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MAKES PLEA TO NON-CATHOLICS
PAGE 2 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1963
Text
VATICAN CITY (NC)—Fol
lowing is the text of an English
translation of the address given
by Pope Paul VI at the opening
of the second session of the
Second Vatican Council on Sep
tember 29;
Greetings to you, most be
loved brothers in Christ, whom
We have called from every part
of the world, from wherever the
Holy Catholic Church has ex
tended its hierarchical govern
ment. Greetings to you, who
have accepted our invitation and
hastened here to hold with us
the second session of the Sec
ond Vatican Ecumenical Coun
cil, which we have the joy of
Inaugurating today, under the
aegis of St. Michael the Arch
angel, heavenly protector of the
people of God.
TRULY IT is fitting that this
solemn and fraternal assembly,
gathered together from the East
and the West, from the regions
of the South and the North,
should be designated by the pro
phetic name of "Ecclesia," that
is, a coming together or a meet
ing. Here, truly, are realized
in a new way those words which
now come to Our mind: "Their
voice has gone forth into all the
earth, and their words unto the
ends of the world'* (Cf. Rom.
10, 18; Ps. 18, 5)
Truly, one mystery of unity
is joined to another mystery of
catholicity; and this spectacle
of universality recalls the apos
tolic origin, here so faithfully
reflected and extolled, as well
as the sanctifying purpose of
our most beloved Church of God.
Her characteristic notes shine
forth: The countenance of the
spouse of Christ Is resplen
dent. Our spirits are elated by
a most familiar, yet always se
cret, experience—that by which
we perceive that we are the
Mystical Body of Christ and by
which we taste the incomparable
joy, still unknown to the profane
world, of "how good it is, and
how pleasant, where brethren
dwell at one I" (Ps. 132, 1).
IT IS NOT futile to realize,
right from this first moment,
the human and divine phenome
non that we are bringing about.
Here we are once more, as if
in a new cenacle, which has
become confined not by reasons
of its vast dimensions but be
cause of the multitude of those
who are gathered together with
in it. Here certainly the virgin
Mother of Christ is helping us
from heaven. Here, around him
who is last in time and merit,
but identified with the first
apostle in authority and mis
sion, the successor of Peter,
you are gathered, Venerable
Brothers, you too apostles de
scended from the apostolic col
lege and its authentic succes
sors.
Here, praying together and
united together by the same faith
and the same chairty; here, we
shall rejoice in the unfailing
grace of the Holy Spirit, who is
present, vivifying, teaching,
strengthening. Here all tongues
will be only one voice and one
voice alone will be the message
to all the world.
Here, with bold step the
Church militant has arrived, af
ter almost 20 centuries of jour
neying. Here, the apostolic
ranks, assembled all together
from the world over, are re
freshed at the fountain which
quenches every thirst and re
awakens every new thirst, and
from here they will confidently
resume their journey in the
world and in time towards the
goal which is beyond the earth
and beyond the ages.
GREETINGS, Brothers! Thus
you are welcomed by the least
one among you, the Servant of
the Servants of God, even though
he bears the keys of supreme
office consigned to Peter by
Christ the Lord. Thus does he
thank you for the proof of obe
dience and trust which your
presence here brings to him.
Thus he shows you in act that
he wishes to pray with you, to
speak with you, to deliberate
with you, to work with you.
The Lord is Chir witness
when, at this first moment of the
second session of the great sy
nod, We declare to you that in
Our mind there is no intention
of human predominance, no jea
lousy of exclusive power, but
only the desire and the will to
carry out the divine mandate
which makes Us, of you and
among you, Brothers, the su
preme shepherd, and which re
quires of you that you be His
Of Pope Paul’s Homily At Reopening Of Council
joy and glory, the "communion
of saints," offering your fideli
ty, your loyalty, your collabora
tion. This same mandate con
fers on you that which pleases
him most to give—his venera
tion, his esteme, his trust, his
charity.
