Address to his Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI,
by the President of
the Atlantic Episcopal Assembly /
l’Assemblée des Évêques de l’Atlantique,
the Most Reverend Raymond J. Lahey,
Bishop of Antigonish

20 May 2006

Most Holy Father,

It is both a pleasure and an honor for the Bishops of the Atlantic region of Canada to greet you on the occasion of their first ad limina visit of your pontificate.  This visit renews our ties to the two great Apostles of the Church of Rome, and to the apostolic faith and apostolic order we have received from the hands of their successors; it renews also our ties with the Roman Pontiff, the successor of Peter, and with those who assist him in his immense task of the governance of the Church.

Your Holiness, we extend to you today the warmest greetings and most fervent prayers of the priests, deacons, religious, and laity of our twelve dioceses, which include five Canadian provinces.  On our shores ovr one thousand years ago, Christian Norse settlers planted the first cross on the soil of America. Today, our greetings come from Canadians of Scots, Irish and British origin, as well as many others who have their family roots on the European continent.   The same wishes come also from those of Acadian origin, a people who in my area would say that they were “benaise” (delighted) to greet you.  We bring you likewise the good wishes of our First Nations peoples - Naskopi, Montagnais, Innu, Malacete and Mi’maq – the last of whom will celebrate in just four more years the four hundredth anniversary of the baptism of their Grand Chief Membertou in 1610.  We must also mention the special bond of affection for the Holy Father on the part of the children and young people of our region, a large number of whom were able to join you last August in pilgrimage to Cologne for World Youth Day.

We likewise acknowledge with thanks the great gift to the Church of your first encyclical letter, Deus Caritas est, for its thoughtful reflection on what is the most central truth of our faith.  The wonderful reception of that encyclical among our people testifies that from the language of the Scriptures and the timeless tradition of the Church, your Holiness has spoken to the men and women of our present age with a clarity and a directness that are compelling.

Our own people live in a world that is very much caught between tradition and modernity.   Tradition, culture, community, heritage, and roots are words that are very important to them.  Yet they are well aware that they live in a society that is increasingly affected by globalization, a globalization that is not merely economic but increasingly socio-cultural. 

They can recognize that some aspects of this development are positive: that economic globalization can contribute to equalization among nations and regions, and that cultural globalization, with improved communications and transportation, can build harmony among peoples.  At the same time, many of our people, in both rural and industrial situations, have been adversely affected by these new economic patterns.  This has resulted not only in the loss of jobs and high unemployment, but also in the need for people, especially the young, to leave their own communities to find work in the larger metropolitan areas of our own region or elsewhere in Canada.   The effects of this population shift are not merely economic.  They also have important pastoral implications: depopulation affects the viability of parishes and even some dioceses, while population growth in urban areas makes new demands on limited resources.  And young people who may have a sense of belonging in the parishes of their youth, often feel detached from church life when they move to urban settings in which they become strangers, and where they must build anew a social fabric.

An even more serious religious concern, however, comes from a growing socio-cultural globalization.  The centralization of the media in a few large centers and the availability of the same media virtually anywhere in our world poses a serious threat to all local cultures.  The fact that under the stated principle of avoiding the promotion of religion, such influences have become entirely secular, if not contrary to the Gospel, has had a profound impact upon our society.  This impact is even more negative in that almost values are regarded as relative to individual choice.  Even fundamental rights, freedoms and responsibilities are seen as having no stronger foundation than being found in written law, something which can and does change.

As bishops, we can readily understand that in such circumstances it is urgent to promote the “new evangelization” that was advocated by your revered predecessor at Santo Domingo in 1992, one new in its enthusiasm, its methods and its language.  It is good to be able to record that a growing number of clergy, religious and laity are similarly convinced.  Both in our individual dioceses and as a region, we have made evangelization and catechesis our first priority, and we have been taking steps to revitalize that ministry.  We are especially concerned to have the necessary laborers for this new harvest, first by promoting the concept of vocations, and then by the promotion of vocations to the priesthood, the diaconate and the religious life.  In like manner, our dioceses are actively engaged in the formation of the laity, especially the many lay persons who are so faithfully committed to the catechetical ministry to children and youth and their families.

We recognize that a new evangelization must have as its first and paramount goal to promote an encounter with the living Jesus Christ, the theme of the Special Synod for America in 1997.  In that way, the people of our region, renewing their relationship with Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit, may appreciate anew the Father’s care for them, and may be led into that wondrous and awesome mystery of life in God, who is love beyond all telling.

Your Holiness, ad multos et faustissimos annos (to many and blessed years).

Benedict XVI's Address to the Bishops of Atlantic Canada