6.
 

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