President Of 'Ecclesia Dei' Presents Letter Of Canonical Establishment
by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos
On Friday, 18 January, in Holy Saviour Cathedral, Campos, Brazil, on the occasion of the establishment of the personal Apostolic Administration "St John Mary Vianney", Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy and President of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei", presented the Holy Father's Autograph Letter to the Apostolic Administrator. Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos gave the following allocution in Italian. Here is a translation.
1. In the ineffable reality of the Mystical Body of Christ which is the Church, I magnify the Lord who in his tender compassion has prepared this moment of holy joy.
I like to think that the Blessed Virgin Mary, who hastened the hour of the Lord at Cana of Galilee (cf. Jn 2,1-5), who in the Upper Room was the heart of the Church, showing herself to be Mother and Queen of the Apostles (cf. Acts 1,12,14), has guided this journey, in her constant concern.
The Holy Father realized that the letter addressed to him by our dear Brother, Bishop Licinio Rangel, together with the priests of the Union of St. John Mary Vianney was written on the date of the Solemnity of the Assumption (15 August 2001). The Pope of the Totus tuus could not but accept, his heart overflowing with joy, your request to be accepted into the fullness of communion and to receive the juridical recognition of your reality as Catholics in the one Church.
I thus bring you the fatherly heart of the Vicar of Christ, the universal Pastor, the Rock, on whom Christ chose to found his Church. I bring you the wide open arms of John Paul II, the Peter of today, his are arms that, like the colonnade of St. Peter's , are open in a universal embrace, that is also a pressing invitation to unity, communion and mission!
2. It is true that our time is difficult, it is true that the barque of the Church must sail through stormy waters, stirred up by winds of ideologies and cultures that are anti-human and for this very reason, anti-Christian. It is true that disagreements on the historical and human front can cause the waves to seep into the boat, as happened when the Apostles fearful and dismayed, on the Lake of Gennesaret, appealed to Christ who seemed asleep: "Save us, Lord, we are perishing" (Mt 8,25).
This is true indeed, but a sovereign voice rises above all our troubles, doubts, perplexities and fears, "the" voice: "Why are you afraid, O men of little faith?" (Mt. 8,26). "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it" (Mt. 16,18). Yes, Peter's barque can find itself in stormy seas, but it enjoys the certainty of divine assistance — "ever tossed on the waves, and ever victorious", an act of faith St. Alphonsus Mary de' Liguori liked to repeat.
Christ the Lord is in the boat, Peter, the perpetual principle and visible foundation of the Church's unity is at the helm and the Immaculate Virgin continues down through history to crush the head of the serpent until the end of time (cf. Gn 3,15).
This is the faith that has conquered the world, this is the faith that we glory to profess!
3. Before putting into practice what the Holy Father John Paul II has disposed, I would like to address truly fraternal and cordial thanks to the Venerable Brothers, Bishop Roberto Gomes Guimaraes of this Diocese, for his generous and cordial collaboration, and Bishop Licinio Rangel, for his good will and courage in taking this step. My sincere gratitude goes to their patient and generous spokesman, Fr. Fernando Rifan. My warm thanks also to the priests of the St. John Mary Vianney Association, and to the priests of the Diocese of Campos who, from this day on, will be united in the heart of the Good Shepherd.
However, I must also say an emotional "thank you" here, in the Lord's presence, to all of you, lay people, men and women religious and priests everywhere who have followed, supported and enclosed this process in prayer, and continue to support the holy cause of the seamless garment of Christ.
All labour for this holy cause for which the Saviour prayed (cf. Jn 17,6-26) will always be done joyfully, and I believe that none of us will ever refuse the fatigue.
4. "Where charity and love abide, there God is ever found"! (ex Lit.).
May charity and love abound ever more in this Diocese of Campos and in this Apostolic Administration of St. John Mary Vianney, established today through the intercession of Mary, Full of Grace, thereby fulfilling the exhortation of Pope St. Leo the Great: "the structure of our unity can not remain firm if the inseparable force of the bond of love has not bound us with inseparable power" (Letter to Bishop Anastasius, 14,1-2,11).
This is my wish, that becomes a prayer.
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