ERITREA: The Prophetic Voice of the Catholic Bishops of Eritrea

 

We have had the grace to begin this Year of Faith with great enthusiasm, to live it while reflecting on
our own spiritual journey, praying to God and praising the name of the Lord,
and undertaking acts of penance. As part of all this we have had the gift of
the new Eparchy of Segheneiti, a reward for the great faith of our fathers. For
all of these things we raise a joyful hymn of thanksgiving to the Lord.

 

3.     The Pope
Emeritus, Benedict XVI, in his Motu
Proprio Porta Fidei, offers
inspired suggestions to the whole church and to us Pastors of souls, with
particular reference to the times in which we live, “ … The Church as a whole and all her Pastors, like Christ, must set out to
lead people out of the desert, towards the place of life, towards friendship
with the Son of God, towards the One who gives us life, and life in abundance. It often happens that Christians are
more concerned for the social, cultural and political consequences of their
commitment, continuing to think of the faith as a self-evident presupposition
for life in society. In reality, not only can this presupposition no longer be
taken for granted, but it is often openly denied. Whereas in the past it was possible to
recognize a unitary cultural matrix, broadly accepted in its appeal to the
content of the faith and the values inspired by it, today this no longer seems
to be the case in large swathes of society, because of a profound crisis of
faith that has affected many people” (Porta
Fidei, 2).

 

4.     It
was precisely as an invitation to remain steadfast in the faith during these
times of grave crisis that Benedict XVI announced the Year of faith. As the
Apostle Paul exhorted his disciple Timothy to “ … concentrate on faith …” (2
Tm. 2:22) with the same constancy as when he was young (cf. 2 Tm. 3:15), so we
too, the Pastors of the Church of God in Eritrea, feel the duty to be vigilant
so that “… no-one should become lazy in the faith” (PF, 15).

 

Dear
brothers and sisters, in assuring you that we have prayed for you “… that your
faith may not fail …” (Lk. 22:32), we also feel keenly the exhortation that
Jesus addressed to Peter that he should confirm the brothers in their faith.
For his part, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium reminds us that God’s
question “Where is your brother?” (Gn. 4:9) is asked of each of us (EG, 211). And
so it is that we write you this Pastoral Letter with the intention of sharing
the burden of the problems and sufferings of our brothers, to experience “… the
great joy of believing” (LF, 5) and to “… renew
our wonder at the vast horizons which faith opens up, so as then to profess
that faith in its unity and integrity, faithful to the memory of the Lord and
sustained by his presence and by the working of the Holy Spirit” (ibid).

 

PART I

5.     The initiatives of the Year
of Faith sought to stimulate within us a desire to undertake a renewed
journey in our life of faith. In this context, the closing of this Year was not so much its point of
arrival but rather its point of departure for a horizon of life and faith towards
which we journey fore-armed with the fruits that have enriched us over the past
jubilee year.

 

We must rediscover what kind of joy and how much of it infuses our
faith, what and how many are the differences between those who believe and
those who don’t, which privileges and divine preferences make up the gift of
faith, what and how much joy might be missing that would indicate a lack or the
loss of faith. Without this gift we lose our sense of direction and travel
between the events of this life as in an endless ocean, with no key to
understanding our beginnings or end. Everything is reduced to the limits of
each individual circumstance. For the person of faith, however, God is the
first and last point of reference for creation and for the world, fruit of his
fatherly tenderness and providence that calls us to be co-responsible for the
fulfillment of the realities created.

 

6.     Without faith, pain and injustice have neither meaning nor release. With
faith, God proposes himself to us as the One “… who will wipe away every tear”
(Rv. 21:4) from the faces of those who suffer or are persecuted and He gives us
the certainty that “… all humanity will see the salvation of God” (Lk. 3:6).
Without faith, even the best of experiences in human existence – life, love, harmony,
mercy, reciprocal help, goodness – are incapable of overcoming the limits of
human mortality. With faith these experiences become the start of eternity.
With faith, God in his goodness and providence is at the centre of the origin
and fulfilment of every positive human experience and value; everything that we
do has in Christ who “… leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection …”
(Heb. 12:2). Without faith, death is the end of everything and the final
breakdown of every relationship. With faith, death marks the passing from this
earthly sojourn to the beginning of fullness in God and to the restoration of
union with those who have gone before us in the journey of life.

 

7.     Without faith, the world is only a simple product of chance, our lives a
mere straw in a bale of negative forces, and our destiny a condemnation to
nothingness. With faith in God, we discover our roots in his creative goodness,
we rediscover the reasons for a brotherhood that ties us to each other and we
focus our attention on our final berthing in Him; life, however much loaded
with problems and suffering becomes anchored in the guarantee that God
represents for us. Everything that “…is not sweetened by Christ remains sour
and bitter” (St. Bernard). Faith in the One who is “… the Way, the Truth and
the Life …” (Jn. 14:6) illumines and directs our existence. Without it we lose
ourselves in the shadows, “… If you will not take your stand on me you will not
stand firm” (Is. 7:9).

 

8.     The affirmation that our faith “… is the victory that has overcome the world
…” (1 Jn. 5:4) does not imply hate or contempt for the world but an invitation
to defeat pride, malice, hate and sin, and to overcome the limits of earthly
realities through a deep communion with the Lord leading us to the fullness of
life and joy. It is in faith that humanity’s similarity to God emerges. It is in
faith that we rediscover ourselves to be children of the same Father and thus
brothers and sisters to each other, ready to help each other. In fact God, who
“… created human beings to be immortal, he made them as an image of his own
nature …” (Ws. 2:23) never ceases to ask of us, “Where is your brother?”.

 

“Man is constantly worked upon by God’s spirit, and
hence can never be altogether indifferent to the problems of religion. The
experience of past ages proves this, as do numerous indications in our own
times. For man will always yearn to know, at least in an obscure way, what is
the meaning of his life, of his activity, of his death (Gaudium et Spes, 41). As our Holy Father, Francis, has reminded us
“…that it is not the same thing to have known
Jesus as not to have known him, not the same thing to walk with him as to walk
blindly … We know well that with Jesus life becomes richer and that with him it
is easier to find meaning in everything” (EG, 266). 

