POPE ACCLAIMS FAITH IN POST-COMMUNIST LANDS

03-10-2008

Urges Bishops to Keep Flame Alive

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 2, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is encouraging prelates from former communist countries to keep the flame of faith alive in their small communities.

The Pope made this appeal today when he received in separate visits prelates from Kazakhstan and Central Asia, who were in Rome for their five-yearly visit.

In addresses in Italian and Russian, the Holy Father invited the bishops to be grateful that communist repression had not extinguished the faith of their peoples, thanks to the "zealous sacrifices of priests, religious and laypeople." He was addressing prelates from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

He went on to acknowledge that the prelates generally minister to very small Catholic communities. In Kyrgyzstan, for example, 2004 statistics showed only 500 Catholics in the apostolic administration. The "sui iuris" mission of Turkmenistan reported only 50 Catholics that same year.

Thus, the Pontiff called on the prelates to be guided by the Holy Spirit and to draw from their past experiences.

"Continue to educate everyone in listening to the word of God and foster Marian devotion and love for the Eucharist, especially in the young," he said. "Encourage families to pray the rosary. Patiently and courageously seek new ways and methods of apostolate, making it your concern to modernize them according to today's demands, bearing in mind the language and culture of the faithful entrusted to you care."

Benedict XVI went on to highlight the absolute importance of unity in the respective situations the bishops face. He encouraged unity among the prelates and the priests, religious and laity, and within the communities themselves. Such unity will make apostolic endeavors more effective, the Pope assured.

Turning his attention to the growing plague of terrorism in some of the areas where the prelates minister, the Holy Father affirmed that laws have to oppose the use of terrorism. "However," he said, "the force of law should never itself promote a lack of justice, nor can the free exercise of religion be limited, because to freely profess one's faith is a fundamental and universally recognized human right."

The Pontiff recalled that the Church is the first promoter of religious freedom, since it never imposes, but only proposes, the faith.

The Church knows, he said, that "conversion is the mysterious fruit of the Holy Spirit's work. Faith is a gift and a work of God, and hence excludes any form of proselytism that forces, allures or entices people by trickery to embrace it."

"A person may open to the faith after mature and responsible reflection, and must be able to carry through with that intimate aspiration in freedom. This benefits not only the individual, but the whole of society, since the faithful observance of divine precepts helps to build a more just and united form of coexistence."

http://www.zenit.org/article-23789?l=english