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SOLEMNITY OF STS PETER AND PAUL HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI St Peter's Basilica
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The Feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul is at the same time a grateful memorial of the great witnesses of Jesus Christ and a solemn confession for the Church: one, holy, catholic and apostolic. It is first and foremost a feast of catholicity. The sign of Pentecost - the new community that speaks all languages and unites all peoples into one people, in one family of God -, this sign has become a reality. Our liturgical assembly, at which Bishops are gathered from all parts of the world, people of many cultures and nations, is an image of the family of the Church distributed throughout the earth.
Strangers have become friends; crossing every border, we recognize one another as brothers and sisters. This brings to fulfilment the mission of St Paul, who knew that he was the "minister of Christ Jesus among the Gentiles, with the priestly duty of preaching the Gospel of God so that the Gentiles [might] be offered up as a pleasing sacrifice, consecrated by the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15: 16).
Like Paul, Peter also came to Rome, to the city that was a centre where all the nations converged and, for this very reason, could become, before any other, the expression of the universal outreach of the Gospel. As he started out on his journey from Jerusalem to Rome, he must certainly have felt guided by the voices of the prophets, by faith and by the prayer of Israel.
The mission to the whole world is also part of the proclamation of the Old Covenant: the people of Israel were destined to be a light for the Gentiles. The great Psalm of the Passion, Psalm 22[21], whose first verse Jesus cried out on the Cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", ends with the vision: "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; all the families of the nations shall bow down before him" (Psalm 22[21]: 28). When Peter and Paul came to Rome, the Lord on the Cross who had uttered the first line of that Psalm was risen; God's victory now had to be proclaimed to all the nations, thereby fulfilling the promise with which the Psalm concludes.
Catholicity means universality - a multiplicity that becomes unity; a unity that nevertheless remains multiplicity. From Paul's words on the Church's universality we have already seen that the ability of nations to get the better of themselves in order to look towards the one God, is part of this unity. In the second century, the founder of Catholic theology, Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, described very beautifully this bond between catholicity and unity and I quote him. He says: "The Church spread across the world diligently safeguards this doctrine and this faith, forming as it were one family: the same faith, with one mind and one heart, the same preaching, teaching and tradition as if she had but one mouth. Languages abound according to the region but the power of our tradition is one and the same. The Churches in Germany do not differ in faith or tradition, neither do those in Spain, Gaul, Egypt, Libya, the Orient, the centre of the earth; just as the sun, God's creature, is one alone and identical throughout the world, so the light of true preaching shines everywhere and illuminates all who desire to attain knowledge of the truth" (Adv. Haer. I 10, 2). The unity of men and women in their multiplicity has become possible because God, this one God of heaven and earth, has shown himself to us; because the essential truth about our lives, our "where from?" and "where to?" became visible when he revealed himself to us and enabled us to see his face, himself, in Jesus Christ. This truth about the essence of our being, living and dying, a truth that God made visible, unites us and makes us brothers and sisters. Catholicity and unity go hand in hand. And unity has a content: the faith that the Apostles passed on to us in Christ's name.
I am pleased that yesterday, the Feast of St Irenaeus and the eve of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, I was able to give the Church a new guide for the transmission of the faith that will help us to become better acquainted with and to live better the faith that unites us: the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The essential content of what is presented in detail in the complete Catechism, through the witness of the saints of all the ages and with reflections that have matured in theology, is summed up here in this book and must then be translated into everyday language and constantly put into practice. The book is in the form of a dialogue with questions and answers.
The 14 images associated with the various areas of faith are an invitation to contemplation and meditation. In other words, a visible summary of what the written text develops in full detail. At the beginning there is a reproduction of a 6th-century icon of Christ, kept at Mount Athos, that portrays Christ in his dignity as Lord of the earth but at the same time also as a herald of the Gospel which he holds in his hand. "I am who am", this mysterious name of God presented in the Old Testament, is copied here as his own name: all that exists comes from him; he is the original source of all being. And since he is one, he is also ever present, ever close to us and at the same time, ever in the lead: an "indicator" on our way through life, especially since he himself is the Way. This book cannot be read as if it were a novel. Its individual sections must be calmly meditated upon and, through the images, its content must be allowed to penetrate the soul. I hope that it will be received as such and become a reliable guide in the transmission of the faith.
We have said that the catholicity of the Church and the unity of the Church go together. The fact that both dimensions become visible to us in the figures of the holy Apostles already shows us the consequent characteristic of the Church: she is apostolic. What does this mean?
