Solemn Liturgical Celebration in Fribourg (13 June 1984)

On Wednesday, 13 June 1984, the Holy Father celebrated Holy Mass in the Parc de “La Poya,” Fribourg. The Pope's homily, as rendered here in a mixture of French and English, was a reflection on the Heart of Christ open to all nations..

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

1. C'est le Seigneur qui nous rassemblecici, comme au jour de la Pentecôte,Quelle que soitre origine, notre langue, notre nation. Devant him, “you n'êtes plus des étrangers ou des gens de passage”. You will gather in a single family, to sanctify you and send you to all nations, at the service of all men. And I confié aujourd'hui ce minister parmi vous, pour vous.

But joie est grande de vous voir tous tous réunis, de tant des pays du worlde, y compris la Pologne, ma homeland, et certains viennent de très loin, dans des conditions éprouvantes, je pense notamment au sud-est asiatique. For a long time I've been happy to come before you, in this town that I'm happy with and that I'm happy with. Mon greetings and mon merci vont à chacun d'entre vous. I am especially sensitive to the presence of the children who have prepared this meeting and who are welcomed by all the Swiss stories. I salute the other Christians, our orthodox brothers and the members of the Church and the common issues of the Reform; the portent had us une immense hope: that the Seigneur nous renders us, “afin que le monde croie” ( Io . 17, 21).

Herzlich grüße ich auch die Gläubigen deutscher Sprache aus dem Freiburgischen oder aus den Nachbardiözesen. Mit allen zusammen seid ihr Zeugen dafür, daß die Vielfalt der Sprachen im gemeinsamen Lob Gottes zu einer Bereicherung für das Leben der Kirche in eurem Land werden kann. 

2. “ Bénissez le Dieu de l’univers : partout il fait de grandes choses” ( Sir . 50, 22). Ainsi expresses the book of Sirac le Sage, in which the great works of God are expressed in nature and history. And you, look at your eyes, look at the wonder of nature, look at your mountains and your lakes. Regardez vos frères et sœurs: Dieu donne à leur vie sa dignité di lui dès la naissance ( Ibid .). Tout l'univers chante la gloire de Dieu, le Créateur du monde et de l'homme. Adorez-le. Bénissez-le. Rendez-lui thanks for the joy of the heart, for the dignity, for the paix, for the freedom don't you joy in what you pay. Like the travail of your parents, the richesses of your cultures - who demand your participation in labor - are also the dons of God. Surtout rendez grâce au Rédempteur, plein d'amour, de tendresse, de pitié ( Ps . 145 (144)): il a fait de vous des fils et des filles de Dieu; you will often see yourself as the people of the Alliance, you will be faithful to him, you will be merciful, I will forgive you. Il vous a fait le don de sa Words de him ( Io . 17, 14) et celui de votre propre foi; il vous fait participer à sa Vie di lui, dans son Eglise di lui, faisant de vous un temple saint dans le Seigneur ( Eph . 2, 21). Oui, puissions-nous dire avec le psalmiste: “Chaque jour, je veux te bénir!” ( Ps . 145 (144), 2). Such an action of grace, with the humble feeling of indignity, shapes the heart of the prière chrétienne of every day; she is the heart of the Eucharist.

3. “De même que tu m'as envoyé dans le monde, moi aussi je les ai envoyés dans le monde” ( Io . 17, 18). Voilà comment s'expresse le Christ Jésus devant son Père di lui, au moment de quitter ce monde. An Apôtre est un “envoyé”; all disciples of Christ are called to him also by their own act, the word of Christ comes into the world "to make truth known, to know, not to condemn, to serve, not to serve" ( Gaudium et Spes , 3, paragraph 2). C'est comme si le Christ vous disait: “J'ai besoin de toi, de tes mains, de tes levres, de ton regard, de ton cœur, pour porter mon message jusqu'au bout du monde, et jusqu'aux profoundurs the most secrets of men. Les "talents" que tu as reçus, tu dois en faire profiter les others”.

The Heart of Christ is open to all nations . From the same heart as his disciple, I cannot limit his horizon to him from his family, from his village, from his city, from his milieu, from his pays, but the one who will look for his greetings and progress of all humans. Il doit avoir la passion du Règne de Dieu pour qui'il advienne par toute la terre; the world is still “rempli de la connaissance du Seigneur, comme les eaux comblent la mer” ( Is . 11, 9).

