Mr Ambassador,
1. I am very pleased to receive you at this solemn presentation of the Letters
of Credence which accredit you as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
of the Republic of Panama to the Holy See. It also gives me the opportunity to
greet you and to offer you my most cordial welcome.
I am deeply grateful for the respectful message you have brought from President
Ernesto Pérez Balladares. I would like to reciprocate by expressing my best
wishes for the prosperity and peace of the dear Panamanian people. I therefore
ask you, Mr Ambassador, kindly to convey them to the highest authority of your
nation.
2. Since the time when Núñez de Balboa crossed your land and made the Pacific
Ocean known to European culture, Panama, especially since the canal which bears
her name was built to connect these seas, has become famous as the crossroads
between the American lands and the great seas that surround them. Since your
country will soon take over the management of this masterpiece of human
ingenuity, preparations are also being made for a decisive step in the vocation
which destiny seems to have assigned her: to be a communications bridge and
meeting place.
Thus the beginning of the third millennium acquires a very
special meaning for Panamanians, and offers a wellfounded hope of a substantial
improvement in their living conditions, a growing affirmation of their own
identity and a more prominent role in history.
Moreover, the coincidence of this
event with the celebration of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 offers the
Panamanian people a providential opportunity to live with special intensity this
"year of the Lord's favour" which the Church proclaims for all Christians. In
fact, the Jubilee's biblical tradition is rooted in God's supreme lordship over
the earth and in his desire to exercise it for the benefit of humanity,
especially for the most underprivileged, by revealing new opportunities
particularly for them (cf. Lv 25:23;
Tertio millennio adveniente, nn. 12-14). This profound experience of
faith in the Lord's saving and provident intervention gives rise to a feeling of
gratitude in man, and of respect and responsibility for the goods of creation.
3. This promising outlook for the future is also a call to all Panamanians,
especially to their representatives and those who have direct responsibility for
the administration of the common good, to give priority to the service of
integral progress for all citizens. Indeed, a mere increase of material goods is
not the most important thing in the life of individuals, businesses and nations.
On the contrary, "development ... turns against those whom it is meant to
benefit" (Sollicitudo
rei socialis, n. 28), when it is limited to the economic aspect. "It is
therefore necessary to create life-styles in which the quest for truth, beauty,
goodness and communion with others for the sake of common growth are the factors
which determine consumer choices, savings and investments" (Centesimus
annus, n. 36).
It is desirable then that the most be made of new
opportunities for increased solidarity, especially towards less fortunate
individuals and groups and, with greater hope of success, to enlarge projects
that the Government has already undertaken to develop the most depressed areas
of the country or to repair the damage caused by natural disasters, while always
respecting the lead role to be played by each sector, which needs to rely on
everyone's participation in formulating and implementing these projects. In
fact, humanity's recent history shows how fragile and fleeting is a development
which, for the sake of the maximum productivity of material goods, sacrifices
the primordial role of the person in all human activity or excessively and
destructively exploits a land which the Creator has entrusted to man as a
responsible and respectful steward (cf. Gn 1:28).
4. I am pleased to see that your country's relations with the Holy See are
marked by mutual respect and a spirit of collaboration. They reflect the close
relationship between the Church and the Panamanian people, whom she has served
and guided since the Cross of Christ was planted in these lands, proclaiming and
revealing to her children "man's lofty calling and the divine seed within him" (Gaudium
et spes, n. 3).
Conscious of the Gospel-inspired values that ennoble
individuals and nations, Catholics consider it their inescapable duty to
co-operate in the common good, putting at the nation's service, in addition to
each person's technical and intellectual abilities, a special sensitivity to the
ethical and spiritual aspects that dignify and enrich the human being and
sustain his life in society. By proclaiming the greatness of the dignity of the
person, created and loved by God as his image, redeemed by Christ and called to
share with him in the glory of total victory over evil and death, the Church,
with full respect for the duties incumbent on the public authorities,
contributes to the common good of the citizens and defends their inalienable
rights such as respect for life in all its stages, support for the family, care
of the weakest and access for everyone to a complete education, which includes
the spiritual and religious dimension of the human being.
Moreover, these relations highlight the common esteem for human and spiritual
values which the Holy See constantly proclaims in international forums. These
values must be vigorously affirmed at this particular moment when communication
and economic, political and cultural interdependence among nations require a
common front in facing the great decisions that will determine the future of
humanity.
Indeed, it is of the utmost importance that the full range of human rights be
promoted despite the snares set by certain immediate interests, as I recalled in
my last Message for the World Day of Peace (cf. n. 2), that trust in dialogue as
the best way to solve conflicts be maintained and, finally, that a genuine
civilization of life and love be fostered.
5. At the end of this meeting, Mr Ambassador, I wish to say that, despite the
many years that have passed since my Pastoral Visit in 1983, I have a very vivid
memory of Panama, its ecclesial communities, its families and its people. As I
did then, I wish them prosperity and peace, asking for everyone the great gift
of hope, which "offers solid and profound reasons for a daily commitment to
transform reality in order to make it correspond to God's plan" (Tertio
millennio adveniente, n. 46).
With these sentiments, I extend my cordial welcome to you again and to your
distinguished family, as I offer you my best wishes that your stay in Rome will
be very pleasant and that your mission will bear the fruit we desire for the
beloved Panamanian nation.
*L'Osservatore Romano. Weekly edition in English n. 11 p.4.
© Copyright
1998 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