The Lord established Twelve Apostles just as the sons of Jacob were 12. By so doing he was presenting them as leaders of the People of God which, henceforth universal, from that time has included all the peoples. St Mark tells us that Jesus called the Apostles so "to be with him, and to be sent out" (Mark 3: 14). This seems almost a contradiction in terms. We would say: "Either they stayed with him or they were sent forth and set out on their travels". Pope St Gregory the Great says a word about angels that helps us resolve this contradiction. He says that angels are always sent out and at the same time are always in God's presence, and continues, "Wherever they are sent, wherever they go, they always journey on in God's heart" (Homily, 34, 13). The Book of Revelation described Bishops as "angels" in their Church, so we can state: the Apostles and their successors must always be with the Lord and precisely in this way - wherever they may go - they must always be in communion with him and live by this communion.
The Church is apostolic, because she professes the faith of the Apostles and attempts to live it. There is a unity that marks the Twelve called by the Lord, but there is also continuity in the apostolic mission. St Peter, in his First Letter, described himself as "a fellow elder" of the presbyters to whom he writes (5: 1). And with this he expressed the principle of apostolic succession: the same ministry which he had received from the Lord now continues in the Church through priestly ordination. The Word of God is not only written but, thanks to the testimonies that the Lord in the sacrament has inscribed in the apostolic ministry, it remains a living word. Thus, I now address you, dear Brother Bishops. I greet you with affection, together with your relatives and the pilgrims from your respective Dioceses. You are about to receive the Pallium from the hands of the Successor of Peter. We had it blessed, as though by Peter himself, by placing it beside his tomb. It is now an expression of our common responsibility to the "chief Shepherd" Jesus Christ, of whom Peter speaks (I Peter 5: 4). The Pallium is an expression of our apostolic mission. It is an expression of our communion whose visible guarantee is the Petrine ministry. Unity as well as apostolicity are bound to the Petrine service that visibly unites the Church of all places and all times, thereby preventing each one of us from slipping into the kind of false autonomy that all too easily becomes particularization of the Church and might consequently jeopardize her independence. So, let us not forget that the purpose of all offices and ministries is basically that "we [all] become one in faith and in the knowledge of God's son, and form that perfect man who is Christ come to full stature", so that the Body of Christ may grow and build "itself up in love" (Ephesians 4: 13, 16).
In this perspective, I warmly and gratefully greet the Delegation of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople, sent by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I to whom I address a cordial thought, and led by Metropolitan Ioannis, who has come for our feast day and is taking part in our celebration. Even though we may not yet agree on the issue of the interpretation and importance of the Petrine Ministry, we are nonetheless together in the apostolic succession, we are deeply united with one another through episcopal ministry and through the sacrament of priesthood, and together profess the faith of the Apostles as it is given to us in Scripture and as it was interpreted at the great Councils. At this time in a world full of scepticism and doubt but also rich in the desire for God, let us recognize anew our common mission to witness to Christ the Lord together, and on the basis of that unity which has already been given to us, to help the world in order that it may believe. And let us implore the Lord with all our hearts to guide us to full unity so that the splendour of the truth, which alone can create unity, may once again become visible in the world.
Today's Gospel tells of the profession of faith of St Peter, on whom the Church was founded: "You are the Messiah... the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16: 16). Having spoken today of the Church as one, catholic and apostolic but not yet of the Church as holy, let us now recall another profession of Peter, his response on behalf of the Twelve at the moment when so many abandoned Christ: "We have come to believe; we are convinced that you are God's holy one" (John 6: 69). What does this mean?
Jesus, in his great priestly prayer, says that he is consecrating himself for his disciples, an allusion to the sacrifice of his death (cf. John 17: 19). By saying this, Jesus implicitly expresses his role as the true High Priest who brings about the mystery of the "Day of Reconciliation", no longer only in substitutive rites but in the concrete substance of his own Body and Blood. The Old Testament term "the Holy One of the Lord" identified Aaron as the High Priest who had the task of bringing about Israel's sanctification (Psalm 106[105]: 16; Vulgate: Sir 45: 6). Peter's profession of Christ, whom he declares to be the Holy One of God, fits into the context of the Eucharistic Discourse in which Jesus announces the Day of Reconciliation through the sacrificial offering of himself: "the bread I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world" (John 6: 51). So this profession is the background of the priestly mystery of Jesus, his sacrifice for us all. The Church is not holy by herself; in fact, she is made up of sinners - we all know this and it is plain for all to see. Rather, she is made holy ever anew by the Holy One of God, by the purifying love of Christ. God did not only speak, but loved us very realistically; he loved us to the point of the death of his own Son. It is precisely here that we are shown the full grandeur of revelation that has, as it were, inflicted the wounds in the heart of God himself. Then each one of us can say personally, together with St Paul, I live "a life of faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2: 20).
