Aid to the Church in Need: Pope addresses Russia on TV

Pope addresses Russia on TV

Posted by Press release on 17/4/2008, 8:47 am
Message modified by board administrator 7/8/2008, 1:34 pm

ACN News, Thursday 17th April 2008 - RUSSIA

Pope addresses Russia on TV
By John Newton and Eva-Maria Kolmann

FOR the first time in history a Pope yesterday (Wednesday 16th of April) addressed a message directly to all the Russian people, via a broadcast on state television.(See below for a translation of the Pope's address)

Benedict XVI’s message of greeting, which was addressed to the Head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexei II, and all those living in Russia, comes at the end of a documentary about the Pope’s life.

The Pontiff’s message was partly in Russian, and stressed the need for dialogue among Christians.

The documentary, which was sponsored by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, was broadcast by Russia’s state news channel Vesti on the Pope’s 81st birthday.

The broadcast comes at a time when observers have said that relationships between the two churches are beginning to “thaw” — a phrase used independently last October by both Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and Metropolitan Kirill, the head of the External Relations Department of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Last year, Pope Benedict’s book 'An Introduction to Christianity', written when he was a university professor, was published in Russian, complete with a foreword by Metropolitan Kirrill.

Another sign of improving links between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church is that the documentary was introduced by Archpriest Igor Vyzhanov, the secretary for inter-Christian dialogue of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.

The Patriarchate was also closely involved in the production of the documentary.

Describing the Pope’s personal involvement in the broadcast as “like a miracle”, ACN’s Russia expert, Peter Humeniuk, who oversaw the production of the film, highlighted the importance of the initiative.

He said that both in Rome and Moscow there was an awareness that the “film and the Papal message were a beautiful symbol of the process of rapprochement between the two Churches”.

He added that ACN saw itself as a “catalyst” in this process, as “although the charity is not a direct partner in the interreligious dialogue, it does promote many initiatives that serve this end”.

At a private audience in April 2007, Pope Benedict XVI paid tribute to ACN’s work towards reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church.

Mr Humeniuk added that the Pope’s personal address to the Russian people was “an occasion of great joy and a historic event”.

Among those interviewed were his elder brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, who rarely gives interviews, but made an exception for this film.

The documentary was produced in Saint Petersburg by the inter-denominational Christian media agency Blagovest Media in collaboration with the Catholic Radio and Television Network (CRTN).

PAPAL SPEECH TO RUSSIAN PEOPLE BROADCAST ON RUSSIAN STATE TELEVISION

Dear citizens of the Russian Federation,

I am grateful for the invitation offered me to extend to you my cordial greetings and I gladly take this opportunity to express the esteem, affection and high regard in which the successor of Peter and the Catholic Church have always held your people and the Russian Orthodox Church. Russia is truly great, in a variety of different ways -- in her sheer geographical scale, in her long history, in her magnificent spirituality, in her multiplicity of artistic expression. During the past century the horizon of your noble land, like that of other regions on the European continent, was obscured by shadows of suffering and violence, shadows that were however opposed and overcome by the splendid light of so many martyrs -- Orthodox, Catholics and other believers, who perished under the oppression of ferocious persecutions. The love of Christ even unto martyrdom, which unites them, reminds us of the urgent need to restore unity among Christians, a duty to which the Catholic Church feels herself to be irrevocably committed. Both the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church are moving in this direction. I remember well that a delegation of the Moscow Patriarchate was present at the Second Vatican Council, and I have followed the contacts with Russian Orthodoxy that have taken place since then. In recent years these contacts have been intensifying, especially among the faithful, the priests and the bishops. What are we to say then of the interreligious and intercultural dialogue which is another of the priority commitments of the Catholic Church and also, I believe, of the Russian Orthodox Church? Conscious of the spiritual gift of which they are the stewards and while firmly retaining their own proper identity, Christians are called to meet with the followers of other religions and to establish with them a fruitful dialogue in truth and charity. To this end I pray and hope that the millennial ecclesial experience of Russia may continue to enrich the Christian horizon in a spirit of sincere service to the Gospel and to the men of today. And now a greeting in the Russian language:

(Translation from Russian):
I am delighted to be able to address myself, in the Russian language, to the people and government of this great land of Russia, so dear to me. I extend my warmest greetings to our beloved Orthodox brothers and sisters, especially to his Holiness, the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, and also to the Catholic bishops and their communities. To all of you I wish peace and well-being and a spirit of mutual love, and I invoke the blessing of God upon you all.

Editor’s Notes:

Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. ACN is a Catholic charity – helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity”, the organisation is now at work in about 145 countries throughout the world.

The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 45 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.

For more information, please contact the Sydney office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web:www.aidtochurch.org

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Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148 ABN: 62 418 911 594
Ph/Fax (02) 9679-1929 e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org web: www.aidtochurch.org