ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER PAUL VI
TO THE NEW AMBASADOR OF THAILAND
TO THE HOLY SEE*

Thursday, 27 June 1974

Mr Ambassador,

It is a great pleasure and satisfaction that we have received from Your Excellency the Letters of Credence by which His Majesty the King of Thailand accredits you as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Holy See. We are especially appreciative of the kind words which you have pronounced and of the good wishes which you have brought to us from His Majesty.

We would ask you please to convey to the King, to Queen Sirikit and to the whole Royal Family our warm, sincere and prayerful greetings.

The freedom enjoyed by the Catholic Church in Thailand is a motive of great consolation to us, and we are confident that this historic tradition of tolerance will continue to contribute greatly towards a fruitful development of the dialogue between different religions in your country. We pray that such dialogue will ever deepen true peace in the hearts of the Thai people, and that through a common trust in Divine Providence and a mutual love of one another they may lead meritorious lives.

Please be assured that the Holy See is closely associated with the Kingdom of Thailand in concern for the peace and prosperity, the welfare and the dignity of the people of Thailand, of Asia, and indeed of the whole world. We ourself shall always be happy to cooperate with you in your new task, and we gladly invoke guiding Divine help upon your mission, upon your nation and upon its beloved people.

*AAS 66 (1974), p.404-405.

Insegnamenti di Paolo VI, vol. XII, p.605.

L’Attività della Santa Sede 1974, p.199.

L'Osservatore Romano, 28.6.1974, p.1.

ORa n.28 p.2.