FRIDAY

The Pope began his third visit to Germany today at 7 p.m. with his arrival in Paderborn.

Speaking to those who greeted him upon his arrival, Pope John Paul II referred to “the great efforts” which must be made “to secure a peaceful and human future” for Germany, “for the whole continent and the whole world. Such a future in peace and security, freedom and justice can only be achieved if human beings and peoples are aware of their basic common features… All responsible persons in state and society must make every effort to give priority to safeguarding God-given truth about mankind.”

SATURDAY

The Pope celebrated Mass at the Senne airport this morning for the faithful of the archdiocese of Paderborn, and in his homily made an appeal to unity: “Do not let storm and sea plunge you into despondency and resignation! Be united in hope and fortify one another in the common faith!”

“Remember the long history of Christian faith in this country! Do not let this faith grow weaker and more feeble! Have no fear about the future of the Christian faith and the Church!… We know that many external circumstances of private and public life will be changed in the future. This will not leave the Church untouched. But fearfulness and lamentation must never prevail on board the ship of the Church!”

The Holy Father called on bishops and priests to be servants of the unity of the People of God “with your whole heart. Encourage all sisters and brothers to remain true to their calling. Show doubters the way!

After emphasizing that the Christian faith must orient all, he said that without it “Europe will lack a soul.”

“We Christians are called upon to watch over the spirit which will unite and shape the future Europe. This is a great responsibility and challenge which we seriously want and have to face up to beyond our national borders.”

• • •

The Holy Father met this afternoon with representatives of the Council of the Protestant Church in Germany and with the Board of the Association of Christian Churches in Paderborn's “Collegium Leoninum.”

The Pope referred to the Protestant Church's document The Condemnations of the Reformation Era. Do They Still Divide?Thanks to this study, he said, “differences have been resolved which previous generations considered irreconcilable. This progress has been possible because methodologically a strict distinction was made between the deposit of faith and the formulation in which it is expressed.”

Regarding the doctrine of justification, the Pope said that “any understanding between Lutherans and Catholics on this important question will inevitably open up the possibility of similar clarifications with non-Lutheran Protestant Churches.”

John Paul II noted that the Churches of the East “have developed good ecumenical relations with the Churches in this country…. I would like to encourage you to maintain and live your traditions in good neighborly relations with others. In this way, understanding for one another will grow, and the consciousness of the common basis of Christian belief in a diversity of historical traditions will also increase.”

“The unity to which we aspire,” he concluded, “must evolve gradually. We must find the courage and imagination to take those steps which are possible today, trusting fully in the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which leads us and prepares us for those steps which will be possible tomorrow.”

• • •

Seven hundred people attended an ecumenical service at 5 p.m. today in the Paderborn Cathedral, during which Pope John Paul spoke, stressing the need for all Christians to cooperate in the new evangelization.

Referring to the enormous changes that have taken place in Germany since his last visit in 1987, the Holy Father said that “an unspeakably great amount depends on whether the Gospel is proclaimed and lived out in a manner which is credible…. We now need to work together in order to give shape to the (newly acquired) freedom … both in the East and West.”

The new evangelization is all the more important, he said, because “in the East, the atheist regimes have left mental and spiritual deserts in the hearts of many people, in particular the young, whilst in the West we need to deal with the danger of excessive consumerism which threatens to smother the values of society.”

“Our striving today for a common witness for unity cannot go without also dealing with Martin Luther,” said the Pope. “Today, 450 years after his death, it is possible after the passage of time to better understand the person and work of the German reformer and to do better justice to him.”

“Luther's thinking was characterized by considerable emphasis on the individual, which meant that the awareness of the requirements of society became weaker. Luther's original intention in his call for reform in the Church was a call to repentance and renewal to begin in the life of every individual. There are many reasons why these beginnings nevertheless led to division. One is the failure of the Catholic Church, already lamented in moving words by Pope Hadrian IV, and the intrusion of political and economic interests, as well as Luther's own passion, which drove him far beyond what he originally intended into radical criticism of the Catholic Church, of its way of teaching. We all bear the guilt. That is why we are called upon to repent and must all allow the Lord to cleanse us over and over.”

• • •

At 7 p.m. today, the Holy Father met with the bishops of Germany in the “Collegium Leoninum” of Paderborn and spoke to them, among other issues, of the challenges faced by the newly unified Germany, the role of the Church in building society, the new evangelization and priestly formation.

