Visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the
President of the Italian Republic
H.E. Mr. Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
Address of His Holiness
Benedict XVI
Quirinal Palace
Friday, 24 June 2005
Pro-Life Excerpt (full article to follow)
Mr. President, as you
can easily understand, I have many concerns at the beginning of my pastoral
service on the Chair of Peter. I would like to point out some of them which,
because of their universally human character, cannot but also concern those who
are responsible for government. I am alluding to the problem of the protection
of the family founded on marriage, as it is recognized also in the Italian
Constitution (n. 29), the problem of the defence of human life from conception
to its natural end and lastly, the problem of education and consequently of
school, an indispensable training ground for the formation of the new
generations.
The Church, accustomed
as she is to scrutinizing God's will engraved in the very nature of the human
creature, sees in the family a most important value that must be defended from
any attack that aims to undermine its solidity and call its very existence into
question.
The Church recognizes
human life as a primary good, the premise for all other goods. She therefore
asks that it be respected both at its initial and its final stages and stresses
the duty to provide adequate palliative treatment that makes death more human.
Full Article
Mr. President,
I have the joy today of
reciprocating the most cordial visit that you were pleased to pay me as Head of
the Italian State last 3 May on the occasion of the new pastoral service to
which the Lord has called me. First of all, therefore, I would like to thank you
and through you, to thank the Italian People for the warm welcome they have
accorded me from the very first day of my pastoral service as Bishop of Rome and
Pastor of the universal Church.
For my part, I assure the
citizens of Rome and then the whole Italian Nation of my commitment to do my
utmost for the religious and civil good of those whom the Lord has entrusted to
my pastoral care.
The proclamation of the Gospel
which, in communion with the Italian Bishops, I am called to make to Rome and to
Italy, is not only at the service of the Italian people's growth in faith and in
the Christian life but also of its progress on the paths of concord and peace.
Christ is the Saviour of the whole person, spirit and body, his spiritual and
eternal destiny and his temporal and earthly life. Thus, when his message is
heard, the civil community also becomes more responsible and attentive to the
needs of the common good and shows greater solidarity with the poor, the
abandoned and the marginalized.
Reviewing Italian history, one
is struck by the innumerable works of charity that the Church, with great
sacrifices, set up for the relief of all kinds of suffering. Today the Church
intends to journey on along this same path, without any ambition for power and
without requesting social or financial privileges. The example of Jesus Christ,
who "went about doing good works and healing all" (Acts 10: 38), remains the
Church's supreme norm of conduct among the peoples.
Relations between the Church
and the Italian State are founded on the principle spelled out by the Second
Vatican Council, which says: "The political community and the Church are
autonomous and independent of each other in their own fields. Nevertheless, both
are devoted to the personal vocation of man, though under different titles"
(Gaudium et Spes, n. 76).
This principle was already
present in the Lateran Pacts and was subsequently confirmed in the Agreements
that modified the Concordat. Therefore, a healthy secularism of the State, by
virtue of which temporal realities are governed according to their own norms but
which does not exclude those ethical references that are ultimately founded in
religion, is legitimate. The autonomy of the temporal sphere does not exclude
close harmony with the superior and complex requirements that derive from an
integral vision of man and his eternal destiny.
I am eager to assure you, Mr
President, and all the Italian People, that the Church desires to maintain and
to foster a cordial spirit of collaboration and understanding at the service of
the spiritual and moral growth of the Country; it would be seriously harmful,
not only for her but also for Italy, to attempt to weaken or to break these very
special ties that bind her to the Country. The Italian culture is deeply imbued
with Christian values, as can be seen in the splendid masterpieces that the
Nation has produced in all fields of thought and art.
My hope is that the Italian
People will not only not deny the Christian heritage that is part of their
history but will guard it jealously and make it produce new fruits worthy of the
past. I am confident that Italy, under the wise and exemplary guidance of those
who are called to govern it, will continue to carry out in the world its
civilizing mission in which it has so distinguished itself down the centuries.
By virtue of its history and its culture, Italy can make a very worthwhile
contribution, particularly to Europe, helping it to rediscover the Christian
roots that enabled it to achieve greatness in the past and can still serve to
deepen the profound unity of the Continent.
Mr President, as you can
easily understand, I have many concerns at the beginning of my pastoral service
on the Chair of Peter. I would like to point out some of them which, because of
their universally human character, cannot but also concern those who are
responsible for government. I am alluding to the problem of the protection of
the family founded on marriage, as it is recognized also in the Italian
Constitution (n. 29), the problem of the defence of human life from conception
to its natural end and lastly, the problem of education and consequently of
school, an indispensable training ground for the formation of the new
generations.
The Church, accustomed
as she is to scrutinizing God's will engraved in the very nature of the human
creature, sees in the family a most important value that must be defended from
any attack that aims to undermine its solidity and call its very existence into
question.
The Church recognizes
human life as a primary good, the premise for all other goods. She therefore
asks that it be respected both at its initial and its final stages and stresses
the duty to provide adequate palliative treatment that makes death more human.
As for schools, her role is
connected with the family as a natural expansion of its task of formation. In
this regard, save the competence of the State to dictate the general norms of
instruction, I cannot but express the hope that the right of parents to choose
education freely will be respected, and that in so doing they will not have to
bear the additional burden of further expenses. I trust that Italian
legislators, in their wisdom, will be able to find "human" solutions to the
problems mentioned here, in other words, solutions that respect the inviolable
values implicit in them.
Lastly, expressing my hope
that the Nation will continue to advance on the path of spiritual and material
well being, I join you, Mr President, in urging all the citizens and all the
members of society always to live and work in a spirit of genuine harmony, in a
context of open dialogue and mutual trust, in the commitment to serve and
promote the common good and the dignity of every person. I would like to
conclude, Mr President, by recalling the esteem and affection that the Italian
People feels for you, as well as its full confidence in fulfilling the duties
inherent in your exalted office.
I have the joy of joining in
this affectionate esteem and trust, as I entrust you and your Consort, Mrs.
Franca Ciampi, the leaders of the life of the Nation and the entire Italian
People to the protection of the Virgin Mary, so intensely venerated in the
countless shrines dedicated to her. With these sentiments, I invoke upon you all
the Blessing of God, a pledge of every desired good.
