ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER PAUL VI
TO THE NEW AMBASSADOR OF THE REPUBLIC
OF SRI LANKA TO THE HOLY SEE*

Thursday, 14 October 1976

Mr Ambassador,

After the happy establishment of diplomatic relations, it is A with pleasure that we accept the Letters of Credence naming you the first Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Sri Lanka to the Holy See.

We are pleased to receive the cordial greetings that you convey to us from the President and the Prime Minister, both of whom welcomed us personally on the occasion of our unforgettable visit to your land. Most willingly we reciprocate at this time their kind sentiments.

We are likewise grateful for your words about our efforts on behalf of the human rights of the suffering and oppressed; we appreciate the support given to our call to take up the real weapons of peace.

In our last World Day of Peace Message we expressed the conviction that peace must indeed be armed, with the principle of brotherhood-a brotherhood that is founded and fostered in goodness and love. And this powerful weapon of peace was in fact the theme of our discourse six years ago in Colombo. It was the subject of what we considered “our special message to your noble Nation” (AAS 63 (1971) 81). Our confident wish at that time - and we repeat it today - was that you would always let your “brotherhood knit you together as one family in your social, economic and political life, without any distinction of caste, creed, colour or tongue” (AAS 63 (1971) 81).

Truly, our affection for all the people of Sri Lanka is very great. We pray that united in brotherhood you will go forward together towards ever greater human advancement and towards the full development of all God-given potential. On you and your countrymen we invoke the divine blessings of true and lasting peace.

*AAS 68 (1976), p.660.

Insegnamenti di Paolo VI, vol. XIV, p.834-835.

L’Attività della Santa Sede 1976, p.276-277.

L'Osservatore Romano 15.10.1976, p.1.

ORa n.44 p.2.