It has been Our intention, as
hallowed custom prescribes for
Us, to send to all of you Our
first encyclical letter. But why,
We ask ourself, entrust to writ
ing that which, by a singular and
happy opportunity—that is, by
means of this ecumenical coun
cil—We are able to declare by
word of mouth?
Certainly We cannot now say
by word of mouth all that we
have in our heart and all that
more easily could be poured
forth in writing. But for this
time let this present address
be a prelude not only to the
council, but also to Our ponti
ficate. Let the living word take
the place of the encyclical let
ter, which, if it please God, We
hope to address to you once
these toilsome days are past.
AND, NOW that We have
greeted you, We introduce our
self, to you. We are Indeed new
In the pontifical office which We
are fulfilling, or rather, We
should wish to say, Inaugurat
ing. You know indeed that the
Sacred College of Cardinals,
whom We here greet again with
cordial veneration, in spite of
Our limitations and insufficien
cy, on the 21st of June, a day
which this year happily coin
cided with the feast of the Most
Sacred Heart of Christ, design
ed to elect Us to the episcopal
See of Rome and therefore to
the supreme pontificate of the
Universal Church.
We cannot recall this event
without remembering our pre
decessor of happy and Immortal
memory, our most beloved John
XXIIL To all of us who had the
good fortune to see him seated
in this same place, his name
brings memories of his lovable
and priestly presence as he
opened the first session of this
Second Vatican Council on Octo
ber 11th of last year with that
speech which to the Church and
the world seemed like a prophe
tic voice for our century. That
speech still echoes In our
minds, pointing out to the Coun
cil the path it has to take, there
by freeing us from all doubt
and weariness which we may en
counter along the diffucult road
we have undertaken.
O dear and venerated Pope
John, may gratitude and praise
be rendered to you for having
resolved—doubtless under di
vine Inspiration—to convoke
this council in order to open
to the Church new horizons, and
to tap the fresh spring water
of the doctrine and grace of
Christ our Lord and let it flow
over the earth.
MOVED BY no earthly mo
tives or particular circumstan
ces, but as if by divining hea
venly counsels and penetrating
Into the dark and tormented
needs of the modem age, you
have gathered the broken thread
of the First Vatican Council,
and by that very fact you have
banished the fear wrongly de
duced from that council, as If
the supreme powers conferred
by Christ on the Roman Pon
tiff to govern and vivify the
Church, were sufficient, with
out the assistance of ecumeni
cal councils.
You have summoned your
brothers in the episcopate, the
successors of the Apostoles, not
only to continue the interrupt
ed study and suspended legis
lation, but to feel united with
the Pope in a single body, to be
comforted and directed by him
"that the sacred deposit of
Christian doctrine be guarded
and taught more effectively"
(A.A.S. 1962, p. 790).
But to the principal aim of
the council you added another
which is more urgent and at
this time more salutary—the
pastoral aim—when you declar
ed: "Nor Is the primary purpose
of our work to discuss one ar
ticle or another of the funda
mental doctrine of the Church,"
but rather, "to consider how to
expound Church teaching in a
manner demanded by the times"
(ibid. 791-792).
YOU HAVE awakened in the
conscience of the teaching au
thority of the Church the con
viction that Christian doctrine
Is not merely truth to be in
vestigated by reason illumined
by faith, but teaching that can
generate life and action; and
that the authority of the Church
is not limited to condemning
contrary errors, but extends
to the communication of posi
tive and vital doctrine, the
source of its fecundity.
The teaching office of the
Church, which is neither whol
ly theoretical nor wholly nega
tive, must in the council mani
fest ever more the life-giv
ing power of the message of
Christ who said; ". . .The
words that I have spoken to you
are spirit and life" (John 6,
64). Hence We shall ever keep
in mind the norms which you,
the first Father of this Coun
cil, have wisely laid down and
which We may profitably repeat
here:
"OUR TASK is not merely to
guard this precious treasure,
namely our Faith, as if we were
only concerned with antiquity,
but to dedicate ourselves with an
earnest will and without fear to
that work which our era de
mands of us, pursuing thus the
path which the Church has fol
lowed for nearly 20 centuries.
