ADDRESS OF PAUL VI
TO A GROUP OF ANGLICANS

Saturday, 24 April 1965

Dear Friends,

With a heart full of joy do We welcome all of you into Our home today, and We are sincerely grateful that you interrupted your trip to offer to Our humble self your heartfelt greetings.

This visit offers to Us the happy opportunity of recalling with great satisfaction Our own pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where We were able to experience personally the rich souvenirs of Our Lord’s presence among men. That land abounds with precious relics of Our Lord’s time, and these serve to impress upon all the ever timely message of charity which Christ wished to teach to men of all time. We earnestly pray that your experience in that sacred land will be as satisfactory as Ours, and that it will urge you to a greater dedication to put into daily practice the lessons which the Divine Teacher taught so unceasingly. We cannot but recommend that you give yourselves wholeheartedly to your mission, and that in prayerful meditation you gather rich souvenirs which will strengthen you in the future.

We are particularly consoled and strengthened by the lofty purpose of your pilgrimage, prayer for Christian unity. We bless you, all of you, from a heart filled with love and affection, and We assure you that We shall follow you with Our prayers as you visit those numerous shrines hallowed by the presence of Christ, Who prayed that all would be one as He and the Father were one. May the vivid memory of Our Lord’s presence guide your footsteps and fill your hearts with the same joy as that of St. Peter on Tabor, when he declared in the name of his companions - O Lord, how good it is for us to be here. May Almighty God bless you with His choicest graces and favours.