 

 

9.    
The Church, whose mission it is
to shine the light of the Gospel on earthly realities (cf. Apostolicam Actuositatem, 5), teaches that “… the light of faith does not make us forget
the sufferings of this world. … Faith is not a light which scatters all our
darkness, but a lamp which guides our steps in the night and suffices for the
journey. To those who suffer, God does not provide arguments which explain
everything; rather, his response is that of an accompanying presence, a history
of goodness which touches every story of suffering and opens up a ray of light.
In Christ, God himself wishes to share this path with us and to offer us his
gaze so that we might see the light within it” (Lumen Fidei, 57). It is in this context that the Church invites us
to accept the question of God, “Where is your brother?”. As Pastors of this local church, we are
prepared to push this issue not for reasons of status or self-interest but from
a true and sincere desire to serve. In fact “… authentic faith – which
is never comfortable or completely personal – always involves a deep desire to
change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better than
we found it” (EG, 183).

 

10.Seeing in
the light of faith means to accept “…the
great gift brought by Jesus” (LF, 1). In fact, “ … in God’s gift of faith, a
supernatural infused virtue, we realize that a great love has been offered us,
a good word has been spoken to us, and that when we welcome that word, Jesus
Christ the Word made flesh, the Holy Spirit transforms us, lights up our way to
the future and enables us joyfully to advance along that way on wings of hope.
Thus wonderfully interwoven, faith, hope and charity are the driving force of
the Christian life as it advances towards full communion with God. But what is
it like, this road which faith opens up before us? What is the origin of this
powerful light which brightens the journey of a successful and fruitful
life? (LF, 7).

 

11.“Men expect from the various religions answers to the unsolved
riddles of the human condition, which today, even as in former times, deeply
stir the hearts of men: What is man? What is the meaning, the aim of our life?
What is moral good, what is sin? Whence suffering and what purpose does it
serve? Which is the road to true happiness? What are death, judgment and
retribution after death? What, finally, is that ultimate inexpressible mystery
which encompasses our existence: whence do we come, and where are we going?” (Nostra Aetate, 1). “By contrast, when a
divine instruction and the hope of life eternal are wanting, man’s dignity is
most grievously lacerated, as current events often attest; riddles of life and
death, of guilt and of grief go unsolved with the frequent result that men
succumb to despair. Meanwhile every man remains to himself an unsolved puzzle,
however obscurely he may perceive it” (GS,21).

II

12.As we now
turn our attention to our distant and more recent past, we find various reasons
why we should offer praise to God. From the environmental point of view our
homeland does not have great natural resources compared to many other
countries; however it has enjoyed a relatively peaceful existence sheltered as
it were from serious natural disasters. Traditionally our people are
God-fearing, wishing to live in peace and harmony with others, far from
inter-tribal or inter-religious conflicts. This people appreciate cultural
diversity not as an excuse for division but rather as an opportunity for
reciprocal enrichment. It looks to its future with balance and wisdom. In a
word it is a people in love with and satisfied by peace. All this can only be
explained by a history, culture and view of life deeply rooted in its age-old
Christian faith. The question, “Where is your brother?”, which today weighs on
all our consciences, falls on ground that has always cultivated the values of solidarity
and sharing among individuals, families and groups in all moments of life both
happy and sad. We must pray unceasingly that these great values survive and
continue to grow: “Lord, increase our faith”. Indeed, as we shall indicate
below, today there are new winds blowing – new currents of ideas, habits and
practices that now threaten these same values.

 

While we
acknowledge that a number of initiatives furthering the reconstruction of the
country have been completed, at the same time, in as much as it is only natural
to want more, we cannot put aside the issue of how much still remains to be
done. There are wounds to be tended and healed. The positives must not blind us
to the negatives that weigh upon the lives of our people and these embrace a
wide range of dimensions and sectors: the personal and psychological dimensions
as well as the social and public ones, everyday (material) life and likewise
moral and spiritual standards. Pope Francis reminds us that “… It is up to the Christian communities to
analyse with objectivity the situation which is proper to their own country”
(EG, 184). 

The
tragedies at Sea

13.“A voice is
heard in Ramah lamenting and weeping bitterly; it is Rachel weeping for her
children, refusing to be comforted because they are no more” (Mt. 2:17). During
the months of September and October of last year, precisely at the time when at
home nature reawakens and we gather the fruits of the earth, at the beginning
of our traditional calendar year, our country and people were struck by a
tragedy that shook even the outside world: the drowning of hundreds of our
young countrymen in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. This was the climax of
an odyssey that has been going on for years over mountains, rivers, deserts and
seas at the mercy of criminal human traffickers. We cried so much at home and
in public “… The roads to Zion are in mourning; no one comes to her festivals
now. Her gateways are all deserted; her priests groan; her young girls are
grief-stricken; she suffers bitterly” (Lm. 1:4). The words of the prophet break
through the tears of Rachel as evoked in the Gospel of Matthew. Both passages
refer to the events of 587 B.C. when the Babylonian invaders pushed Israel out
of Jerusalem, gathered them on the plain of Ramah (today called Ramallah) and
burned the city. After this the people of Israel were taken as hostages to
Babylon. Rachel, who represents the people and the mothers of Israel. Cries for
her children “who are no more”. In remembering this great sorrow of Israel, the
prophet does not block a horizon of hope and return for the people.

 

14.The
Evangelist Matthew, in recalling the tomb of Rachel at Bethlehem, connects it
to the slaughter of the Innocents as decreed by Herod. Rachel is inconsolable
because her children “are no more”. But this is a cry that rises to the ears of
God who is the only one able to offer her consolation and to heal the wounds of
her soul – not only with words but also with hope and with the resurrection of
the dead. In this way the cry “they are no more” is transformed and
transfigured by the certainty that the fault has been redeemed by the
resurrection of Jesus.

