On the frontier

The ad limina visit to Rome of the International Bishops’ Conference of Saints Cyril and Methodius ended on 5 May. It had begun on 30 April. On Friday 4 May the bishops were received in audience by the Pope; they brought with them “the warm greetings of all the Catholics of Roman and Byzantine rite in Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia with Kosovo”. “Our priests, men and women religious, together with all the laity – said the President of the Conference, Archbishop STANISLAV HOCEVAR of Belgrade – look with great love, fidelity and hope to the See of St. Peter. In particular the young and families, who are very widely scattered geographically, feel a great need to be united in faith and in hope”. The International Bishops’ Conference of Saints Cyril and Methodius is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.TOOLS OF RECONCILIATION. “As Pastors we find ourselves on the frontier between East and West”, said Archbishop Hoèevar in his address at the papal audience. “We are incorporated in very rich cultures and historical traditions, though not devoid of difficulties and contradictions, and therefore ask Your Holiness to illuminate us, bless us and intensify our links with the universal Catholic Church, expert in humanity”. For “our ecclesial communities”, characterized by “diversity of rites, language, culture and history”, the archbishop recalled, have experienced over the centuries “many deep-rooted changes” and still today “are undergoing a process of re-establishment”. “We have taken the decision to be increasingly tools of reconciliation, communion, love and collaboration. We strive to make our humble contribution to enable every person to grow in his human dignity and genuine identity”. That’s why “we pledge to pray incessantly for full and visible ecclesial union and to sacrifice ourselves for this intention”. “By the intercession of Mary, Mother of unity, we too today – said the archbishop of Belgrade – ask to be illuminated in our ecumenical efforts” and “with the same apostolic love we seek genuine interfaith dialogue, in full consciousness and responsibility. In this field we too, in spite of our limitations, we can perhaps enrich other local Churches with some specific experience”.PURIFYING MEMORY. “Even if our Bishops’ Conference has a short history – pointed out Mons. Hoèevar – Christianity in our part of the Balkans has a long tradition. The origins of the first Christian communities go right back to the time of the apostles. In the first centuries of Christianity many witnesses in our lands professed their faith with martyrdom”. And for two millennia, “in spite of all the historical events” and the numerical decline of the faithful, “the witness of their life, led according to the Gospel, has never been forgotten and remains alive today”. At this moment in history, he continued, “we need to purify our memory, in particular that of the recent past, to be able to celebrate in full the ‘magnalia Dei’ and begin afresh with a new history of Pentecost. Also for this delicate task we need the guidance of the universal Church”. Then came an invitation: “Holy Father Benedict XVI, come among us to help us! All our faithful, all our priests, all our men and women religious make this invitation to you through us, the bishops. It becomes a strong choral cry: ‘Come and help us!'”.BEING LEAVEN. “Assure to everyone, priests, men and women religious, children and adolescents, young and old, and families – replied Benedict XVI – that the Pope is close to them and remembers them in prayer to the Lord every day. I exhort you all to persevere in unity, mutual dialogue and a spirit of brotherhood”. “The situations of your dioceses”, added the Holy Father, “often consist of a small flock inserted in vast contexts of ethnic, cultural and religious multiplicity” and “your mission is not therefore easy!”, but just for this reason “you need to be evangelical leaven that ferments society”. “Upright consciences formed according to the Gospel will be more easily prompted to construct a society with a human dimension”. For “a misconceived modernity tends today to glorify in an excessive manner the needs of the individual to the detriment of the duties that each person has towards God and towards the community to which he belongs”. “Your Churches too feel they are participants” in the historical process of reorganization of the European continent now underway, conscious that they can make their own particular contribution”, concluded the Pope. But “obstacles are not lacking”, such as “the lack of resources at your disposal due to the economic situation and the small numbers of Catholics”.