“Fraternity, reciprocal understanding and collaboration, above all on the ecclesial level, are an essential element for unification,” the Pope began. “As Church, we must be aware in a more intense way of the duty of being the moral conscience of society. As Christians we must become once again ‘ salt of the earth’ and ‘ light of the world’ .” Remaining faithful to Christ and his message is the way “to help those members of the Church who find themselves in a society seeking to relativize or secularize all spheres of life.” In particular, he said, “moral relativism … sooner or later produces a moral crisis of democracy.”

“The Gospel is an inspiring and illuminating force for the life of the people of God…. We must avoid the spread of values capable of attracting the masses, but which can obscure the true nature of the Gospel.”

Of the profound changes that came from the fall of the Iron Curtain, one, John Paul said, was the gift “of re-acquired political and state reunification” which also “represents an important challenge to develop.”

“With the elimination of the barbed wire and the fall of the wall, our attention was drawn to the desolate situation in which the German Democratic Republic (GDR) had left people regarding their longing for and their search in the religious sphere.” Religious suppression, observed the Pope, caused many people to feel alienated from the Church “of their ancestors” and caused “infinitely sad lacerations…. Many of these wounds are not yet healed and still mark the daily lives of many people.”

The Pope pointed in particular to “the great void regarding the knowledge of the faith and the sense of Christian life, and a great disorientation.” According to diverse statistics, more than 70 percent of people in the new‘ Lander’ do not belong to any religious confession. In the GDR, religion and the Church were, in great measure, stigmatized and socially isolated.”

The Church has “the duty to examine and purify herself, as asked by Vatican Council II,” he remarked, but “for not a few members of the Church unfortunately this has been transformed into a demoralizing critique of (her) institutions and a spreading of discontent, favored by a lively subjectivism of the‘ postmodern’ culture. However, no reason for fear exists if we have faith.”

The Holy Father continued: “Naturally one cannot expect men to become enthusiastic for the Church and to find in her the joy of faith when questions which are actually of a secondary nature and importance become placed at the center of public interest; and even more so when such matters are proposed to the faithful as a subterfuge of an objective and concrete discussion and with exploitative methods.

“It is up to the bishops to be servants of the Church's joyous faith. This is a service which demands vigilance and cannot dispense one from the exercise of authority and cannot be suspended, either in public debates or in pastoral talks. Such a service must be offered in dialogue and always with great love, but also with clarity and decision.”

The Pope stressed the need for a close relationship between a bishop and his priests. He praised “the notable help that priests receive from the laity” but admonished: “In any case it is necessary to be careful that … the laity do not fall into the role of ‘substitute priest’ or‘ substitute chaplain.’”

The need for vocations and the importance of priestly formation were then touched upon by the Pope. He emphasized “the absolutely necessary and frequent contacts between bishops and professors at theological faculties.” And, indicating his awareness of budget cuts, he said that reduced monies should never “reduce the content of formation in the diverse subjects.”

John Paul II addressed the relationship between Christian families and the birth of vocations and said: “The family pastoral ministry must place greater emphasis on the ministry of vocations, giving great value to a close collaboration with religious orders.”

“The pastoral ministry of the family is the decisive cornerstone for ecclesial pastoral work.”

“The situation and role of the women in society is closely linked with the problem of the family,” the Pope went on. “Within the family the woman has an irreplaceable and front line task in the transmission of life and in the education of the children.” He said that today “there is an alarming weakening of the mother-child relationship. Pay attention so that social legislation does not proceed at the expense of the weakest, who are not represented by anyone or only by a small‘ lobby't o constitutional offices.”

SUNDAY

The Holy Father arrived in Berlin, this morning from Paderborn and having paid a courtesy visit to the president of the federal republic, he went to the Olympic Stadium for the beatifications of the Servants of God Bernhard Lichtenberg and Karl Leisner.

Having said that “this celebration is an hour of grace for the Church in Berlin and Muenster, an hour of grace for all German people,” he added: “May this city—Berlin—which was witness to Bernhard Lichtenberg's fight against the power of evil and the witness to [his] imprisonment, torture and death, be today a witness to your elevation in the Church of the living God.”

The Pope said that the two new Blesseds gave witness to Christ “not only with words, but also with their lives and deaths. They had dedicated themselves to Christ in a world that had become inhumane—He who alone is the Way, the Truth and the Life.”

