A journey of faith

Yesterday morning, at 8.40, the Pope left Rome’s Fiumicino Airport bound for Warsaw, capital of Poland, for his second apostolic visit outside Italy (after his journey to Cologne for World Youth Day last August). Benedict XVI’s first day in Poland on Thursday had a packed programme of events: after the welcoming ceremony at Okecie international airport, during which the Pope gave his first speech on Polish soil, and transfer in an open car to Warsaw, the Holy Father met the local clergy in the cathedral of St. John at 12.30. In the afternoon he met the representatives of the Churches and ecclesial communities, reunited in the Polish Ecumenical Council, in the Lutheran church of the Holy Trinity in Warsaw. STRONG IN THE FAITH. “I have come to follow in his footsteps and re-trace the journey of his life: from boyhood to his departure for the memorable conclave in 1978”: recalling his illustrious predecessor, John Paul II, Benedict XVI addressed the civil and religious authorities of Poland, present at the airport to welcome him at the start of his pastoral visit. The Pope immediately explained that his was “a journey of faith that forms part of the mission entrusted to me by the Lord in the person of the apostle Peter, who was called to confirm his brothers in the faith”. “I too – he added – want to draw from the abundant source of your faith, which has welled forth uninterruptedly for over a millennium”. Benedict XVI also expressed a wish: “I hope that these meetings may bear abundant fruit for our common faith in Christ and for the social and political realities in which men and women live today”. After briefly commenting on the various stages of his journey (apart from Warsaw and Krakow, he will visit Cz?stochowa, Wadowice, Kalwaria, ?agiewniki and Wawel Cathedral), the Pope also recalled the motto chosen for this apostolic journey, “Remain strong in the faith”, and expressed the hope that “this visit of mine [to Poland] may be a time of brotherhood, benevolence and hope”. EXPERTS IN SPIRITUALITY. In his speech to the local clergy, in Warsaw Cathedral, the Holy Father appealed to the priests to avoid some dangers, typical of the dominant culture today, such as egoism, haste, relativism, pessimism, hypocrisy and “exaggerated concentration on ourselves”. He urged them to respond to the “great hullabaloo” of our time with the “silence” of prayer. “From their priests – stressed Benedict XVI – the faithful expect only one thing: that they be specialists in promoting man’s meeting with God”, experts “in spiritual life”. “In response to the temptations of relativism or permissiveness – warned the Pope – it is not at all necessary that the priest should know all the current and fleeting currents of thought of our time; what the faithful expect from him is that he be a witness of the eternal wisdom, contained in the revealed Word”. The Pope then drew attention to “a great pastoral challenge” faced by “the Church in Poland today”: that of devoting pastoral care to the faithful who have left the country, due to the “scourge of unemployment”, a “widespread phenomenon” which “forces many people to leave their country and go abroad”. “Polish priests – the Pope exhorted them -, don’t be afraid of leaving your safe and familiar world to serve wherever there is a shortage of priests”. In this regard, the Holy Father cited “the numerous priests and religious who “perform their service not only in favour of Poles beyond the frontiers of their country, but also, and at times in very difficult conditions, in the missions of Africa, Asia, Latin America and in other regions”. TWO COMMITMENTS. “In the spirit of the Gospel commandment” that we love one another, the Christian Churches can together assume two important commitments: the first concerns charitable service to “our brothers in need, whomever they be”; the second is promoting a “common programme of pastoral care” towards inter-confessional marriages, which may – said Benedict XVI – “give rise to the formation of a practical laboratory of unity” provided there is “understanding and maturity in faith on both sides, as also on the part of the communities from which they come”. These were the practical proposals made yesterday by the Pope, in his speech to the representatives of the Churches and ecclesial communities, gathered in the Polish Ecumenical Council. Benedict XVI re-affirmed his “firm intention”, expressed at the very beginning of his pontificate, to “consider as a priority” of his ministry “the restitution of full and visible unity between Christians”. The Holy Father then traced some “steps” that the Churches have taken in recent years “towards mutual understanding and rapprochement” and also the “concrete ecumenical successes” that have been registered in Poland. “We note a great deal of progress in the field of ecumenism – he affirmed – and yet we still expect something more”.