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HJEMME I NIDAROSDOMEN: "Jeg følte meg hjemme" uttalte Pave Johannes Paul II til NRK etter at den økumeniske bønnegudstjenesten i Nidarosdomen var over. Talen holdt han på engelsk, men bønnene ba han på norsk.
Alle foto: Skjermdumper fra NRKs tv-sending fra gudstjenesten 2. juni 1989 |
I katolske kretser blir Pave Johannes Paul IIs Norges-besøk i 1989 ofte ansett for å være et slags økumenisk tideverv i Norge.
"Det var
da ting snudde," sier mange. Med det mener de: Det var etter pavens
besøk at katolske kristne begynte å bli allment ansett for å være
kristne brødre og søstre.
En stor del av æren for dette gis til den lutherske biskopen i Nidaros, Kristen Kyrre Bremer. Da Bremer gikk bort 16. mai 2013 skrev katolikken Olav
Rune Ekeland Bastrup: «Det finnes en hendelse som aldri går meg av minnet, den
var i sannhet historisk, så historisk at mange rett og slett ikke skjønte det:
Nidaros biskop som tar imot pave Johannes Paul II i Nidarosdomen. Biskopen av
Nidaros og biskopen av Roma kneler i felles bønn og TV-kameraene står stille på
dem i flere minutter. Det hadde aldri skjedd før, og hvem hadde trodd at det
kunne skje?»
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| HISTORISK ØYEBLIKK: Biskop Kristen Kyrre Bremer og Pave Johannes Paul II kneler i felles bønn ved sølvkrusifikset i Nidarosdomen. |
Her er pavens tale i Nidarosdomen fredag 2. juni 1989:
(Uthevinger i kursiv er pavens egne. Uthevinger i fet skrift er mine.)
Dear Friends,
1. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (
Eph.
1, 2).
These words of Saint Paul aptly describe my own prayerful good wishes for each
of you and for all the people of Norway. I thank God for this
opportunity to
listen to God’s word together with you and to reflect with you on its meaning
for the life of the Church and the world.
My special greeting goes to the bishops of the Lutheran Church of Norway, the
representatives of other Churches and Ecclesial Communities, the State and
Municipal officials, my fellow Catholics and to all who are present here today.
I am especially grateful to Bishop Bremer for inviting me in the name of the
Lutheran Church of Norway to this venerable place of worship.
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| "This cathedral at Nidaros [...] speaks to us
of an age when Christians had not yet suffered the sadness of divisions." |
2. This cathedral at Nidaros was built by your ancestors over the grave of the
great Saint Olav, who played such a crucial role in the spread of Christianity
in this land. In this and in many other ways, the cathedral bears witness to the
spiritual, political and cultural history of your nation.
It also speaks to us
of an age when Christians had not yet suffered the sadness of divisions. Both
Protestants and Catholics in Norway look to Saint Olav for their roots in the
past and for the inspiration they need to live in the present a truly Christian
life.
To be sure, this cathedral is more than a building of stone. It is a place
where, for centuries, people have been reborn as children of God in Baptism,
where they have heard the word of God proclaimed in the Scriptures as we have
today, and have offered him the Church’s worship; a place where in personal
prayer they have made known to God their needs and have thanked him for his
blessings. For medieval pilgrims who came to Nidaros after a long and arduous
journey, the cathedral was also a reflection of the heavenly Jerusalem towards
which we move on our earthly pilgrimage.
Truly a cathedral such as this is more
than a building of stone. It turns our spiritual gaze heavenward. It lifts our
minds and hearts to God.
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| "To be sure, this cathedral is more than a building of stone. It is a place
where, for centuries, people have been reborn as children of God in Baptism,
where they have heard the word of God proclaimed in the Scriptures as we have
today" |
3. Dear brothers and sisters: we must surely recognize that the mind and heart
of modern man need to be lifted up to God. We must acknowledge that for all the
advances of modern science and technology which are transforming the way we
live, humanity, in the words of Saint Paul, still “groans inwardly” (Cfr.
Rom.
8, 23) in
expectation of something further. Indeed, the whole of creation “groans in
travail” (Cfr.
ibid. 8, 20. 22) for something beyond our human power to give.