4. Or, la vie éternelle, c'est qu'ils le connaissent , lui, le seul véritable Dieu, et Jésus-Christ, son Envoyé ( Io . 17, 3). The mission includes the proposition to all creation of the Good Nouvelle of the love of God - inseparable from the future service of the Kingdom of God. Ce Règne est lié à la foi , et à la prédication en vue d'éveiller la foi ( Mark . 1, 15; 16, 15. 20). I know that the Canton of Friborg is composed of numerous missionnaires , priests, religious men, religious women and lay people, here ont includes this appel. And here, at the University, or at the Ecole de la Foi, you would like to train men and women aptes to learn and respond to the religious needs of all your brothers across the world.

The Kingdom of God, it is also the kingdom of justice , of love , of peace , and the mission which accompanies the establishment, in the whole world, especially in the lands that are démunis, the conditions allow the inhabitants to live in dignity and to develop in many ways. Comme vous l'ont dit vos Evêques à Friborg ( Orientations pastorales , febr. 1983, p. 5, 1. 3.): “Développez . . . the senses of the universal mission of the Church are promoted without the fraternal and charitable initiative, but also in favor of the awareness of the responsibilities of the West faced in the pays of the tiers-world, in order to fight against injustices qui rendent ces pays toujours plus pauvres”.

5. The universality of the world, in effect, finds here a certain realization. You have been represented at all times over 60 nations represented in these cities, with a name of strangers similar to those of Switzerland in this country. Here, Friborg is a meeting place, an international town, a microcosm , and you know where you live all the time in front of your universal vocation, an opening to all the brothers and sisters of the university who are their hosts. Furthermore, you should not be content to bring a rich material and spirit to your missionnaires parties in the first place, but not to generally care for a part of your riches materials and culture in the “pays de la faim”, but you should also realize there style of everyday life and relationships where the stranger is found in the family, integrated into the construction of the people of God.

6. More that evening the originality of this mission universelle, of this témoignage? “ Avec le Saint-Esprit, vous serez mes témoins jusqu'aux extrémités de la terre” ( Act . 1, 8). As Christ asks us to bring to others, of course, there is no need to approach a richness outside of our memories; there is no surplus of superiority acquired by us or with an ensemble of historic chances. This is the spirit that we express in the Heart of Christ and here, thank you, we are ready to work in our own ways. There is a feeling that Christ has prayed for his Apôtres, at the moment of his sacrifice, of his supreme gift: “Père, garde mes disciples dans la fidélité à ton nom. . . pour qu'ils soient un comme nous-mêmes . . . I don't ask you to retire from the world, but rather than to the gardes of Mauvais. . . Consacre-les dans la vérité . . . And pour eux je me consacre moi-même, afin qu'ils soient eux aussi consacrés dans la vérité” ( Io . 17, 11. 15. 17. 19).

Chers Frères et Sœurs, vous avez été sanctifiés , consacrés par le baptême. You are now members of Christ; you are, par Lui, avec Lui et en Lui, offered to God by the Father, you have received the Spirit of Saint who meets you with the feelings of unique men and you are women of the world. Laïcs chrétiens, vivez de ce baptême. Laissez pénétrer en vous, jour après jour, cette sanctification, par l'Esprit du Christ, pour en témoigner de façon vraie. Strengthen your loyalty to Christ. Recherchez knows Vérité about him, not la vôtre.

Here you are again in the milieu of the world. In life or in the countryside, students or apprentices, fiancés or wives, workers, apprentices in chômage, employés, employeurs, in the service of the Army or of your Armée, farmers, traders, industrialists: it's there your world , where you see the old man who wants you to stay: I don't ask you to retire from the world. Never forget to pass by the faux dieux of the world, by all the “artificial paradises”. Eliminate your own paths that come from Mauvais, there are obstacles to evangelical transparency . Also you can serve men as Christ. It will also be realized that we had asked for the debut of this mass: “That the power of the Gospel works the world in the manner of a ferment” and that, seeking toujours the Spirit of Christ, you will work there next de son Règne en accomplissant vos tâches d'hommes ( Oratio missae ).

7. I am inseparable from the spirit of service , from unity , from the search for truth , as Christ hears them.

I exprimais dans l'encyclique “ Redemptor Hominis ”: “Participation in the mission royale du Christ (est) le fait de redécouvrir en soi et dans les autres la dignité particulière de notre vocation. . . This dignity is expressed in the availability to serve , in the example of Christ, here "I have not come to serve, but to serve". . . On ne peut vraiment "régner" qu'en "servant". . . the "service" demands at the same time a spiritual maturity. . .” (Ioannis Pauli PP., Redemptor Hominis , 21). The many “services” are more than a hundred years old in the texts of the Second Vatican Council for the mission of the Church and its members. Put yourself at the service of others. Serve your orders. Serve strangers. Serve the most pauvres. Dear brothers and sisters of Suisse who are reputed for your hospitality, who understand this service: they are there to care for you like a Don de God, like a brother in Christ, with the soif of vie, d'amour, de dignité; c'est le respecter, chercher à le comprendre, estimer sa valeur et ses besoins di lui, lui faire une place dans notre petit univers, lui procurer l'entraide necessaire et accepter la sienne. There was humility, comparable to the cells of the lakes of your mountains here, as you say, “ont choose the lowest point to reflect the sky”. Cela supposed la douceur, l'amour, la patience, le pardon. Can I ask you with Saint Paul: “Is it that these people are for many strangers, passing generations who say hello to others, or are they truly my brothers and sisters, members of the same family of God?” .

