{"id":1491,"date":"2014-03-31T23:08:18","date_gmt":"2014-04-01T03:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nuntiatura.ca\/en\/?p=1491"},"modified":"2015-02-25T16:02:44","modified_gmt":"2015-02-25T21:02:44","slug":"assembly-of-catholic-bishops-of-ontario","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/assembly-of-catholic-bishops-of-ontario\/","title":{"rendered":"Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario"},"content":{"rendered":"

Address of the Apostolic Nuncio, Msgr Luigi Bonazzi<\/strong>
\nToronto, March 31, 2014<\/p>\n

Dear brothers in the Episcopate,
\nI greet you all with fraternal affection.<\/p>\n

I note with interior joy that, while I am beginning my mission as Apostolic Nuncio in Canada, Providence has arranged events such as these in which I am able to first meet the Bishops, the Pastors of the Church in Canada.\u00a0 In fact, earlier this month, I met with the Bishops of Qu\u00e9bec; two weeks ago I met with the Permanent Council of your Episcopal Conference; and today I am with you, the Bishops of Ontario.\u00a0 After Easter I will have the opportunity to gather with the Bishops of the Atlantic Region<\/p>\n

So, it seems that these circumstances leave us no other choice: \u00a0Providence has led me to you and you to me:\u00a0 therefore we must be friends, true friends.<\/p>\n

In this respect, I always remember with emotion a question posed by Pope Paul VI (soon Blessed), during the course of an Episcopal Ordination.\u00a0 The Holy Father asked:\u00a0 \u201cWho are the friends of a bishop?<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 And he answered: \u201c\u2026first of all the Bishops themselves\u2026who, in the persons of the Apostles, had been given, par excellence, the new commandment, that of love for one another.\u00a0 \u2018As I have loved you, says Jesus, so you must love one another.\u00a0 By this will all men know that you are my disciples:\u00a0 if you love one another\u2019 (John 13:34-35):\u00a0 unity, solidarity, cooperation, generosity, after these explicit and solemn words of the Lord, will make all the Bishops of the Catholic Church a communion of brothers<\/em>.\u201d (Paul VI, Homily, June 30, 1974)<\/p>\n

I ask the Lord for the grace to live with you, intensely, this invaluable human and divine experience which is Christian friendship; an experience to which Jesus particularly calls us Bishops, by declaring to us in a special way: \u201cI no longer call you servants\u2026 but I call you friends<\/em>.\u201d (John 15:15)<\/p>\n

In this regard, I would wish to recall two aspects of friendship \u2013 according to Jesus \u2013 mentioned by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger during the course of the Missa pro eligendo Romano Pontifice<\/em>, April 18, 2005.<\/p>\n

The first:\u00a0 \u201cThere are no secrets between friends<\/span>:\u00a0 Christ tells us all that he hears from the Father; he gives us his full trust and with trust, also knowledge.\u00a0 He reveals his face and his heart to us\u2026<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe second element<\/em> which<\/em> Jesus uses to define friendship is the communion of wills<\/span>\u2026\u00a0 \u2018Idem velle-idem nolle\u2019\u2026 \u2018You are my friends if you do as I command you<\/em> (John 15:14).\u201d\u00a0 The unity of mind and of will is a difficult work if it is dependant only on human effort.\u00a0 In fact, each person has his own mind which moves his own will.\u00a0 But the Christian has an added resource, a unique resource:\u00a0 in fact, as St. Paul reminds us:\u00a0 \u201cWe have the mind<\/em> (\u03bd\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2) of Christ<\/em>.\u201d (1 Cor. 2:16)\u00a0 We have to allow ourselves to be led both personally and as the College of Bishops, by the \u201cmind of Christ\u201d always remembering that it is properly the \u201ccommunion\u201d that ensures we do not act on the basis of a personal \u201c\u03bd\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2\u201d but according to the mind that is the \u201c\u03bd\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2\u201d of Christ.<\/p>\n

As an expression of fraternal friendship, permit me now to share with you a few reflections.\u00a0 These are for me like \u201cinterior lights\u201d which accompany and guide me, as each day, a little more, I fix my eyes upon the vast domain that is the Catholic Church in Canada.\u00a0 How do I get closer to your beloved Church?\u00a0\u00a0 How do I look at it?\u00a0 I am supported by two perspectives, received as valuable gifts from Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.<\/p>\n

