Your Eminence,
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate,
1. Today's meeting is a cause of deep joy for me, because it offers me the
opportunity officially to give you the new Constitution Ecclesia in Urbe,
which updates certain organizational aspects of the Vicariate of Rome, bringing
them into line with the changed social and ecclesial circumstances of the
Christian community.
With deep gratitude I greet Cardinal Camillo Ruini, my first co-worker in
leading the People of God who live in Rome. Together with him, I would like to
offer a cordial greeting to the Archbishop Vicegerent and the Auxiliary Bishops
who make their valuable contribution to the orderly growth of Church activities
in the various areas of the city. My affectionate thoughts also turn at this
time to the priests, to consecrated men and women and to their lay coworkers,
who devote their best energies so that Christ's Gospel may be continually
proclaimed to all Romans.
Divine Providence has assigned to Rome the special vocation to be the see of
Peter's Successor and, through the exercise of his ministry, to carry out in the
community of the redeemed the service of presiding in charity (cf. St Ignatius
of Antioch, Ad Romanos, PG 5, 685). This is the reason why our Diocese is
marked by an extraordinary wealth and variety of persons and ecclesial
activities, which, while defining its unique features, also give rise to the
specific needs of pastoral co-ordination, for which we must provide.
2. In deference to the recommendations of the recent Diocesan Synod and after
listening to the suggestions I received from various parts, I have decided that
the Apostolic Constitution Vicariae potestatis of my venerable Predecessor, the
Servant of God Paul VI, should be revised so that the Vicariate of Rome can more
effectively provide her proper service, updating it in accordance with the new
canonical provisions and the changed situations of the present time.
In the 20 years that have passed since the above-mentioned Constitution of Paul
VI, the Vicariate of Rome has found that it must respond to new and complex
needs; in this regard, the opportuneness of revising its structures seems
clearer than ever.
New pastoral opportunities and the need constantly to strengthen the vital
relationship between the Bishop of Rome and the city's Christian community and,
more generally, the rich, complex reality of civil society, find a response in
the text which I present to you today. I hope that it will be a suitable tool
for renewing this Church according to the desire expressed by the Diocesan Synod
and will contribute to the period of pastoral growth that has already begun with
the City Mission, to which the various pastoral workers are very generously
committed.
3. All this cannot fail to encourage fruitful contact with the pilgrims who will
come to Rome for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. This has great pastoral
importance. It is easy to imagine their expectations as they come to the city
bathed in the blood of the Apostles and martyrs. How spiritually refreshing it
will be for them to find here a welcoming community, actively working in the
name of Christ, Redeemer of man!
I entrust to each individual, according to his own responsibilities, the
implementation of the provisions I am giving you today and, as I invoke the help
of Mary "Salus Populi Romani" on you and on the various parish communities, I
willingly impart a cordial Apostolic Blessing to you all.
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1998 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
