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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