“Bernhard and Karl encourage us to remain on the path called Christ… Christ is the way that leads to life. All other ways will prove themselves to be detours or the wrong path.”

The Holy Father spoke then of Blessed Lichtenberg's witness to the truth. His example “calls upon us to‘ share in the work of truth’… Stay faithful to the truth that is Christ. Speak out courageously if wrong principles once again lead to wrong acts, if human dignity is harmed or if God's moral order is questioned.”

• • •

“From this famous city, which very intensively experienced the fate of European history in this century,” said John Paul II at today's Angelus following the beatification ceremony, “I would like to announce to the entire Church my intention to convene a second special assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops.”

He remarked that the 1991 synod for Europe “took on the task” of reflecting on events which followed the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. “The developments that took place in Europe in the five years that followed,” the Holy Father went on, “suggested the need for a new meeting with the representatives of the European bishops for the purpose of conducting a detailed assessment of the Church situation with a view to the forthcoming anniversary” of the Jubilee Year 2000.

• • •

The Pope met late this afternoon with the Central Council of the Jews in Germany and, in a reference to “the enormous suffering” caused by the “criminal dictatorship” of the National Socialists, said that “the oppression experienced during the Nazi reign of terror showed that without respect for God, respect for the dignity of man is lost. As a result of that reign of terror there were many who raised questions concerning God, who had permitted that horrible disaster to happen. But even more unsettling was the realization of what man is capable of doing when he does not respect God….”

Pointing to the sacrifices made by the two new Blesseds and by others, John Paul II stated: “These are burdens placed on us by remembrance…. Even though historians have shown that there were many priests and lay Catholics who turned against the terror regime, and that numerous forms of resistance arose in the everyday lives of the people, there were nonetheless too few who resisted.”

Turning to the Church's ties with Jews, the Holy Father remarked: “For us the Jewish religion is not something‘ external’, but rather in a certain way belongs to the‘ internal’part of our own religion. As such, our relationship with the Jewish religion is unlike that of any other religion. Further intensification of this relationship continues to be a major interest of the Church.”

This meeting took place on the first floor of the Bernhard Lichtenberg House, after which Pope John Paul went to the second floor for a meeting with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

• • •

Following the visit between Pope John Paul and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl today, a joint communiquÈ was issued by the Press and Information Office of the German government and by Joaquin Navarro-Valls, director of the Holy See Press Office. After speaking of the “friendly atmosphere” and “excellent” relations between the two, it said: “A central point in the talks concerned developments in Europe. Federal Chancellor Kohl acknowledged the major role of Pope John Paul in the collapse of the communist regime. He had provided many people, beginning with his Polish compatriots, with the moral strength to stand up for human rights, freedom and social justice.

“Pope John Paul thanked Federal Chancellor Kohl for his contribution to the unification of Europe on the basis of social justice and respect for the cultural particularity of the peoples. A true community of European peoples will only be possible when the gap between rich and poor countries has been overcome. Social tensions jeopardize internal peace, not the least of all. Pope John Paul II asked, in spite of the economic difficulties in Europe and Germany, not to forget that Europe has an unrelenting responsibility in the formation of a just world.

“There was agreement that it is a common task of the state and Church to contribute toward reconciliation and understanding between European peoples, just as the relationship between Germany and France and between Poland and Germany succeeded. The outbreak of brutal violence in former Yugoslavia has painfully demonstrated how the exaggerated nationalism is far from overcome and still represents a constant danger.

“Great hope is placed on the young generation. Young people continue to have a great deal of idealism and willingness to contribute to building the future. For this reason, it is important to promote encounters between young people beyond borders.”

• • •

Before bidding the German people farewell this afternoon at the Brandenburg Gate, the Pope prayed before the tomb of Blessed Lichtenberg at the cathedral in Berlin. Upon arriving at the gate, John Paul II crossed it from west to east accompanied by the federal chancellor, and from there made an appeal for freedom.

Recalling that in 1989 this gate, symbol of Berlin, witnessed liberation from the yoke of oppression, he noted that “when it opened it became a symbol of unity and a sign of the fact that finally the aspiration of fundamental law to obtain the unity and freedom of Germany in free self-determination had been accomplished. And in this way one can rightly say that the Brandenburg Gate has become the Gate of freedom.”