Hence, that method of present
ing the truth must be used which
is more in conformity with a
magisterium prevalently pas
toral in character" (A. A. S.
1962, pp. 791-792).
We shall have due regard for
the great question of the unity in
one flock of those who believe
in Christ and wish to be mem
bers of the Church which, you,
John, have called the paternal
home whose doors are open to
all. The Council which you have
promoted and inaugurated will
proceed faithfully along the path
you pointed out, so that with
God's help may it reach the goal
you have so ardently desired and
hoped for.
Let us therefore go forward,
Brothers. This clear determi
nation brings to mind another
thought. Although you are all
well acquainted with it, because
of its importance We neverthe
less feel obliged to treat of it
here.
From what point, dear Bre
thren, do we set out? Bearing in
mind that we should pay atten
tion rather to the divine direc
tives than to the practical indi
cations referred to above, what
is the road we intend to follow?
What is the goal we propose to
ourselves ? We have a goal which
belongs to the realm of earthly
history in that it concerns the
time and mode of our present
life, but we do not lose sight of
the supreme and final end which,
we know, must be the end of our
pilgrimage.
THESE THREE very simple
and at the same time very im
portant questions have, as we
well know, only one answer,
namely that there and at this
very hour we should proclaim
Christ to ourselves and to the
world around us; Christ our be
ginning, Christ our life and our
guide, Christ our hope and our
end.
O let this council have the
full awareness of this relation
ship between ourselves and the
blessed Jesus—a relationship
which Is at once multiple and
unique, fixed and stimulating,
mysterious and crystal clear,
binding and beatifying—between
this holy Church which we con
stitute and Christ from whom we
come, by whom we live and to
wards whom we strive.
Let no other light be shed on
this council, but Christ the light
of the World I Let no other truth
be of interest to our minds, but
the words of the Lord, our only
master 1 Let no other aspiration
guide us, but the desire to be
absolutely faithful to Him! Let
no other hope sustain us, but
the one that, through the medi
ation of His word, strengthens
our pitiful weakness: "Andbe-
hold I am with you all days,
even unto the consummation of
the world" (Mt. 28, 20).
Would that we were able at
this moment to raise up to our
Lord a voice that is worthy of
Himl We will say to Him In the
words of the sacred liturgy:
"Thee, O Christ, alone we know.
Singing even In our woe, with
pure hearts to Thee we go;
On our senses shine!" (Hymn
of Lauds for Wednesdays)
As we thus invoke Him, He
seems to present Himself to
our rapt gaze with the majesty
proper to the "Pantocrator"
(all mighty) — the glorious
Christ of your basilicas—O
Brothers of the Eastern Churw
ches, as well as those of the
West.
WE RECOGNIZE Ourself In
the figure of Our predecessor,
Honorlus III, who is represent
ed in the splendid mosaic in the
apse of the Basilica of St. Paul
as a humble worshiper, tiny
and prostrate, kissing the feet
of a Christ of gigantic dimen
sions, who as a kingly teacher
dominates and blesses the peo
ple gathered in the basilica,
which symbolizes the Church.