 

That
tragedies such as those that have so sadly marked the history of our own land
in these last decades should come to pass at the borders of a developed
continent is truly, and as the Holy Father often repeats, unacceptable and
incompatible with the standards of civilization and progress reached today.

 

With Rachel,
mother of us all, and with all mothers, we raise our cries and our prayers to
God. While we implore God’s mercy that our young people who have died may find
in Him that peace and serenity that they sought for in vain on this earth, to
their parents, families and relatives we extend our most sincere sympathies
assuring them of our active support and compassion in their mourning. 

Mass
flight from the Country

15. Now however
we must listen attentively to the voice of the Lord who is making us
uncomfortable and asking us “Where is your brother? Where is your nephew, your
niece? How are they living?” And in turn we ask ourselves: who is addressing
the very sad state of affairs? Responsibility for it is to be placed at a
variety of doors on a variety of levels. The roots of it, in fact, are complex
and run deep and should be seen within a larger and more detailed picture: “Where,
in such situations does our country as a whole stand?” This is a question that
we cannot dodge by saying: Am I perhaps the one responsible for my brother?

·        We must acknowledge frankly that the
attraction of a better standard of living abroad has ended up creating
unrealistic hopes and unrealizable illusions that in their turn induce our
youth and their parents to an indiscriminate use of options as for example
unplanned, ill prepared and even false marriages. There are also those who
allow themselves to be seduced by the hope of a permanently subsidised life
abroad and refusing to look for any kind of alternative at home.

·       
These cases aside, the tragedy of the
fundamental choices in question and the root of the problem is undeniable. And
these pose very grave questions: how much longer can this chaotic human exodus
go on? How come the tough conditions endured by those who flee across the
desert and across the sea, the financial burden that it entails, the serious
risks to life that are run do not convince the youth to forego such adventures,
or better mis-adventures, of such magnitude? Given that so many of these
stories end in tragedy, is there no other alternative solution?

·        We might realistically ask ourselves if this
situation of “neither peace nor war”, which we have lived for some time, has
not brought us to the present position. So, what is missing? Is it political
will or the lack of an actual possibility of bringing it to an end? If the
international community has not yet played its part in this regard, and given
that every individual is the first one responsible for the solution of his own
problems, it is in the interests of the injured party to assume in primis the initiative for his own
release. This does not take away from the fact that whoever holds a role of
responsibility has the obligation to ask our youth – rather than condemn them
to the exploiters and human traffickers – if it is it not better to identify ways
and strategies for getting out of this absurd situation of “neither peace nor
war”? In so far as such a desire is conspicuously lacking, so it is that
thousands of young men and women, attracted by the prospect of even a minimum
of freedom, dignity and quality of life risk themselves in a desperate race
against torture and death.

 

16. It is in the
nature of things that wild beasts struggle with man for life. Unfortunately,
today we have arrived at a situation in which the axiom about man becoming a
wolf to his fellow man (homo homini lupus)
is becoming true: man, created in the image and likeness of God, has been
transformed into merchandise for commerce, butchered and mutilated for his
vital organs. This is all for discreditable profit. We are participating in
unheard of events, a return to the law of the jungle. We ask ourselves: if the
consciences of the authors of these crimes have lost all feeling, how is it
possible that the rest of the world tolerates it? Can the governments of the
states of the perpetrators and the victims of these crimes really say that they
have exhausted all the means at their disposal to put things right? What can we
say? The truth is that “… when the
order of values is jumbled and bad is mixed with the good, individuals and
groups pay heed solely to their own interests, and not to those of others. Thus
it happens that the world ceases to be a place of true brotherhood. In our own
day, the magnified power of humanity threatens to destroy the race itself” (GS,
37). For as long as things remain as they are, surely we cannot escape the
judgement of God, but neither can we escape that of our own times or of
history.

 

On
the other hand, there is no lack of voices who are rightly calling for a
precisely planned and coordinated response, a change of mentality, and
tangible, effective and incisive interventions. It is necessary to focus on the
question of targeted legislative and political strategies. To neglect this
issue renders all of us gravely responsible in front of God, and in front of
humanity, “… For at the judgement seat of Christ we are all to be seen for what
we are, so that each of us may receive what he has deserved in the body,
matched to whatever he has done, good or bad” (2 Co. 5:10).

The
Quality of Life

17.We know well
the wounds that afflict our people today, condemning some to death and others
to survival in misery – poverty, endemic illnesses such as HIV-AIDS, exile and
all that goes with it ….. 

 

In a spirit
of brotherly sharing and solidarity we appeal to God for eternal repose in his
Kingdom for the former and for the latter the power and consolation of God.

 

For many
years now our land has been undergoing an on-going process of desertification.
Timely initiatives are now needed to bring this process to a halt and to
protect the integrity of creation. We must make our people aware of what is
going on “… God wants us to be the stewards of creation and of our brothers and
sisters” (Pope Francis). Only in this way will creation, in its turn, come back
to being a steward to us.

 

It is not
only our natural resources that are abandoning us but also our human wealth:

·        
Thousands of educated young people, or those
with notable intellectual potential, are leaving us in what in effect we might
term a “brain drain”,

·        
Children re-join their parents abroad in
journeys with one-way tickets

·        
Parents re-join their children abroad and,
once they have acquired the relevant documents of residency, do not return home
any more.

In a word,
we find ourselves having to balance the books with a real and proper drain on
our resources and human energies. What will become of a country whose most
productive facets lack all appeal? It is people with all their potential who
make a nation what it ought to be.

 

18.We are
terrorized by the prospect of a drastic depopulation of the country. Certainly,
the memory of and nostalgia for one’s own country will continue to stay with
the exiles abroad. But, in history, there are very few cases of the mass return
of exiles to their country of origin. Among the generations that the country
has lost, probably for ever, there are not only those of the youth and the
middle-aged but also the babies born and brought up abroad. If we now do nothing
to ensure that these generations do not lose contact with their roots, the
country will have serious problems to face. This is the cry of alarm that is
rising from the country and is addressed to all – to individuals and to
families, to the elderly, to the political authorities and to the religious
leadership. We need to run to the shelters with courage and creativity to stop
those who have not yet left and to call back those who have already gone.