8. This spirit of service must be paired with the inlassable search for the unit between you, do not care about those units, make a reasonable juxtaposition here to respect the indifference, but of this profound unit, mystérieuse entre baptisés, qui reflète ici-bas l'unité du Père et du Fils: “Qu'ils soient un comme nous-mêmes!”. Par le baptême, “vous n'êtes plus des étrangers . . . you have been integrated into the construction here at the foundation of the Apôtres et les prophètes. . . you will also see the elements of the construction pour devenir par l'Esprit Saint la demeure de Dieu” ( Eph . 2, 19. 20. 22). C'est saint Paul qui vous le dit aujourd'hui.

And I repeat it to you, Catholics - citizen suisses et travailleurs ou réfugiés venus de l'étranger -, qui ressentez la diversité de vos generations, de vos milieux, de vos pays d'origine, de vos races.

I tell you all, believe me here, courageously and sadly without doubt, the scandals of the division of the disciples of Christ; the faut progresser for those who, reconnaissant in Jesus the unique Seigneur and Sauveur, the unique Founder of the Church, the chrétiens parviennent à vivre dans une communion de foi et de charité plenière et visible, aspiring to share the same Pain of life. There is an order of Christ, “afin que le monde croie”. “He has abolished all divisions” ( Oratio Eucharistica pro reconciliatione ).

Elargissant but prière, je vous souhaite aussi à vous all, men and women of this country, to build the earthly city in solidarity among you and with the rest of the world, in a universal fraternity that has a place. Puissiez-vous être éclairés et stimulés par l'exemple des croyants comme aux premiers siècles de l'Eglise: “Voyez comme ils s'aiment”! Oui, “l'union de la famille humaine trouve une grande vigueur et son achèvement dans l'unité de la famille des fils de Dieu, fondée dans le Christ” ( Gaudium et Spes , 42, par. 1; etiam n. 3) .

9. Brothers and Sisters, you must say what you have chosen so that you can enjoy the joy of Christ and you can mix it together ( Io . 17, 13). Rejoignons l'ultime prière de Jésus à son Père di lui: “Consacre-les dans la vérité , ta parole est vérité”. The spirit of service and unity are the signs that men are sanctified in the truth of Christ. This is the grace of sanctification that Jesus no longer offered to him on the cross and his resurrection makes him present for this Eucharist: “I consecrate myself for those who are so consecrated in truth”. Avec lui, nous pourrons alors concourir à la sanctification de l'homme ( Oratio super oblata ).

Approchons-nous de Him dans la vérité, dans l’amour, pour recevoir son Esprit de saintété et d’unité, comme Marie et les Apôtres à la Pentecôte. A moi-même, qui ai reçu la charge de l'Apôtre Pierre pour vous affirmir dans la foi et vous rassembler autour du Christ, la Pierre Angulaire ( Eph . 2, 20; 1 Petr . 2, 4), et à chacun de vous, chers Frères dans l'épiscopat ou dans le prieste, religieux, religieuses et laïcs baptisés et confirmés, le Christ nous demande: “Es-tu prêt à donner ta vie, à la “consacrer”, pour le service de tous les hommes , so that the health message appears to all nations?”.

Amen.

I must express our deep common gratitude to our brothers and especially to the Orthodox Metropolitan and to the others who have experienced with us the greatness of the celebrations to which we always link the desire, our deep desire, to be able to unite around the Eucharistic table.

The same gratitude to the other brothers and sisters of the Christian communities who have their center here in Switzerland. Yesterday I had the privilege of visiting this center of the World Council of Christian Churches and also the Orthodox Center of Chambésy.

My brothers and my friends,

the true fact is that John Paul II loves you and you love him very much. So, thank you once again. My deep gratitude to our Lord who gathered us. He gathers us always and everywhere. He makes us more and more the people of God that we are. It is a great fortune to be in Switzerland, to belong to this great people, but I want to say that it is an even greater fortune to belong to the people of God.

© Copyright 1984 - Vatican Publishing House

 Copyright © Dicastery for Communication - Vatican Publishing House