This scene, it seems to Us,
Is reproduced here before us,
not as a painted image, but as
a historical human reality which
acknowledges In Christ the
source of redeemed humanity,
His Church, as it were, His ex
tension and continuation, both
earthly and mysterious. This
recalls to Our mind the apo
calyptic vision of St. John: "He
showed me a river of the water
of life, clear as crystal, com
ing forth from the throne of God
and of the Lamb" (Apoc. 22,1)
It seems to Us opportune that
this council should have as its
starting-point this vision, or
mystical celebration, which
acknowledges Him, our Lord
Jesus Christ, to be the Incar
nate Word, the Son of God and
the Son of Man, the Redeemer
of the world, the Hope of hu
manity and Its Supreme Mas
ter, the Good Shepherd, the
Bread of Life, the High Priest
and our Victim, the sole Medi
ator between God and men, the
Saviour of the world, the sole
Saviour of the world, the eter
nal King of ages; and which de
clares that we are His chosen
ones, His disciples, His apos
tles, His witnesses, His minis
ters, His representatives and
His living members together
with the whole company of the
faithful, united in this immense
and unique Mystical Body, His
Church, which He is forming by
means of faith and the sacra
ments, as generations of man
kind succeed one another—a
Church which is spiritual and
visible, fraternal and hierar
chical, temporal today and eter
nal tomorrow-
IF WE PLACE before our
minds, Venerable Brethren,
this sovereign conception that
Christ is our Founder, our
Head, invisible, but real, and
that we receive everythingfrom
Him so as to constitute together
with Him that "full Christ"
about whom St. Augustine
speaks and who pervades the
entire theology of the Church,
then we shall be able to un
derstand the main objectives
of this council.
For reasons of brevity and
better understanding We enu
merate here those objectives in
four points: the knowledge, or
—if you prefer—the aware
ness of the Church; its reform;
the bringing together of all
Christians In unity; the dia
logue of the Church with the
contemporary world.
There can be no doubt what
ever of the Church's desire and
need and duty to give a more
thorough definition of herself.
We are all familiar with the
magnificent images by which
Holy Scripture describes the
nature of the Church: the build
ing raised up by Christ, the
house of God, the temple and
tabernacle of God, His peoples,
His flock, His vine. His field,
His city, the pillar of Truth
and, finally, the Bride of Christ,
His Mystical Body.
In meditating on these re
vealing images the Church has
come to see herself as a his
toric, visible and hierarchi
cally organized society, ani
mated by a mysterious principle
of life. The celebrated encycli
cal of Pope Plus XII, IMystici*
Corporis, has In part answer
ed the Church’s longing to ex
press her nature in a full doc
trinal form, but has also ser
ved to spur her to give her
self a more exhaustive defi
nition.
The First Vatican Council
treated of the subject and many
external influences have caused
it to receive attention from stu
dents, both within the Church
and without. Among these in
fluences are the intensification
of social life in temporal mat
ters, the development of com
munications, the need to judge
the various Christian denomi
nations according to the true
and univocal conception found
in divine Revelation.
IT SHOULD not come as a
surprise that, after20 centuries
in which the Catholic Church
and the other Christian bodies
distinguished by the name of
church have seen great geogra
phical and historical develop
ment, there should still be need
to enunciate a more precise de
finition of the true, profound and
complete nature of the Church
which Christ founded and the
Apostles began to build.
The Church is a mystery; she
is a reality imbued with the di
vine presence and, for that rea
son, she is ever susceptible of
new and deeper investigation.
Human thought moves for
ward. Man advances from empi
rically observed fact to scienti
fic truth, from one truth he de
rives another by logical deduc
tion, and, confronted by the
complexity and permanence of
reality, he bends his mind now
to one of its aspects, now to
another. It is thus that thought
evolves. The course of its evo
lution can be traced in history.
The time has now come, We
believe, when the truth regard
ing the Church of Christ should
be examined, coordinated and
expressed. The expression
should not, perhaps, take the
form of a solemn dogmatic de
finition, but of declarations
making known by means of the
Church’s magisterium, in a
more explicit and authorative
form, what the Church consid
ers herself to be.
THIS SELF-AWARENESS of
the Church is clarified by faith
ful adherence to the words and
thought of Christ, by respectful
attention to the teaching of ec
clesiastical tradition and by
docility to the interior illu
mination of the Holy Spirit,
who seems to be requiring of the
Church today that she should do
all she can to make known
what she really is.
We believe, too, that in this
ecumenical Council the Spirit of
Truth ignites in the teaching
body of the Church a brighter
light and suggests a more com
plete Doctrine of the nature of
the Church, so that the Bride of
Christ may be mirrored in her
Lord and discerned in Him with
most lively love—her own true
likeness and the beauty that He
wishes her to have.
