This the
address Benedict XVI delivered today at the welcoming ceremony at the
International Paphos Airport, which marked the beginning of his three-day trip
to the island.
* * *
Mr President,
Your Beatitude Chrysostomos,
Your Beatitudes,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Authorities,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Greetings! Peace be with you! It is a great pleasure to be with you today.
Mr President, I am grateful for the kind invitation to visit the Republic of
Cyprus. I express my cordial greetings to you and to the Government and people
of this nation, and thank you for your gracious words of welcome. I also recall
with gratitude your recent visit to the Vatican and look forward to our meeting
tomorrow in Nicosia.
Cyprus stands at the crossroads of cultures and religions, of histories both
proud and ancient but which still retain a strong and visible impact upon the
life of your country. Having recently acceded to the European Union, the
Republic of Cyprus is beginning to witness the benefit of closer economic and
political ties with other European states. Membership has already given your
country access to markets, technology and know-how. It is greatly to be hoped
that membership will lead to prosperity at home and that other Europeans in
their turn will be enriched by your spiritual and cultural heritage which
reflects your historical role, standing between Europe, Asia and Africa. May
the love of your homeland and of your families and the desire to live in
harmony with your neighbours under the compassionate protection of almighty
God, inspire you patiently to resolve the remaining concerns that you share
with the international community for the future of your island.
Following in the footsteps of our common fathers in the faith, Saints Paul and
Barnabas, I have come among you as a pilgrim and the servant of the servants of
God. Since the Apostles brought the Christian message to these shores, Cyprus
has been blessed by a resilient Christian heritage. I greet as a brother in
that faith His Beatitude Chrysostomos the Second, Archbishop of Nea Justiniana
and All Cyprus, and I look forward shortly to meeting many more members of the
Orthodox Church of Cyprus.
I also look forward to greeting other Cypriot religious leaders. I hope to
strengthen our common bonds and to reiterate the need to build up mutual trust
and lasting friendship between all those who worship the one God.
As the Successor of Peter, I come in a special way to greet the Catholics of
Cyprus, to confirm them in the faith (cf. Lk 22:32) and to encourage them to be
both exemplary Christians and exemplary citizens, and t o play a full role in
society, to the benefit of both Church and state.
During my stay with you, I will also consign the Instrumentum Laboris, a
working document in view of the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the
Synod of Bishops to be held later this year in Rome. That Assembly will examine
many aspects of the Church’s presence in the region and the challenges that
Catholics face, sometimes in trying circumstances, in living out their
communion within the Catholic Church and offering their witness in the service
of society and the world. Cyprus is thus an appropriate place in which to
launch our Church’s reflection on the place of the centuries-old Catholic
community in the Middle East, our solidarity with all the Christians of the
region and our conviction that they have an irreplaceable role to play in peace
and reconciliation among its peoples.
Mr President, dear friends, with these thoughts, I entrust my pilgrimage to
Mary, the Mother of God, and to the intercession of Saints Paul and Barnabas.
May God bless the people of Cyprus. May the All-Holy [Virgin] protect you
always!
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