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17 December 1999
Distinguished Members of the Government, 1. It gives me great pleasure to greet you on the occasion of your
Symposium on John Hus, which has been another important step towards a
deeper understanding of the life and work of the renowned Bohemian
preacher, one of the most famous of the many great scholars to come from
the University of Prague. Hus is a memorable figure for many reasons.
But it is particularly his moral courage in the face of adversity and
death that has made him a figure of special significance to the Czech
people, who have themselves suffered much through the centuries. I am
particularly grateful to all of you who have contributed to the work of
the ecumenical Commission “Husovská”, established some
years ago by Cardinal Miloslav Vlk in order to identify more precisely
the place that Jan Hus occupies among those who sought a reform of the
Church.
2. It is significant that scholars not only from the Czech Republic but
also from neighbouring countries have taken part in this Symposium. No
less significant is the fact that, despite the tensions that have marred
relations between Czech Christians in the past, scholars from different
Confessions have come together to share their knowledge. Now that you
have brought together the best and latest scholarly work on Jan Hus and
the events in which he was involved, the next step will be to publish
the results of the Symposium, so that as many people as possible will
have an insight not only into a remarkable man but also into an
important and complex period of Christian and European history.
Today, on the eve of the Great Jubilee, I feel the need to express deep
regret for the cruel death inflicted on John Hus, and for the consequent
wound of conflict and division which was thus imposed on the minds and
hearts of the Bohemian people. It was during my first visit to Prague that
I declared my hope that precisely in your land decisive steps could be
taken on the path of reconciliation and true unity in Christ. The wounds
of past centuries must be healed through a new attitude and completely
renewed relationships. May our Lord Jesus Christ, “who is our
peace... and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility” (Eph
2:14), guide the path of your people’s history towards the
rediscovered unity of all Christians, which we ardently hope for in the
millennium that is about to begin.
3. Scholarly endeavours to reach a more profound and complete grasp of
historical truth are crucial to this cause. Faith has nothing to fear from
the work of historical research, for, in the final analysis, research too
is directed towards the truth which has in God its source. Therefore, I
give thanks to our Father in Heaven for your work as it reaches its end,
just as I was keen to encourage you as you began.
The writing of history is sometimes beset by ideological, political or
economic pressures, so that the truth is obscured and history itself
becomes a prisoner of the powerful. Genuinely scientific study is our best
defence against such pressures and the distortions they can bring. It is
true that it is very difficult to attain an absolutely objective account
of history, since personal convictions, values and experiences inevitably
impinge upon historical study. Yet this does not mean that we cannot offer
an account of history which is in a very real sense impartial and
therefore true and liberating. Your own work is a proof that this is
possible.
4. The truth can also prove uncomfortable when it asks us to abandon
long-held prejudices and stereotypes. This is as true of Churches,
ecclesial communities and religions as it is of nations and individuals.
Yet the truth which sets us free from error is also the truth which sets
us free for love; and it is Christian love which has been the horizon of
what your Commission has sought to do. Your work means that a figure like
Jan Hus, who has been such a point of contention in the past, has now
become a subject of dialogue, of comparison and shared investigation.
At a time when many are working to create a new kind of unity in Europe,
studies such as yours can help to inspire people to go beyond narrow
ethnic and national confines to genuine openness and solidarity. It can
help Europeans to understand that the continent will advance more
assuredly to a new and enduring unity if it draws in fresh and creative
ways upon its shared Christian roots and upon the specific identity which
derived from them.
5. It is clear, then, that your work is an important service not only to
the historical figure of Jan Hus but also to Christians and European
society more generally. This is because, in the end, it is a service to
the truth about man; and it is this truth above all which the human family
needs to recover at the dawn of the Third Millennium of the Christian era.
In contemplating the truth about man, we turn inevitably to the figure
of the Risen Christ. He alone teaches and embodies completely the truth of
man created in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen 1:26). I
pray most fervently that he who is “the same... for ever” (Heb
13:8) will send his light into your hearts. As a pledge of grace and peace
in him, I invoke upon you, your loved ones, and upon the whole Czech
nation the abundant blessings of Almighty God, to whom be “glory and
wisdom and thanksgiving for ever and ever! Amen” (Rev 7:12).
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