For this reason, the princi
pal concern of this session of
the council will be to examine
the intimate nature of the
Church and to express in hu
man language, so far as that Is
possible, a definition which will
best reveal the Church's real,
fundamental constitution and
manifest its manifold mission of
salvation. The theological doc
trine has the possibility'of mag
nificent developments which
merit the attentive considera
tion of our separated brethren
also and which, as we ardently
hope, may make the path to
wards common agreement eas
ier.
First among the various
questions that this considera
tion will raise, Venerable Bro
thers, is one which affects all
of you as bishops of the Church
of God. We have no hesitation
in saying that We look forward
with great expectations and con
fidence to this discussion which,
taking for granted the dogmatic
declarations of the First Vati
can Council regarding the Ro
man pontiff, will go on to de
velop the doctrine regarding the
episcopate, its function and its
relationship with Peter.
FOR US personally It will
provide doctrinal and practi
cal standards by which Our
apostolic office, endowed though
it is by Christ with the fulness
and sufficiency of power, may
receive more help and support
In ways to be determined, from
a more effective and responsi
ble collaboration with Our be
loved and venerable brothers in
the episcopate.
Next it will be necessary' to
elucidate the teaching regard
ing the different components
of the visibleandmystical body,
the pilgrim, militant Church
on earth, that Is, priests, Re
ligious, the faithful, and also
the separated brethren who are
also called to adhere to it more
fully and completely.
The Importance of this doc
trinal aspect of the council's
work will be obvious to all;
from it the Church can draw
an illuminating, uplifting and
sanctifying self-knowledge.
The same hopes can also be
entertained of another chief
subject of the council's deli
berations, that, namely, of the
renewal of the Church. This too,
in Our opinion, must follow from
our awareness of the relation
ship by which Christ is united
to His Church.
We have just spoken of die
Bride of Christ looking upon
Christ to discern in Him her
true likeness; if in doing so she
were to discover some shadow,
some defect, some stain upon
her wedding garment, what
should be her instinctive, cou
rageous reaction? There can be
no doubt that her primary duty’
would be to reform, correct and
set herself aright in conformity
with her divine Model.
. REFLECT upon the words
Christ spoke in His priestly
prayer as the hour of His Pas
sion pressed close upon Him:
". . . I sanctify myself, that
they also may be sanctified in
truth" (Jn. 17, 19). To Our way
of thinking, this is the essential
attitude, desired by Christ,
which the Second Vatican Coun
cil must adopt.
first session of the Council de
voted long discussions, which
will. We hope, be brought to
a happy conclusion in die sec
ond.
Other fields, too, will cer
tainly receive the earnest at
tention of the Fathers of the
council, though We fear that
the shortness of the time at our
disposal will not permit us to
treat them all as fully as they
deserve and that It will be nec
essary to deal with them in a
future session.
The council has a third ob
ject, one which may be called
it s spiritual drama. This too
was put before us by Pope John
XXIIL It is that which concerns
"the other Christians"—those
who believe in Christ but whom
we have not the happiness of
numbering among ourselves in
the perfect unity of Christ,
which only the Catholic Church
can offer them.
before the observers here pre
sent some points in Our atti
tude toward reunion with Our
separated brethren, with a view
that they may communicate then
with their respective Christian
communities.
May our voice also reach
those other venerable Christian
communities separated from
Us, that did not accept the in
vitation freely extended to them
to attend the council. We be
lieve these points are well
known, but it Is useful to re
peat them here.
OUR MANNER of speaking
toward them Is friendly, com
pletely sincere and loyal. We
lay no snares. We are not moti
vated by temporal interests.
We owe our Faith—which We
believe to be divine—the most
candid and firm attachment.
But at the same time We are
convinced that this does not
constitute an obstacle to the
desired understanding with our
separated brethren, precisely
because it is the truth of the
Lord and therefore the prin
ciple of union, not of distinc
tion or separation. At any rate
we do not wish to make of our
Faith an occasion for polemics.