 

19.In our times
there is a clear changing of place from that saying of our fathers, “ … one’s
own land is as insatiable as one’s own eye” to that which has come to dominate
today, “… your home land is where your well-being is foremost”. If either claim
is of undeniable value, then, the solution is yet another: to explore ways and
means that allow the country to offer the citizen a true and effective
possibility for self-fulfilment. We take the opportunity to repeat what we
wrote in another Pastoral letter in 2001, “…There
is no point in just asking the question, “Why are our youth choosing to go
abroad?” – for no-one leaves a country of milk and honey to seek another
country offering the same opportunities. If one’s homeland is a place of peace,
jobs and freedom of expression there is no reason to leave it to suffer
hardship, loneliness and exile in an effort to look for opportunity elsewhere” (God Loves This Country, 29). 

Psychological
and Moral Situations

20.For the
above-mentioned reasons and for a thousand others equally incompatible with
life and human dignity, there is a prevailing uncertainty over the future of
people. There is a growing disdain for the value of human life, a tendency to
look for solutions to one’s own problems using means and methods that eschew
morality. On the other hand, the delusion engendered as result of the
non-achievement of the ends proposed, the uselessness of one’s own aspirations,
looking to distant lands as the only alternative for self-fulfilment, are bringing
a growing number of people to frustration and desperation. They find themselves
looking at a horizon that grows always darker and heavier.

 

Alongside
this, the breakup of the family unit inside the country – through military
service unlimited in terms of time and monetary reward and through the
imprisonment of many young people in actual prison or in punishment camps – is exposing
to misery not only elderly parents with no visible means of support, but also
entire families and it is having serious consequences at the economic level as
well as at the psychological and mental levels.. The rapid, almost endemic,
distribution of illnesses such as diabetes, blood pressure problems, and
cardiac conditions is among the more immediate signs of the above. 

Civil
Society

21.A general
weakening of moral social values and thus the pillars of a life together is to
be noted, a tendency towards incurable forms of social decadence (cf. Jr.
4:11-21). 

a.     
The Family

For various
reasons – among them once again national military service, the impact of
communications technology and the mass media, and the conditions of life for
the youth – the influence of the elders and of parents on their children and
upon the youth in general is diminishing visibly. We wish to urge elders and
parents not to abdicate their just responsibilities, even though many negative
factors seem to challenge them, to continue to exercise their role of mediation
and persuasion, not to let themselves be seduced by private concerns, to be outward
looking; above all to save the family, because the continuance of the family is
the salvation of the country. Since the family is the ground where brotherhood
flowers and flourishes, the question “Where is your brother?” refers above all
to the family circle. The family is the nucleus of the Church and the
foundation of society. It is there that “… the
various generations come together and help one another grow wiser and harmonize
personal rights with the other requirements of social life” (GS, 52). Thus “… All
those, therefore, who exercise influence over communities and social groups
should work efficiently for the welfare of marriage and the family” (GS ibid). 

b.    
Moral Re-building

22. A public
power no longer at the service of the common good but an instrument for
monopolising private or group interests, and the furthering of selfishness,
favouritism, corruption … displays signs of an incipient, or maybe advanced,
moral emergency. Corruption is not limited to financial transactions but
encompasses all those behaviours which have been uprooted from the common
criteria of public and personal morality. The tendency of looking after one’s
own interests is spreading without evaluating much less denouncing the morality
of the means used to gain it. Hiding the truth and encouraging deceit are basic
elements of corruption. These are all symptoms of a moral ill-health which we
must cure with a restoration of the principles of transparency and
responsibility and, on a deeper level, with a leap of conscience and fear of
the Lord. If nothing is done then anarchy, injustice, and violence will triumph
undisputed. To the religious leaders of every denomination rests the duty of
reawakening consciences, of encouraging the conversion of hearts and minds, and
to the civil authorities rest the duty of initiating a political system that is
clear, transparent and lawful. 

c.     
Lawfulness

23.A trait that
is characteristic of the tradition of our people is the sense of what is
lawful, respect for the institutionalized moral code. In our tradition there is
more respect for the one who appeals to the norms of the law than to the one
who threatens with the force of arms. Might it be that because this tradition
is ever more surely disappearing that corruption now seems to pervade the
fabric of our social life together? Since the principle of lawfulness cannot be
set aside from any project for moral and social reconstruction, one can never finish
insisting on its importance. In treating someone accused of an offence, justice
cannot and must not be disassociated from humanity and compassion.

Every legal
case must be lawfully based on this premise, reasoned according to the proper
procedures and brought to its conclusion at the right time. More generally, the
engaging of the principle of constitutionality, a demand acutely understood and
pressingly invoked by whoever appreciates the value of justice and liberty, can
no longer be disregarded. 

Within this
same issue there is also the question of the actual absence of an open
discussion of the problems of the country, of mature and dispassionate
dialogue, of access to objective and verifiable information. The gossip, the
indirect whispering, the bad-mouthing, the deceit or, in the best of cases, the
lack of interest in the common good … are in large part the fruit of incorrect
information, or worse still, of direct and systematic disinformation. The lack
of dialogue, of reciprocal listening, of mutual impartiality is enlarging and
deepening our differences and restricting the space available for a lasting
solution to our problems. 

d.    
Education

24.In order
that education might play its fundamental role of solid basis for cultural and
social progress, for the integral growth of the youth and for the over-all
development of the country, it must urgently make provision for the institutions
to which it has been deputed should be enlarged, renewed and modernized. It
must take up again, adapt, contextualize and inculturate the more advanced
principles and methodologies that have accompanied the growth of more developed
countries. The wise use of educational experiences from elsewhere could be a
fount of great enrichment. 

As in the
past, so in the present, the Church is open to every possibility of offering
its contribution in this field, promoting the values of truth, brotherhood,
freedom, equality, democracy, justice, the rights and dignity of each person,
and of lawfulness. 

