To the Animists

On Friday, 9 August 1985, at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lake Togo, in Togoville, the Holy Father spoke to the Animists, saying, “Nature, exuberant and splendid, in this place of forests and lakes, imbues the minds and hearts with its mystery, and orients them spontaneously towards the mystery of him who is the author of life,” adding that in Jesus Christ “God established a new alliance, which all men desire in the depths of their hearts, which religious men would like to realize; the rainbow, between heaven and earth, appears to them as a symbol of this bond between God and men.”

Dear friends,

I am very moved that you have come to meet me and to participate in the prayer of Catholics, in this Shrine dedicated to the Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ. I know that you came to attend the dedication in 1973, thus recognizing the special place that Mary has among the friends of God, as the mother of his beloved Son. I urge you to come and pray to her. I also recall that in 1975 a delegation of some of you came to Rome to greet my predecessor, Pope Paul VI. I thank you for your respectful and trusting initiative.

Nature, exuberant and splendid, in this place of forests and lakes, imbues the minds and hearts with its mystery, and orients them spontaneously towards the mystery of him who is the author of life. It is this religious sentiment that animates you, and which animates, one might say, all of your compatriots. May this sentiment of the sacred, which has always characterized the human heart created in the image of God, lead men to desire to draw ever closer to this creator God, in spirit and in truth, to recognize him, to adore him, to thank him, to seek his will. Thus their prayer and their moral conduct will be inspired by the Spirit of God himself. Their religious sentiment will overcome fear, for we believe that God is good and that nature, which came from his hands, is also good. Fear would rather come from the evil that dwells in the heart of man, when he distances himself from God. However, the sense of God, in itself, can be filled with peace, respect, trust, joyful submission.

To Christians, Jesus Christ taught to know God and to pray to him as "Our Father". They also believe that Jesus Christ frees man from his sins and from eternal death. In him, God established a new alliance, which all men desire in the depths of their hearts, which religious men would like to realize; the rainbow, between heaven and earth, appears to them as a symbol of this bond between God and men. It is in the name of Jesus Christ, in the name of the Church, which has entrusted me with the mission of guiding, that I present myself among you.

Let us pray, one another, that God may draw all men, our brothers, towards his light, and fill them with his blessings.

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