Science and technology, by which the material cares and burdens of life are
increasingly lightened are true achievements of man’s creative energy and
intelligence. But knowledge of this kind creates problems as well as solving
them. We have only to think of the environmental and social impact of our modern
way of life, or of the dangers created by our use of the atom or of biomedical
techniques.
Science and technology, like the economic life that they generate,
cannot of themselves articulate the meaning of existence or of human striving.
They cannot of themselves explain, much less eliminate, evil, suffering and
death.
Nor may we forget that the “modern man” of whom we speak is not an
abstraction, but rather
the concrete person that each of us is, a human being
with a heart as well as a mind. Here, too, many dilemmas beset us.
We strive for
love, without which we cannot live, yet today the most basic relationships of
love in marriage and the family are threatened by divorce, broken homes and a
radical questioning of the very meaning of manhood and woman-hood. We strive for
security, wellbeing and a sense of self-worth, yet the traditions of community,
family, home and work are being undermined by transformations which do not
always acknowledge the ethical dimension inherent in all human activity and
endeavour. We
wish to be free, but unless there is a common understanding of
what we ought to do and not simply what we can do, freedom ends in the tyranny
of selfishness and superior force.
What is needed in the midst of these personal and social ills
is a higher wisdom
which transforms the mind and heart and will: a wisdom which perfects the human
intellect by gently drawing it to look for and to love what is true and good,
thus leading man
through visible realities to those which cannot be seen. The
Catholic bishops at the Second Vatican Council warned that: “Our era needs such
wisdom more than bygone ages if the discoveries made by man are to be further
humanized. For
the future of the world stands in peril unless wiser people are forthcoming”
(
Gaudium
et Spes, 15).
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| "Dear friends: today in this Cathedral of Nidaros, built to the glory of God
as a beacon pointing heavenward in the midst of the modern world, we stand
together in order to proclaim the Good News of redemption in Jesus Christ." |
4. Dear friends: today in this Cathedral of Nidaros, built to the glory of God
as a beacon pointing heavenward in the midst of the modern world, we stand
together in order to proclaim the Good News of redemption in Jesus Christ.
Through him we come to know the meaning of creation and of human activity within
the plan of God.
Jesus Christ is our wisdom. He is the Way, the Truth and the
Life (Cfr.
Io. 14, 6). If creation is still “subject to futility”, it is so in
the hope of
being transformed in Christ. If humanity “groans in travail”, it does so to
the extent that people’s minds and hearts are not lifted up with Christ to God,
that consciences are not conformed through Christ to the wisdom that comes from
God.
As Christians we proclaim a wisdom that recognizes and upholds the
priority of
ethics over technology, the primacy of the person over things, the superiority
of spirit over matter (Cfr. Ioannis Pauli PP. II
Redemptor Hominis,
16). We are able to make these assertions because Christ has
shown us that our human destiny is a personal moral and spiritual one; it lies
in a filial relationship to God.
Through faith and baptism we have come to know that wisdom is offered as a
divine gift but it also confounds the human intellect if it remains closed to
the transcendent. It is a revealed wisdom which teaches us that the God of the
universe is not an impersonal or unknowable force but a Father. In moments of
interior enlightenment, Jesus’ words re-echo in our hearts: “I thank you,
Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the
wise and understanding and revealed them to babes” (Matth. 11, 25).
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"Today on the eve of the third Christian millennium,
the world needs to hear the Good News of salvation no less than it did in the
first and second millennia. It is all the more urgent that Christians work for
the gradual elimination of their differences and bear common witness to the
Gospel."
|
5. Our task is to open the mind of modern man to divine wisdom, to open the
heart of modern man to God. We do so in the manner of Christ, who is “gentle
and lowly in heart”, whose “yoke is easy and burden light” (Cfr. ibid.
11, 29-30). By proclaiming
the Gospel in word and deed, we bear witness before all to the path that leads
to life. And we do this not as isolated individuals, but as persons united in
Christ through our baptism.
Clearly such witness constitutes an ecumenical challenge for all those who, as
Saint Paul says, “have heard the word of truth “and have been” sealed with
the promised Holy Spirit” (
Eph. 1, 13).