“…Hence, the social order and its development must invariably
work to the benefit of the human person …
This social order requires constant improvement. It must be founded on
truth, built on justice and animated by love; in freedom it should grow every
day toward a more humane balance” (GS, 26). 

e.     
Straightened
Economic Circumstances

25.When we
think that at this time our families live, or survive, only thanks to remittances
coming from family members abroad – on the one hand as our fathers used to say
“God permits problems, yes, but never without a way out” – we feel a sincere
sense of gratitude, on the other hand we realise that this dependence on family
members abroad cannot be a permanent solution. If we do not create
opportunities fro work, if the youth are not allowed the possibility to make
themselves self-sufficient, if we do not put an end to the stagnation of
agriculture, commerce, and industry, we will never break out of this vicious
circle of dependence and poverty. We do well to insist on the self-sufficiency
of the nation but we should not forget that this is achieved through the
self-sufficiency of individuals and families. Elegant and high-sounding slogans
are not enough. We need opportunities for employment. 

The
exorbitant prices of consumer goods, the absolute insufficiency of salaries,
the unstoppable climbing of rents, the prolonged block on building, the
impossibility of dedicating oneself to work of one’s choice ….. have brought us
to a desperate economic emergency. How can we get out of this situation if
there is no room for private initiative, enterprise or creativity? How can we
speak about the independence and the dignity of a nation without presupposing
the dignity and independence of the people? It is no longer a question of a
standard of life more or less comfortable but of the problem of living or not
living, of the lack of the most essential goods such as water, bread light ….
We ask, in the name of everyone, for the attention of the public authorities
and their duty to create an economic system worthy of the dignity of the human
person. 

f.       
Moral and
Spiritual Life

26.We are very
worried about the moral and spiritual wounds that afflict our society. At times
we ask ourselves if there might not already be a process in action aimed at
changing our identity, a progressive overturning of values and of the moral
code, the insinuation of principles for the dismantling of the ethical
conscience. The words of St. Paul come to mind, “… People will be self-centred
and avaricious, boastful, arrogant and rude; disobedient to their parents,
ungrateful, irreligious; heartless and intractable; they will be slanderers,
profligates, savages and enemies to everything that is good; they will be
treacherous and reckless and demented by pride …” (2 Tm. 3:2-4). Devil worship
that is often disguised as modernity, might also take shape in this way. Are
the rumours that satanic cults are also active in our society totally
groundless? We do not know but the fact that we are speaking about it at all
must be worrying, “…Unlike former days, the denial of
God or of religion, or the abandonment of them, are no longer unusual and
individual occurrences. For today it is not rare for such things to be
presented as requirements of scientific progress or of a certain new humanism”
(GS, 7). 

Also
here nearer to home there are creeping tendencies seeking to push religion – as
the inspiring principle of life and the measure of human morality – into a
corner or to exploit it for merely monetary ends. There are pseudo-religious
propagandists in whose preaching the redemptive value of suffering and of the
cross is rendered completely meaningless or despised. We must instil at all
times an understanding that religion is the value that most deeply forges the
conscience of people and builds up true freedom and an authentic sense of life. 

27.The serious consequences that
follow from using religion as a tool for division and disunity, instead of a
principle for cohesion and unity and a true sense of belonging to the national
community, will have escaped no-one’s notice. Without an authentic
relationship with God and with the dictates of a good conscience and a true
sense of religion, it becomes difficult to create balanced and harmonious
social relationships. The success of dialogue, of the settlement of differences
and collaboration for the common good, is based on the ability to listen, on
reciprocal respect and on a feeling for justice that every true religious sense
inspires. 

28.Another aspect that, in our
society, has come to impose itself with all its destructive burden is the
degeneration of the relationship with money. When money becomes the criterion upon
which all social relations are based, inevitably one falls into a practical
form of machiavellianism for which the end justifies the means. And this is
what we see happening in various sectors of public life: in commerce, in the
offices, in marketing, in house rents; the search for money is the only thing
that matters, beyond all morality and every respect for man, his dignity and
his rights. What else but money can be behind the horrific trafficking of human
beings, the buying and selling of vital organs, prostitution ….? Only a return
to a proper sense of religion can free us from slavery and from the worship of
money, the falsest god of them all. The apostle Paul warns us, “… We brought
nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it” (1 Tm. 6:7). And
Jesus, “… No-one can be the slave of two masters …. You cannot be the slave of
both God and money” (Mt. 6:24). 

The
Root of all Evil

29.Sin: this is
the root of all evil, personal and social. Life centred exclusively on itself,
profit, greed, corruption, irresponsibility, things that poison our social life
together, are the venomous fruit of this “dark evil” in our lives. The taking
root and propagation of similar deviations is the true and great threat to the
unity, peace and the life itself of the nation. Even if, as has already been
said, responsibility for the evils of the country show themselves at different
levels and in different circumstances, no-one can hold himself innocent in this
regard so that “… If we say, ‘We have never sinned,’ …… his word has no place
in us” (1 Jn. 1:10). 

The only way
for an authentic growth for the people , the only principle upon which to found
a society reconciled and worthy of the values inherent to human dignity, is the
restoration of the absolute centrality and primacy of God and thus to man a
return to reflecting God’s image and likeness, “… If Yahweh does not build the
house in vain do its builders toil” (Ps. 127:1) 

When we
speak of a “nation” we do not refer simply to a territory, we mean a people that
share the same historical journey, the same cultural values, the same moral
ideals, the ability to deal with moments of serenity and of difference in a
spirit of unity and solidarity. Any journey towards true and authentic progress
presupposes the care, promotion and development of this shared scheme of
values.  

30.We have
spoken above of our people as a “people in love with …peace”  (No. 12) and this is a great blessing.
Nevertheless “… Peace is not merely the absence of war; nor can it be
reduced solely to the maintenance of a balance of power between enemies; nor is
it brought about by dictatorship. Instead, it is rightly and appropriately
called an ‘enterprise of justice’ (Is. 32:7). Peace results from that order
structured into human society by its divine Founder, and actualized by men as
they thirst after ever greater justice” (GS, 78). 