Secondly we look with rever
ence upon the true religious
patrimony we share In com
mon, which has been preserved
and In part even well develop
ed among our separated bre
thren. We are pleased to note
the study made by those who
seek sincerely to make known
and to honor the treasures of
truth and of genuine spirituality,
In order to improve our rela
tions with them.
We hope that just as they arc
desirous to know more about
our history and our religious
life, so also they would wish
to make a closer study of our
doctrine and its logical deriva
tion from the deposit of Divine
Revelation.
FINALLY We wish to say
that, aware of the enormous dif
ficulties still in the way of the
desired union, We humbly put
our trust in God. We shall con
tinue to pray. We shall try to
give better proof of our ef
forts of leading genuine Chris
tian lives and practicing fra
ternal charity. And should his
torical reality tend to weaken
our hopes, we shall try to re
call the comforting words of
Christ: 'Things that are im
possible with men are possible
with Cod" (Lk. 18, 27).
Finally the council will build
a bridge toward the contempo
rary world. A singular pheno
menon: While the Church seeks
to revive her interior life in
the Spirit of the Lord—thus
distinguishing and separating
herself from secular society in
which she exists—at the same
time she Is signalized as the
lifegiving ferment and the in
strument of the salvation of the
world, both revealing and
strengthening her missionary
vocation, which is to treat man
kind in whatever condition it
may be, as the object of her
dedicated mission of commu
nicating the teachings of the
Gospels.
You yourselves, Venerable
Brethren, have experienced this
remarkable phenomenon. In
deed, you yourselves, when you
were undertaking the labors of
the first session, aglow with the
opening words of Pope John
XXIII, Instantly felt the need
of opening, as It were, the doors
of this assembly, and of sud
denly shouting to the world a
message of greeting, of bro
therhood, and of hope.
SINGULAR and remarkable
gesture this would be; It could
be said that the prophetic gift
of holy Church had suddenly
burst Into expression. And as
Peter on the day of Pentecost
felt the impulse at once to
raise his voice and to speak to
the people, so you also have un
expectedly determined to treat
no longer of your own limited
affairs but rather those of the
world, no longer to conduct a
dialogue among yourselves but
rather to open one with the
world.
This means. Venerable Bre
thren, that the present council
Is characterized by love, by the
most comprehensive and com
pelling love, by a love which
thinks of others even before
it thinks of itself—by the uni
versal love of Christ.
THIS LOVE sustains us now
CONTINUED UN PAGE 5 .
It is only after this work of
Internal sanctification has been
accomplished that the Church
will be able to show herself to
the whole world and say: "Who
sees me, sees Christ,” as
Christ said of Himself: "He who
sees me sees also the Father"
(Jn. 14, 9).
In this sense the council is to
be a new spring, a reawakening
of the mighty spiritual and mo
ral energies which at present lie
dormant. The council Is evi
dence of a determination to
bring about a rejuvenation both
of the interior forces of the
Church and of the regulations
by which her canonical struc
ture and liturgical forms are
governed. The council is striv
ing, that is, to enhance in the
Church that beauty of perfection
and holiness which imitation of
Christ and mystical union with
Him in the Holy Spirit can alone
confer.
Yes, the council aims at re
newal. Note well, however, that
in saying and desiring that, We
do not imply that the Catholic
Church of today can be accus
ed of substantial infidelity' to
the mind of her Divine Father.
Rather it is the deeper reali
zation of her substantial faith
fulness that fills her with gra-
titide and humility and Inspires
her with the courage to correct
those imperfections which are
proper to human weakness.