Let us pray to the Lord that the truth of these words may be deeply impressed in our hearts, together with his joy and with his responsibility; let us pray that shining out from the Eucharistic Celebration it will become increasingly the force that shapes our lives.
HOLY MASS FOR THE IMPOSITION OF THE PALLIUM HOMILIES OF HIS HOLINESS BARTHOLOMEW I Vatican Basilica
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BARTHOLOMEW I
Your Holiness,
We still feel the joy and emotion of Your Holiness' personal and blessed participation in the Patronal Feast of Constantinople on the memorial of the Apostle St Andrew, the First Called, in November 2006, we have come "with exultant steps" from the Phanar of the New Rome to visit you and share in your joy on the Patronal Feast of ancient Rome. And we come to you "in the fullness of the blessing of Christ's Gospel" (cf. Romans 15: 29), reciprocating honour and love, celebrating together with our beloved Brother in the land of the West, "the sure and inspired heralds, the Coriphaei of the Lord's Disciples", the Holy Apostles, Peter, the brother of Andrew, and Paul - these two immense central pillars of the entire Church, towering to Heaven, who made their last luminous profession of Christ in this historic city. Sanctifying it in the process, it was here that they gave up their souls to the Lord in martyrdom, one on the Cross and the other by the sword. We therefore greet you, Your Holiness, our esteemed Brother, whom we have been looking forward to seeing, with very deep and devoted love on behalf of the Most Holy Church of Constantinople and her children scattered across the world. We wholeheartedly wish "all God's beloved in Rome" (Romans 1: 7) the enjoyment of good health, peace and prosperity, and hope that they may progress day and night towards salvation and be "aglow with the Spirit, to serve the Lord. Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer" (Romans 12: 11-12).
In both our Churches, Your Holiness, we duly honour and most deeply venerate the one who gave a saving confession of the divinity of Christ, Peter, as well as the chosen vessel, Paul, who proclaimed this confession and faith to the ends of the earth, amidst the most unimaginable difficulties and dangers. We have celebrated their memory on 29 June, since the Year of Salvation 258, in the West and in the East. During the days that precede this Feast, we in the East prepare for it observing a fast in their honour, in accordance with the tradition of the ancient church. In order to greater emphasize their equal value but also because of their importance in the Church and in her regenerating and saving work throughout the centuries, the East traditionally honours them with a common icon, in which they are either holding in their holy hands a small sailing ship which symbolizes the Church, or embracing one another, exchanging the kiss in Christ.
We have come to exchange this same kiss with you, Your Holiness, emphasizing the ardent desire in Christ and love for these things that affect us both closely.
Theological dialogue between our Churches "in faith, truth and love", thanks to divine assistance, is moving forward, beyond the considerable difficulties that exist and the known problems. We truly desire and pray for this: that these challenges may be overcome and that the issues may be resolved as quickly as possible so that we may reach the ultimate goal desired for the glory of God.
We know well that this is also your desire, as we are also certain that Your Holiness will never tire of working personally, together with your distinguished collaborators, smoothing the way perfectly, please God, to a positive completion of the work of the dialogue.
Your Holiness, we have proclaimed the year 2008 "The Year of the Apostle Paul", just as you have from today up to next year on completing the 2,000th anniversary of the Great Apostle. In the context of the respective events for the anniversary, in which we have also venerated the precise site of his martyrdom, we have planned, among other things, a sacred pilgrimage to several monuments to the Apostle's evangelical activities in the East, such as Ephesus, Perga, and other cities in Asia Minor, but also to Rhodes and Crete, to the port known as "Fair Havens". You may be sure, Your Holiness, that on this sacred journey, you too will be present, accompanying us in spirit, and that in each place we will offer a fervent prayer for you and for our brethren of the venerable Roman Catholic Church, addressing to the Lord through the divine Paul a powerful supplication and intercession for you.
And now, venerating the suffering and cross of Peter and embracing the chain and stigmata of Paul, as we honour the confession and martyrdom and venerable death of both in the Name of the Lord who truly leads to Life, let us glorify the Thrice Holy God and implore him, through the intercession of his Proto-Coryphaei Apostles, to grant to us and to all the children of the Orthodox Church and of the Roman Catholic Church throughout the world "union of faith and communion of the Holy Spirit" in the "bond of peace" here on earth, and in Heaven above, instead, eternal life and great mercy.
Amen.
13 July 2014 |