The
true enemy of peace is injustice (cf. Catechism
of the Catholic Church, 2317). Respect for persons, for their dignity and
their rights is the corner-stone of peace. The absence of such respect destroys
the foundations of peaceful human coexistence. For this reason we ask for the
liberation of all those who have been arrested and those who have been waiting
under arrest for longer or shorter periods of time. Justice should be
administered to all those who have been detained illegally, those forgotten in
prison … These are times when the disturbing question “Where is your brother?
…. Your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground” (Gn. 4:9-10)
resonates more strongly than ever. 

Conclusion

In
this Easter period, in which the nation, too, celebrates its twenty-third
anniversary of independence, it is the duty of all of us to pray that the Lord
may bless this country and make it a land of hope, peace and justice. It is
equally important that all of us – people and the religious and state
authorities – join forces to let this happen. We know well that the people are indefatigable
in their prayers for peace. Based on the word of Jesus, “… Whatever you ask for
in my name I will do” (Jn. 14:13) we are sure that our prayers will not be in
vain. Thus we open hearts and minds to He who tells us “… Peace I bequeath to
you, my own peace I give you, a peace which the world cannot give, this is my
gift to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid” (Jn. 14:27)

 

III

WITNESS

“You
will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8): Evangelization

31.“…There is an urgent need, then, to see once
again that faith is a light, for once the flame of faith dies out, all other
lights begin to dim” (LF, 4). To ensure that the flame of faith always remains
alive and its light always bright means nothing less than putting into practice
the words of Jesus, “… you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but
throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to earth’s remotest end” (Ac. 1:8).

 

 

 

 

This demanding word from the Lord is addressed to us today.
When, at the beginning, the community of the faithful was gathered by the
Apostles it grew prodigiously and today the Church is growing still. We, too,
are called to insert ourselves into this current of life and witness. Replying
to the same call, the first proclaimers of the Gospel in our land, St.
Frumentius and the nine Roman Saints and, in more recent times St Giustino de
Jacobis and the missionaries of successive decades have revived and revitalised
the ancient flame of faith. The blessing of gathering the mature fruits of
their witness and preaching has fallen to us. In our country, the faithful of
the Catholic Church who are organised into four Eparchies, are trying their
best live their vocation reading the signs of the times and following the
teachings of the universal Church. 

32.We pay our
filial respects to all the bishops, priests, religious both male and female,
and faithful who have passed on to us the flame of the faith while, following
in their footsteps, we undertake to keep it burning always more brightly.
Historically the Catholic faith is expressed through its efforts to provide
continuity to the evangelizing word and to the work of Jesus through a multiplicity
of initiatives: education, care of the sick and of orphans, women’s promotion
within a complex programme for the integral promotion of the whole person. This
is an activity that the Church continues to carry forward also today deepening
and enlarging it the context of an attentive reading of the signs of the times.
It is, in good measure, one kind of response the Lord’s question, “Where is
your brother?”. 

It is
worrying to see the risks that the faith has to runs among our countrymen,
particularly the youth, who, uprooted from their homes live dispersed in so
many countries of the world. . In general everyone is required to acknowledge the
need not take the duties of the faith for granted, not to become too
materialistic, to keep our consciences healthy, that sin exists, that we must
not ignore our limits,  and to trust
ourselves to the grace of God. The first step to take in this direction is
penitence: to recognize our weaknesses, never tire of asking forgiveness for
the wrong we have done, to forgive those who have done wrong to us, and not to repay
one evil with another ….. 

33.Our journey
of faith in general, and that of the Year
of Faith in particular, require of us urgent renewal. This necessarily
calls us to an examination of conscience on the quality of our relationship
with God the Father, with our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the life-giving Holy
Spirit. And then there is our relationship with other people: what is the
spiritual situation of our Christian faithful? What is the moral and human
situation of our society in general? How is my brother and my sister whom I
look on with the eyes of faith faring?  “…The Second
Vatican Council presented ecclesial conversion as openness
to a constant self-renewal born of fidelity to Jesus Christ …. There are
ecclesial structures which can hamper efforts at evangelization, yet even good
structures are only helpful when there is a life constantly driving, sustaining
and assessing them. Without new life and an authentic evangelical spirit,
without the Church’s “fidelity to her own calling”, any new structure will soon
prove ineffective” (EG, 26). 

34.The teaching
and life of Jesus, as with those of his disciples, aligns itself with the
little seed that, in order to grow and bear fruit, must first fall to the earth
and die. This is the plan of life for every Christian within the Church.
Therefore we must not let ourselves feel discouraged by the tests and
sufferings that we must face for the sake of the faith, aware that “… when I am
weak then I am strong” (2 Co. 12:10). Jesus’ words should be of comfort “…
There is no need to be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to
give you the kingdom” (Lk. 12:32). 

Regarding
our journey in the future we can treasure the words that the recently canonised
Pope John XXIII spoke in has address at the opening of the Vatican II
Ecumenical Council “… our duty is not just to guard
this treasure … but earnestly and fearlessly to dedicate ourselves to the work
that needs to be done in this modern age of ours, pursuing the path which the
Church has followed for almost twenty centuries (Pope John XXIII,
opening address – article 6.3). Our mission as Church today is
that of dedicating ourselves witnessing and evangelization with immutable faith
and untiring dedication, in the certainty that the Holy Spirit, who acted
through the Apostles, will not hesitate to give us the strength, desire and will
to bring to fulfillment the work we have started (cf. Ac. 2:2-9; 4:13.29.31;
9:27-28). 