Today on the eve of the third Christian millennium,
the world needs to hear the Good News of salvation no less than it did in the
first and second millennia. It is all the more urgent that Christians work for
the gradual elimination of their differences and bear common witness to the
Gospel.
Today in this cathedral, I give thanks to God for the grace of the ecumenical
movement which we have experienced in our time. Through the working of the Holy
Spirit new relationships have begun to develop between Christians who have been
divided from one another for centuries. I also wish to express gratitude to all
those in Norway who have responded to this grace and have worked with dedication
to promote the unity of Christians in accordance with Christ’s will. May you
persevere along this path with patience and love, so that the dialogue between
us will continue with mutual respect and trust as we seek unity in the full
truth of Christ.
Preparations for the
millennium celebration in 1997 of the foundation of Trondheim will be
an opportunity for Lutherans, Catholics and all Christians in
Norway to reflect further on the common roots of your faith and on the gospel
values which have shaped your common history. It will also be an opportunity for
prayer – fervent unceasing prayer for the unity of all Christ’s followers, since
in the end we know that unity will come only as a gift from God.
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| "Dear brothers and sisters: before us lies the duty of opening a new Christian
chapter in history in response to the many challenges of a changing world." |
6. Dear brothers and sisters: before us lies the duty of opening a new Christian
chapter in history in response to the many challenges of a changing world. In
centuries past the Church led the peoples of Europe to the baptismal font and
the cultural identity of Europe grew out of the Christian faith. The centrality
of the person, the role of the family in society, the rights of the individual
and of groups the moral and ethical values which gave direction and inspiration
to human behaviour, all developed in contact with the Gospel and the teaching of
the Church.
In today’s Europe, however, there is taking place a cultural clash
of enormous consequences: it is a clash between two visions of life, the one
revealed in Christ wherein God is accepted as the ultimate and recognized source
of truth, goodness and freedom and the other of the world, closed to
transcendence, wherein all is to be built on humanity’s efforts to give meaning
and direction to itself through social consensus. Christians understand what is
at stake.
The history of our own century clearly shows that where no
transcendent norm is acknowledged, people are in danger of surrendering
themselves to forces which take command of society without concern for
individuals and their freedoms.
The Catholic Church seeks no privilege but expects only that civil and religious
freedom should be effectively guaranteed so that she can proclaim her message
and address the basic questions posed by human existence in the contemporary
world. Speaking to the European Parliament in October of last year I stressed
that “if the underlying religious and Christian fabric of this continent were
to be denied as an inspiration to morality or as a positive factor in society,
not only would the entire heritage of our European past be negated, but the
future dignity of the people of Europe... would be gravely endangered” (Ioannis
Pauli PP. II
Allocutio ad "Parlamento Europeo", 11, die 11 oct. 1988).
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| "The time for a renewed
witness of faith on the part of Christians is now! We are being challenged to
bring to humanity the Gospel of Christ, the Good News of redemption and of
adoption as God’s children." |
The time for wisdom on the part of everyone is now!
The time for a renewed
witness of faith on the part of Christians is now! We are being challenged to
bring to humanity the Gospel of Christ, the Good News of redemption and of
adoption as God’s children. We are being challenged to bear witness to the
wisdom of the Incarnate Word, Christ the “Light of the Nations” (Cfr.
Luc.
2, 32), a light that
leads to fullness of life for those who accept it. In the face of such great
challenges, the Spirit of truth is urging us to persevere in the ecumenical
task.
With confidence in God “who by the power at work within us is able to do far
more abundantly than all that we ask” (
Eph. 3, 20)
let us take up the challenge of a new
evangelization. Let us proclaim once more the wisdom of the Beatitudes to a
world in need of peace, of love and of brotherhood.
Let us proclaim once more
the truth of Christ, our Crucified and Risen Saviour. He is the “goal of human
history, the focal point of the longings of history and of civilization, the
centre of the human race, the joy of every heart, and the answer to all its yearnings”
(
Gaudium
et Spes, 14). May God be with you all. “Grace to you and peace from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”. Amen.
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| "Let us proclaim once more
the truth of Christ, our Crucified and Risen Saviour." |
© Copyright 1989 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
