ADDRESS OF POPE JOHN PAUL II
TO THE PILGRIMAGE FROM LIVERPOOL

Friday, 2 March 1984

Your Grace, dear Brother Bishops,
dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am very pleased to have this opportunity to meet you in this special audience, and it is with great joy that I welcome you to the Vatican. This meeting reminds me of the cordial welcome that the people of Liverpool extended to me when I visited your city in 1982. You must carry back with you my greetings to all your fellow citizens and to the Authorities of the city.

Your pilgrimage is part of your celebration of the Jubilee Year of the Redemption. And you have come to seek the Jubilee grace at the tomb of the Apostle Peter, whose clear profession of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God (Matth 16, 16) must be a model of our own faith. As Christians, it is our task to profess our faith in Christ in words and actions. Our entire behaviour should be a clear proclamation of our trust in the power of the Risen Lord.

One very important aspect of the Jubilee Year of the Redemption is that it leads us to appreciate more, or rediscover where necessary, the importance of individual confession, which makes saints of sinners and revives man’s personal relationship with his Saviour. The Holy Year is indeed a call to repentance and conversion, and to a renewed Christian life. I pray that your visit to Rome, to the Basilicas and to the other sacred places which help you to understand the Church’s fidelity to Christ down through the centuries, will give you inspiration and joy in your daily lives. May God who is rich in mercy be close to each one of you! May his blessings enable you and your fellow citizens to achieve the courage and solidarity needed to meet the many and serious challenges which face you. May his peace and protection accompany your families, the old and the young, and in a very special way, the sick and infirm.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

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