35.In what
tangible ways can we reinvigorate our witness? We must be merciful and
reconciliatory and live conforming not to the norms of this world (Rm. 12:2)
but to Christ, taking upon ourselves the problems and sufferings of our
neighbour, “…In loyalty to their country and in
faithful fulfilment of their civic obligations, Catholics should feel
themselves obliged to promote the true common good. Thus they should make the
weight of their opinion felt in order that the civil authority may act with
justice and that legislation may conform to moral precepts and the common good”
(AA, 14). The Church herself, in her leaders and her members, must pursue her
prophetic mission through a journey of penitence and conversion, “… If you
repent, I shall restore you to plead before me …. You shall be as my own mouth.
They will come back to you …” (Jr. 15:19). 

It
is not difficult to identify the priorities which must guide the action of the
Church in the present and in the future. Over centuries our experience has passed
on the centrality of the liturgy and of catechesis hand in hand with everyday
life. The following documents of the universal Church indicate in a
particularly way the basis for prioritising our choices: 1. Vatican II’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium); 2. Pope Paul V’s
Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi; 3. Pope John
Paul II’s Encyclical Redemptoris Missio; 4. The 2012
General Synod of Bishops papers dealing with New Evangelization; 5. Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii
Gaudium. 

In
a word evangelization consists in the announcing of Christ, Redeemer of the
world. This is the joyful message that the Church transmits to men in every moment
“… welcome or unwelcome” (2 Tm. 4:2). And this is the most precious gift that
we offer to the country so that it might live by listening to the word of God,
participating in the sacraments and the divine liturgy and giving witness to it
with our lives.

Weaknesses in our Life of Faith

a.      Nominal
Christians

36.One
of the problems that Vatican II has tackled with lively concern is that which
it defines as “nominal Christianity”. For example Gaudium et Spes refers to
it, “…This split between the faith which many profess and their daily lives
deserves to be counted among the more serious errors of our age” (GS, 43). 

The
nominal Christian lives and works by leaving to one side the presuppositions of
faith, not making them guiding principles of existence but adopting a more
selectively opportunistic approach to evangelical principals and living outside
the liturgical life of the community of believers; in short although baptised
he/she does not live the duties that derive from their baptism (cf. EG, 15).
St. John gives us proper advice, “… Children, our love must be not just words
or mere talk, but something active and genuine” (1 Jn. 3:18). 

37.This
is one sector of society that awaits new evangelization. This means, as Pope
Paul VI said during his visit to Latin America (Haiti), a proclamation carried
out with new impetus, a new spirit, and renewed creativity and credibility. All
the above presupposes an attentive reading of the changes taking place within
our society so that we might respond with a proclamation that knows how best to
adopt the language, pedagogical criteria, methods and new means that are
available. In the same context of evangelical duty we now add the pastoral care
of those who are far from the Church, those who hunger and thirst for God but
have found no way of satisfying that yearning. In fact in every human being
there is an innate need for God, and only by meeting the Lord can man find true
peace and tranquillity (St. Augustine). 

38. All the members of
the Church are called to involve themselves in this new evangelization. The
conscientization of the lay faithful in this regard is a task that can be
neither delayed nor postponed. Since evangelization expresses itself above all
through a life of witness, a coherent synthesis between the Gospel and daily
life must be established, “… the laity should vivify
their life with charity and express it as best they can in their works. They should all remember
that they can reach all men and contribute to the salvation of the whole world
by public worship and prayer as well as by penance and voluntary acceptance of
the labours and hardships of life whereby they become like the suffering Christ
(cf. 2 Co. 4:10; Col. 1:24)” (AA, 16). 

b.     Secularism

39.“I am astonished that you
are so promptly turning away from the one who called you in the grace of Christ
and are going over to a different gospel” (Ga. 1:6). This is how St. Paul
reprimands those who have lost their fervour for the faith and become
apathetic. Seeing how quickly certain deplorable forms of behaviour, such as
the use of magic, adultery, deceit, robbery, corruption, extra-martial
betrayals, are spreading even in our society, we cannot but feel that the
reprimand of Paul is addressed also to our society. 

“…Such
attitudes can have different causes: revolt against evil in the world;
religious ignorance or indifference; the cares and riches of this world; the
scandal of bad example on the part of believers; currents of thought hostile to
religion; finally, that attitude of sinful man which makes him hide from God
out of fear and flee his call” (CCC, 29). These are all manifestations of that
complex and detailed phenomenon called secularism or spiritual worldliness. “…
Do you not realise that people who do evil will never inherit the kingdom of
God? Make no mistake – the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, the
self-indulgent, sodomites, thieves, misers, drunkards, slanderers, and
swindlers, none of these will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Co. 6:9).

 c. Inadequate Christian Formation

40. “…
Always have your answer ready for people who ask you the reason for the hope
that you have” (1 P. 3:15). This is a duty that presupposes deep knowledge, the
assimilation of the message of the faith, doctrinal study, preparation for
sacramental life and the growth of a sense of Church. At a time when it is
totally inappropriate to try to live the elementary notions of the faith as
learned in infancy, there exists a kind of religious illiteracy that must be
overcome. “… In the historical conditions in which he finds himself, however,
man experiences many difficulties in coming to know God by the light of reason
alone …. This is why man stands in need of being enlightened by God’s
revelation” (CCC, 37-38).

Strengths in our Life of Faith

a.      Faith in the Providence of
God

41.“… Continue to grow in the
grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 P. 3:18).
It is in the total trusting of ourselves to God’s grace and to his help the we
must seek the solution to our problems, not through recourse to magicians or
diviners, “… All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan
or demons, conjuring up the dead, or other practices
falsely supposed to “unveil” the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading,
interpretation of omens and lots,
the phenomena of clairvoyance,
and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over
time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish
to conciliate hidden powers. They
contradict the honour, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone” (CCC,
2116). 

b. Fidelity to the Church

42.Following the ‘whole Christ’ is the
characteristic of the true believer. The body is not separate from the head of
Christ and so it is absurd to affirm, “Christ yes, the Church no” and thus to
deny the Church and her teachings the same faith and love as that reserved for
Christ. Both are needed if we are to guarantee our completeness and maturity in
the faith. 