“In this place so permeated by history I feel compelled to address an urgent appeal for freedom to all those here present, to the German people, to Europe—also called to unity in freedom, to all men of good will. May this appeal also reach those peoples who until now have been denied the right to self- determination, to the not few peoples—indeed, they are many— who have not been guaranteed the fundamental freedoms of the person: freedom of religion, of conscience and political freedom.”

Europe needs “men who will protect human freedom through solidarity and responsibility. Not only Germany but all of Europe needs for this reason the indispensable contribution of Christians. I exhort all the people of Berlin and all Germans…. Keep this gate open with the spirit of love, justice and peace! Keep the gate open with the openness of your hearts! There is no freedom without love. Man is called to freedom. To all of you who listen to me, I proclaim: the fullness and realization of this freedom has a name: Jesus Christ.”

The Holy Father then went to the Berlin airport, and from there left by plane for Rome, where he arrived at 11:00 p.m.

MONDAY

The Holy Father nominated Father Carlos Garfias Merlos, episcopal delegate for the permanent formation of priests of the archdiocese of Morelia, Mexico, as bishop of Ciudad Altamirano, Mexico.

TUESDAY

The Holy Father received in separate audiences this morning three prelates of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei on “ad limina” visit.

WEDNESDAY

At today's general audience, which took place first in the Vatican Basilica and afterward in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope summarized his recent trip to Germany.

• • •

Today the Holy Father nominated:

Bishop Apparecido Jose Dias, S.V.D., of Registro as bishop of Roraima, Brazil.

Bishop Waldemar Chaves de Araujo of Teofilo Otoni as bishop of Sao Joao del Rei, Brazil.

Auxiliary Bishop Francisco Cases Andreu of Orihuela-Alicante as bishop of Albacete, Spain.

Father Ramon del Hoyo Lopez, vicar general of Burgos, as bishop of Cuenca, Spain.

THURSDAY

John Paul II received today 60 participants in the annual assembly of ROACO (the Association for Assistance to the Eastern Churches) accompanied by Cardinal Achille Silvestrini, its president, and thanked them for their “generous solidarity with so many brothers of the Oriental Churches” and the help in relieving “their suffering.”

John Paul II told them that “your heart, open above all to the needs of our brothers of the East, is a clear and strong sign of the love that transcends all limits and successfully reaches each situation, in this way manifesting the universal dimension of the Church, a mother who cares for everyone.”

• • •

The Holy Father received in separate audiences this morning:

Four prelates of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei on “ad limina” visit.

Jean Chretien, prime minister of Canada, with his wife and entourage.

Members of the “Sociedades Biblicas Unidas” Association.

FRIDAY

This morning the Pope received the general chapter of the Mercy Sisters of Charity, whom he reminded that “all genuine renewal requires a process that, above all, effectively helps one to feel in one's heart a passion for God's holiness.”

Following the charism of the founder, the Servant of God Juan Nepomuceno Zegri y Moreno, said the Holy Father, “you have as your own mission the exercise of the works of mercy in sectors as broad and diverse as hospitals, residences for the elderly, schools, centers for lepers, homes for priests,‘ ad gentes’ missions and aid to parishes, without forgetting the services you perform also for the Holy See.”

• • •

Pope John Paul today received participants in a meeting being held at the Vatican Observatory in Castelgandolfo on “Evolutionary and Molecular Biology: Scientific perspectives on Divine Action,” the fourth in a series devoted to dialogue between philosophy, theology and science.

“If scientific endeavor, philosophical inquiry and theological reflection are to bring genuine benefit to the human family, they must always be grounded in truth,” said the Holy Father. “When related to this truth, advances in science and technology, … spur men and women on to face the most decisive of struggles, those of the heart and of the moral conscience.”

“What you do as scientists, philosophers and theologians,” he pointed out, “can contribute significantly to clarifying the vision of the human person as the focus of creation's extraordinary dynamism and the supreme object of divine intervention. Thus there is an intimate link between the development of scientific perspectives on divine action in the universe and the betterment of mankind.”

John Paul II concluded: “In the final analysis, the true, the beautiful and the good are essentially one.”

• • •

The Holy Father received in separate audiences today:

Cardinal Jozef Tomko with Archbishops Guiseppe Uhac and Charles Schleck, respectively prefect, secretary and adjunct secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Archbishop Emil Paul Tscherrig, apostolic nuncio in Burundi, with family members.

Three prelates of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei on “ad limina” visit.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. (VIS)