At Kyiv mass: a recognition of the "cradle of the Christian faith" (07/01/01)

THE PAPAL VISIT TO UKRAINE, JUNE 23-27, 2001

At Kyiv mass: a recognition of the "cradle of the Christian faith"

Excerpts of papal address during the Latin-rite holy mass at Kyiv's Chaika Airport on Sunday, June 24.

"The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother He mentioned my name" (Is 49:1).

Today we celebrate the birth of St. John the Baptist. The words of the Prophet Isaiah are well-suited to describe this great biblical figure who stands between the Old and the New Testaments. In the long line of Israel's prophets and just men and women, John "the Baptizer" was placed by God's providence immediately before the Messiah, in order to prepare the Lord's way by his preaching and by the witness of his life ...

Dear brothers and sisters! John the Baptist was the messenger, the forerunner: he was sent to prepare the way for Christ. How does the figure of St. John the Baptist speak to us here, in Kyiv, at the beginning of this pilgrimage in your country? Is it not in some way providential that this figure speaks to us precisely here in Kyiv?

This is the place of the Baptism of Rus'. From Kyiv there began that flowering of Christian life which the Gospel first brought forth in the land of the ancient Rus', then in the lands of Eastern Europe and, later, beyond the Urals, in the lands of Asia. In a certain sense, then, Kyiv itself played the role of a "precursor of the Lord" among the many peoples who would receive the proclamation of the Gospel from here.

St. Volodymyr and the inhabitants of Rus' were baptized by missionaries sent from Constantinople, the greatest center of Christianity in the East. Thus the newborn Church entered the sphere of the exceedingly rich patrimony of faith and culture of the Byzantine Church. This was at the end of the first millennium. While living according to two different traditions, the Church of Constantinople and the Church of Rome were still in full communion. As I wrote in my Apostolic Letter "Euntes in Mundum": "We ought to thank the Lord together for this fact, which today represents a good omen and a hope. God willed that Mother Church, visibly united, should welcome into her bosom, already rich with nations and peoples, and at a moment of missionary expansion both in the West and in the East, this her new daughter on the banks of the Dnipro" (No. 4). ...

The Baptism which took place here, in Kyiv, inaugurated the thousand-year history of Christianity in the lands of today's Ukraine and in the whole region. Today, having the grace of coming to this historic place, my thoughts go back through the more than 10 centuries in which the gift of that first Baptism has continued to be poured out upon successive generations of the sons and daughters of this nation. What a flowering of spiritual, liturgical and ecclesial life developed from the meeting of different cultures and religious traditions! This splendid inheritance is now entrusted to you, dear brothers and sisters. During these days of my pilgrimage to your country, I join you in praying that your own generation, at the beginning of a new millennium, will prove worthy of the great traditions of its past.

From this city, the cradle of the Christian faith for Ukraine and for the whole area, I greet and embrace with heartfelt affection all the men and women living in these lands. In a special way I greet Cardinals Marian Jaworski and Lubomyr Husar, together with the beloved bishop of Kyiv-Zhytomyr, Jan Purwinski, my venerable brothers from the Ukrainian Episcopal Conference and the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church. I greet the clergy, the men and women religious and the lay faithful of your glorious and sorely tried Churches; with great courage they were able to keep alight the lamp of faith even in the dark times of persecution. ...

People of God, you who believe, hope and love in the land of Ukraine, joyfully savor once more the gift of the Gospel which you received over a thousand years ago! Look today to John the Baptist, an enduring model of fidelity to God and his Law. John prepared the way for Christ by the testimony of his word and his life. Imitate him with docile and trusting generosity. ...

Land of Ukraine, drenched with the blood of martyrs, thank you for the example of fidelity to the Gospel which you have given to Christians the world over! So many of your sons and daughters walked in complete fidelity to Christ; many of them remained constant even to the supreme sacrifice. May their witness serve as an example and a stimulus for the Christians of the third millennium. ...

City of Kyiv, may you be a "light to Ukraine." From you there set out the evangelizers who down the centuries have been "John the Baptists" for thez peoples dwelling in these lands. How many of them, like John, suffered in order to bear witness to the truth, and by their blood became the seed of new Christians. May future generations never lack men and women of the mettle of these, your glorious ancestors.

Most Holy Virgin, Protectress of Ukraine, you have always guided the Christian people on their pilgrim way. Continue to watch over your children. Help them never to forget the "name," the spiritual identity which they received in Baptism. Help them to rejoice always in the priceless grace of being followers of Christ (cf. Jn 3:29). May you be the guide of each one. You, Mother of God and our Mother, Mary! Amen!

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