c.
Following the Cross of Christ

43. “… As the Church has always held and
holds now, Christ underwent His passion and death freely, because of the sins
of men and out of infinite love, in order that all may reach salvation. It is,
therefore, the burden of the Church’s preaching to proclaim the cross of Christ
as the sign of God’s all-embracing love and as the fountain from which every
grace flows” (NA, 4). To follow Christ means to accept to carry his cross, “…
If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up
his cross and follow me” (Mt. 16:24). Our faithfulness and dedication to the
Church grows in the measure to which our faithfulness to the cross of Christ
increases. Acceptance of the will of God in every moment of life and patience
and perseverance when things are difficult is the fruit of our being rooted in
the mystery of the cross. In that moment when suffering and difficulties mark
our life and we ask, “Why? Why me?”, the only answer we can find is in the
cross of Christ. This answer is equally valid for the difficulties faced in the
priestly life, religious life, married life and family life. Christianity was
born and has flowered in the cross, and the Christian, returning to the foot of
the cross finds there the reason to persevere when times get tough. 

d.
Listening to the Word of God

44.“… Human beings live not on bread alone
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mt. 4:4). “…The days are
coming – declares the Lord Yahweh – when I shall send a famine on the country,
not hunger for food, nor thirst for water, but famine for hearing Yahweh’s
word” (Am. 8:11). One of the greatest aims of the Year of Faith was to give new life to this hunger and thirst in the
people of God and to make of the Word of God the source of their renewal. 

In line with Vatican II, we trust that “… through the reading and study of
the sacred books “the word of God may spread rapidly and be
glorified” (2 Th. 3:1) and the treasure of revelation, entrusted to the
Church, may more and more fill the hearts of men. Just as the life of the
Church is strengthened through more frequent celebration of the Eucharistic
mystery, similar we may hope for a new stimulus for the life of the Spirit from
a growing reverence for the word of God, which “lasts forever” (Is.
40:8; see 1 P. 1:23-25)” (Dei Verbum,
26). Given that “not
to know the Scriptures is not to know Christ” (St. Jerome), we urge parish
priests and the pastors of the people of God to zealously promote the reading
and knowledge of Sacred Scripture. 

It is encouraging to note signs of a
reawakening of interest in the reading of the Bible. At the same time we remind
the faithful that it is of the greatest importance that such reading be
constantly linked to a healthy interpretation and faithful to the teaching of
the Church. The translation of the Bible into our local languages is a
blessing. We must continue in these efforts with the proper preparation and
competence. 

e.
Sacramental Life

45.
Recalling the
promise of Christ, “… Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and
I will give you rest” (Mt. 11:28), “…The Church has always venerated
the divine Scriptures just as she venerates the body of the Lord, since,
especially in the sacred liturgy, she unceasingly receives and offers to the
faithful the bread of life from the table both of God’s word and of Christ’s
body” (DV, 21). Since the Eucharist is “… the
fount and apex of the whole Christian life” (Lumen Gentium, 11) it is not possible
to build the church without it. In our country there exist age-old traditions
of popular piety. It is necessary that these, if they are to preserve and
develop their essential characters, be constantly fed by an intense sacramental
life. The Year of Faith just ended
is a particular instance of this. 

With joy we note in our people the
desire and will to participate in the holy Eucharist. At the same time, we
would like to recommend that such participation be attentive and spiritually
demanding. This must be evidenced in the fruits that just such participation
produces in daily life, which in turn must be reinvigorated through access to
the Sacrament of Penance, the reception of Holy Communion, by the unity of
family life based on holy matrimony, until leaving this world with the
sacrament of the Sick. 

With Mary “Star of the Sea” 

46.Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
our sincere wish for you is that, following in the footsteps of Mary “Star of
the Sea” you may live and grow safe in faith, hope and charity. Only if you
live the present time strong in this faith and in this hope (cf. Ep. 5:16; Col.
4:5) and you await the future anchored in patience (cf. Rm. 8:5), will you give
true and effective witness to the Gospel of Christ the Lord. In this regard,
the exhortation of the Vatican Council remains true “… Let them not, then,
hide this hope in the depths of their hearts, but even in the program of their
secular life let them express it by a continual conversion and by wrestling
“against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces
of wickedness (Ep. 6:12)” (LG, 35). 

May Mary most holy – to whom Pope
Emeritus, Benedict XVI, turned with these words, “… When you hastened
with holy joy across the mountains of Judea to see your cousin Elizabeth, you
became the image of the Church to come, which carries the hope of the world in
her womb across the mountains of history. But alongside the joy which, with
your Magnificat, you proclaimed in word and song for
all the centuries to hear, you also knew the dark sayings of the prophets about
the suffering of the servant of God in this world. Shining over his birth in
the stable at Bethlehem, there were angels in splendour who brought the good
news to the shepherds, but at the same time the lowliness of God in this world
was all too palpable” (Spe Salvi, 50) – be of comfort, incentive and
inspiration. 

Conclusion

To
rise with Christ means to pass from darkness into the light. If we are not
children of the light, we will not see the truth. And without the truth there
is no freedom (cf. Jn. 8:32). “… Every time I pray for you all, I always pray
with joy for your partnership in the Gospel (Ph. 1:4); on all of you we invoke
the freedom, peace and joy that the Father has given to us through the
resurrection of his Son, and to which has called us to be strong and credible
witnesses.

 

O Maria “… you
were in the midst of the community of believers, who in the days following the
Ascension prayed with one voice for the gift of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14)
and then received that gift on the day of Pentecost. The “Kingdom” of Jesus was
not as might have been imagined. It began in that hour, and of this “Kingdom”
there will be no end. Thus you remain in the midst of the disciples as their
Mother, as the Mother of hope. Holy Mary, Mother of God, our Mother, teach us
to believe, to hope, to love with you. Show us the way to his Kingdom! Star of
the Sea, shine upon us and guide us on our way! (SS, 50)

Star
of the new evangelization,

help us to bear
radiant witness to communion,

service, ardent
and generous faith,

justice and love
of the poor,

that the joy of
the Gospel

may reach to the
ends of the earth,

illuminating
even the fringes of our world.  (EG, 288)