The perspective of Pope Benedict XVI<\/span>.\u00a0 I refer to the words uttered while he was at the commencement of his pontificate, on October 3, 2005, on the occasion of the beginning of the work of the Synod on the Eucharist:\u00a0 \u201c\u2026And this is our great consolation. God goes before us.\u00a0 He has already done all things.\u00a0 He has given us peace, forgiveness and love.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 These words are a wondrous echo of what the Angel said to the women who had reached the tomb:\u00a0 \u201cGo quickly and tell his disciples:\u00a0 \u2018He has risen from the dead and he goes before you to Galilee, there you shall see him<\/em>\u2019.\u201d (Mt. 28:7).<\/p>\n

The Lord is risen! The essential has already been accomplished!\u00a0 After his resurrection he will precede us \u201cto Galilee<\/em>\u201d, that is to say that he is with us in every one of our beginnings, and even to the very ends of the earth; and he accompanies us with his strength and his light.\u00a0 The resurrection of Christ has already been sown in the vast fields of Canada!\u00a0 Of this Resurrection which goes before us, we are called to be witnesses (Acts 2:32), with our apostolic initiatives, undertaken together with creativity and renewed confidence.\u00a0 We ask the Lord for this grace.<\/p>\n

The perspective of Pope Francis<\/span>.\u00a0 I find it very well expressed, among others, in two of his statements.\u00a0 The first:\u00a0 \u201cGod already lives in our city<\/em>\u201d, from which is born an inner attitude prompting us to seek and to find God in every situation and place where he awaits us (cf. J.M. Bergoglio, \u201cDieu dans la ville\u201d, Ed. Saint-Paul, 2013, p. 32).\u00a0 The second statement is a development of the first:\u00a0 \u201cI have a dogmatic certainty:\u00a0 God is in every person\u2019s life.\u00a0 God is in everyone\u2019s life.\u00a0 Even if the life of a person has been a disaster, even if it is destroyed by vices, drugs or anything else, God is in this person\u2019s life. \u00a0You can, you must seek him in every human life.\u00a0 Although the life of a person is a land full of thorns and weeds, there is always a space in which the good seed can grow.\u00a0 You have to trust <\/em>in God<\/em>.\u201d (Interview with La Civilt\u00e0 Cattolica, September 19, 2013).<\/p>\n

So, secular society, which at first sight may seem indifferent and far from God, is not without God:\u00a0 God lives already in Toronto, Montr\u00e9al; in the villages and cities of Canada; \u201cHe is in the life of each person<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 So at the pastoral level, our first preoccupation should not be with projects and schedules, but rather \u201cto be witnesses<\/em>\u201d in a way that awakens among people a longing for the infinite, a longing for God and his beauty.\u00a0 Once the desire for God is revived or enkindled again within people, these very people in turn will become witnesses of the life that comes from the Gospel.<\/p>\n

Basically, both Pope Benedict and Pope Francis do nothing else than to lead us to the heart of the Christian faith, to the source that makes us capable of facing all difficulties and of overcoming every sadness.\u00a0 In fact, as we know, the essence of the Christian message does not reside principally in the commandment of love of God, but in the invitation to allow ourselves to be touched by his redemptive love, through Jesus, in the gift of the Spirit.\u00a0\u00a0 It is God, in fact, who has loved us first:\u00a0 the initiative is absolutely his own, totally free, infinitely merciful.\u00a0 We can only love him in return. (cf. 1 John 4:10.19)<\/p>\n

If the love of God goes before us, then the starting point, the source of our Episcopal ministry will be primarily contemplation of this love, the \u201ccontemplation of the Lord.\u201d\u00a0 Yes, amid the lights and shadows that accompany our pastoral service; in the face of the questions and demands which do not find easy answers; in the face of the religious indifference of many people;\u00a0 in the face of advancing secularization; as also in the face of weakened enthusiasm or the lukewarm sense of belonging we experience in our Christian communities\u2026 we know that the only remedy, the only radical response, not sporadic or fragmentary\u2026 is the contemplation of the Lord who goes before us to Galilee.\u00a0 It is a contemplation which should be shared as much as possible, as is the case between friends.<\/p>\n

I said \u201ccontemplation\u2026shared as much as possible\u201d because \u201cthe most important thing is to walk together, work together, to help each other<\/em>\u201d (cf. Address of Pope Francis at Assisi, during the meeting with members of the clergy, religious and members of pastoral councils, October 4, 2013).\u00a0 For this reason, as I did at the meeting of the Assembly of the Bishops of Qu\u00e9bec, and quite recently, at the Permanent Council,\u00a0 I conclude\u00a0 saying to you also, with Pope Francis:\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cLet us walk together behind the Lord, and let us always be called together by him, in the midst of his faithful people, the holy People of God, holy Mother the Church<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 (Homily, February 21, 2014, Consistory for the Creation of New Cardinals)<\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Address of the Apostolic Nuncio, Toronto, March 31, 2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[45,22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1491"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1491"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1660,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1491\/revisions\/1660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}