THE REFORM at which the
council aims is not, therefore,
a turning upside down of the
Church's present way of life or
a breaking with what is essen
tial and worthy of veneration in
her tradition. It Is, rather, an
honoring of tradition by strip
ping it of what is unworthy or
defective so that it may be ren
dered firm and fruitful. Did not
Jesus say to His disciples; "I
am the true vine, and my Father
is the vine-dresser. Every’
branch in me that bears no
fruit he will take away; and
every branch that bears fruit
he will cleanse, that It may
bear more fruit"? (Jn. 15,1-2)1
This verse Is a good sum
mary of the perfecting process
which the Church today desires,
above all as regards her in
terior and exterior vitality.
May the living Church be con
formed to the living Christ. If
faith and charity are the prin
ciples and her life, it is clear
that no pains must be spared
to make faith strong and joy
ful and to render Christian
instruction and teaching me
thods more effective for the
attaining of this vital end.
The first requirement of this
reform will certainly be a more
diligent study and a more in
tensive proclamation of the
Word of God. Upon this foun
dation an education of charity
will be built up, for we must
give the place of honor to cha
rity and strive to construct the
"Ecclesia caritatis" if we
would have a Church capable of
renewing herself and renewing
the world around her: there
indeed is a tremendous un
dertaking.
CHARITY must be fostered
because it is the chief and root
of die other Christian virtues:
humility, poverty, religion, the
spirit of sacrifice, fearless
truth, love of justice, and every
other force by which the new
man acts.
At this point the council's
program broadens to take in
Immense fields, one of which,
of special importance and
fraught with charity, is the sac
red liturgy. To this subject the
This unity-, objectively speak
ing, should be theirs by Bap
tism. It is something which,
virtually at least, they already
desire. For recent movements,
at present in full development
in bodies of Christians separat
ed from us, show clearly two
things. The first is that the
Church of Christ is one alone
and therefore must be unique.
The second is that this mystic
and visible union cannot be at
tained except in identity of faith
and by participation in the same
sacraments and in the organic
harmony of a single ecclesias
tical control, even though this
allows for a great variety of
verbal expressions, m o v e-
ments, lawful institutions, and
preference with regards to mo
des of acting.
THERE CAN be no doubt about
the attitude of the council with
regard to the great numbers of
the separated brethren and of
the possibility of multiplicity
in the unity of the Church. This
too is one of the characteris
tics of the council.
The council aims at com
plete and universal ecumeni
city—that is at least whatitde-
sires, what it prays and pre
pares for. Today it does so in
hope that tomorrow it may see
the reality. This council while
calling and counting its own
those sheep who belong to the
fold of Christ in die fullest and
truest sense, opens the door
and calls out, too, In anxious
expectation to the many sheep
of Christ who are not at pre
sent within the unique fold.
It is a council, therefore, of
Invitation, of expectation, of
confidence, looking forward to
wards a more widespread, more
fraternal participation in Its au
thentic ecumenicity.
We speak now to the repre
sentatives of the Christian de
nominations separated from the
Catholic Church, who have nev
ertheless been invited to take
part as observers In this solemn
assembly. We greet them from
Our heart. We thank them for
their participation. We trans
mit through them Our message
—as father and brother—to the
venerable Christian communi
ties they represent.
Our voice trembles and Our
heart beats the faster both be
cause of the inexpressible con
solation and reasonable hope
that their presence stirs up
within Us, as well as because
of the deep sadness We feel at
their prolonged separation.
IF WE ARE in any way to
blame for that separation, we
humbly beg God's forgiveness
and ask pardon too of our bre
thren who feel themselves to
have been Injured by us. For our
part, we willingly forgive the in
juries which the Catholic
Church has suffered, and forget
the grief endured during the long
series of dissensions and sepa
rations. May the heavenly Fa
ther deign to hear our prayers
and grant us true brotherly
peace.
We are aware that serious
and complicated questions re
main to be studied, treated and
resolved. We would wish that
this could be done immediately
on account of the love of Christ
that "urges us on." But we
also realize that these prob-
lems require many conditions
before satisfactory solutions
can be reached—conditions
which are as yet premature.
Hence We are not afraid to
await patiently the blessed hour
of perfect reconciliation.
Meanwhile We wish to affirm