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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, DECEMBER 27, 1982
PAGE 11
which is based all right and justice; if Europe again opens its
doors to Christ and is not afraid to open up to his saving power
the State boundaries, the economic and political systems, the
vast fields of culture, civilization and development, then
Europe's future will not be dominated by uncertainty and fear;
instead a new period of life, both interior and exterior, will
open up, benefiting and shaping the world which is continually
threatened
_!:?y
the clouds of war and
_!:?y �
possible firestorm of
atomic holocaust•••.
Now there come to mind the names of great personalities [of
Europe's pastl •••.The list is too numerous with thinkers, scien
tists, artists, explorers, inventors, heads of State, apostles
and saints to allow abbreviating it.•.Europe has still in reserve
incomparable human energies, capable of sustaining it in this
historic work toward a continent renaissance and greater service
to humani�
-
However, Saint Benedict of Nursia and ss Cyril and Methodius,
patrons of Europe, deserve particular mention. From the first
days of !!!Y pontificate,! have not failed to stress !!!Y soTicitude
for the life of Europe, and to point out the teachings which came
from the spirit and work of the "patriarch of the West," and of
the "two Greek brothers," apostles of the Slavic peoples.
Benedict knew how to integrate what was Roman with the Gospel,
the sense of universality and of law with the values of God and of
the human person. Saints Cyril and Methodius.•• [established]
that presence of Christianity among the Slavs which today still
remains insuppressible, in spite of the present circumstances and
vicissitudes.
Service and love
The Church is, furthermore, conscious of its role in the spiri
tual and human renewal of Europe.
Without reclaiming certain
roles which it once held and which the present age regards as
completely outmoded, the Church as Holy See and as Catholic com
munity, is at the service to these ends to contribute to the
achievement of an authentic material, cultural and spiritual
well-being of the nations •.••
It is thus evident that the current occupant of the Holy See is, despite
Europe's visible decline, reluctant to see the church resume a dominant
authoritative role on the continent, as in centuries past. But the need for
a more assertive policy will become more apparent as time progresses along
with the need for a politically unified Europe to implement the Vatican
inspired "spiritual and human renewal" of Europe.
--Gene H. Hogberg, News Bureau