by Mons. Paolo Maria Hnilica S.J., Bishop of Rusado (Roman Catholic)

(As in the case of Fr. Vasile Axinia, at the last minute, due to illness, Bishop Hnilica was not allowed to travel to the Holy Land. His prepared talk was read out to the conference)

Finding myself here with you in Jerusalem, where in the fullness of time the Church was born, and the place to which (from an eschatological point of view) the itinerant Church moves and directs itself, I would like to offer a meditation or rather a prayer instead of a lecture. I would like to offer a heartbroken prayer for that one Church of Christ that was fulfilled by the Son, according to the Father’s plan from all eternity: I would like to take the example of the apostles gathered with the mother of Jesus, unanimous and persevering in prayer.

Yes, my brothers, I think that rather than losing oursleves in useless discussions about the diversity and possible compatability of so many churches of Christ which exist today, it would be more useful for ecuemenism, to plunge ourselves into the mind of the Holy Spirit. Let’s ask Him, with the simplicity of children, to know their manifest plan – or what may be still hidden from our understanding, how the Church should be, this Church that was conceived from all eternity. Conscious of the fact that we all want to belong to that one Church, and according to the only model put forward by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we want to reflect our actions and adapt our faith.

Already in the Old Testament, with the creation of man, the design for the one Church of Christ began to take shape and to be built,which would be revealed in the fullness of time. That fullness of time of which we are celebratring the bimillenium jubilee.

In Genesis 3,15 we read that God, after the sin of our forefathers, says to the serpent: “I will make you enemies of each other:you and the woman,Your offspring and her offspring.I will crush your head And you will strike its heel.”

The woman is the Church, the woman is Mary: her offspring is Christ who forms an indissoluble unity in their mystical body: the Church, which is all of us.

In fact in Isiah 7.14 we read: “Well then, the Lord himself will give you a sign: a young woman who is pregnant will have a son and will name him Immanuel”. And in Isaiah 11.1 speaking of Christ: “a shoot springs from the stock of Jesse ” and in the verses which follow Isaiah lists the quality of the seed which will sprout and the way in which it will behave saying.” On him the spirit of Yahweh rests, a spirit of wisdom and Insight, a spirit of counsel and power, a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahweh. (The fear of Yahweh is his breath) he does not judge by appearances, he gives no verdict on hearsay, but judges the wretched with integrity, and with equity gives a verdict to the poor of the land.”

All of this tells us that the greatness of God is in his kenosis (the renunciation of his divine nature in the Incarnation) to which Paul refers in Philippians 12, 6-8: “…You have in you the same feelings that were in Christ whose state was divine, yet he did not cling to his equality with God but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave. And became as men are: and being as all men are, he was humbler yet even to accepting death on a cross….”

The greatness of God is in lowering himself to be born of a woman, just like any other person. In becoming our blood relation Mary is raised high: she, the daughter of mankind, who since the ancient of times had been prepared by the Father and who had been enriched with every gift of grace. Even though she was one of us she became the mother of God, thus realising a more intimate collaboration with God’s plan for his new family which is the Church.

Isaiah in 11, 6-9 describes how relations between men and living creatures will change, how “the wisdom of the Lord will cover the land and the waters will cover the sea. ” For at that time “….The wolf lives with the lamb, the panther lies down with the kid,calf and lion cub feed together, with a little boy to lead them….” And men “…they do no hurt, no harm on all my holy mountain…..”

There you have the prophecies and lyrics of Hosea, Isaiah and the Books of the Pentatude – to quote but a few – which speak about the God of Jesus Christ, who, with passion and jealousy, is intent on preparing his people to receive his only Son, when he is born of the virgin in the fullness of time: gradually entering into an ever tighter and involved alliance with his people.

He says to Noah in Genesis 9, 8-16 “See, I establish my Covenant with you and with your descendants after you. When the bow is in the clouds I shall see it and call to mind the lasting Covenant between God and every living creature of every kind that is found on the earth….” So it is revealed to us that God has always thought of the Church as his family for whom he gave himself, and with whom he wishes to share the same life of love as the Trinity.

And to Abraham, his friend and our father in the faith: Genesis 15.1-21 “Have no fear Abraham, I am your shield! Your reward will be very great!… Your heir shall be of your own flesh and blood… The Lord took him outside and said, ‘Look at the sky and try to count the stars: you will have as many descendants as that’… I am the Lord, who led you out of Ur in Babylonia, to give you this land as your own”… That day Yahweh made a Covenant with Abraham:’ To your descendants I give this land’… “
and then later (Genesis 17, 1-9) “I am the Almighty God. Obey me and always do what is right. I will make my covenant with you and give you many descendants… I make this covenant with you: I promise that you will be the ancestor of many nations.. Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham, because I am making you the ancestor of many nations. I will give you many descendants and some of them will be kings… I will keep my promise to you and to your descendants in future generations as an everlasting covenant. I will be your God and the God of your descendants..”

In the book of Deuteronomy, the Lord speaks to the people through the mouth of Moses saying (Deut 5, 9-14) “…People of Israel, listen to all the laws that I am giving you today. Learn them and be sure that you obey them. I will also teach your sons and the sons of their sons. Remember the day when you appeared before the Lord your God on Mount Horeb, when the Lord said to me: Gather together my people and I will make them hear my word so that they learn to fear me as long as they live on the earth,and so that they teach their sons.. The Lord spoke to you from the fire; you heard the sound of his words but you didn’t see any form; there was only a voice. He announced his covenant with you, which he commanded you to obey, that is, the ten commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone…” (Dt 5 9-14)

Then on Sinai, the Lord had adressed Moses directly, saying,”… cut two tablets of stone like the first ones.. I will write my words on them..The Lord passed in front of him proclaiming; ‘ I the Lord, am a God full of compassion and pity, who is not easily angered and who shows great love and faithfulness. I keep my promise for thousands of generations and forgive evil and sin… I now make a covenant with the people of Israel. In their presence I will do great things.. Obey the laws that I am giving you today..”Exodus 34, 1-11

And then with sorrow the Lord reminds us of the vine that he has planted, which we read about in Isaiah 5, 1-17 “My friend had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug the soil and cleared it of stones, and planted choice vines in it. In the middle he built a tower, he dug a press there too. …What could I have done for my vineyard that I have not done?… Yes, the vineyard of Yahweh Sabaoth is the House of Israel, and the men of Judah that chosen plant”

And then in Hosea we have his love for the unfaithful spouse, which represents the people of God who have turned to idols: Ho 2, 4-22 “That is why I am going to lure her and lead her out into the wilderness and speak to her heart,… When that day comes…it is the Lord who speaks she will call me: ‘My husband’ She will no longer call me ‘My Baal’… When that day comes I will make a treaty on her behalf.. I will make her my bride for ever… with integrity and justice, with tenderness and love, with faithfulness you will come to know the Lord”

And then we come to the New Testament in which the marvel of marvels is realised, the incarnation of Christ, the indissoluble convenant between God and mankind.

In the book of the Apocalypse we have the description of the heavenly Jerusalem, in which all the promises will be fulfilled Ap 21, 2-4 “I saw the holy city and the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, as beautiful as a bride all dressed for her husband… He will make his home among them, they shall be his people and he will be their God, his name is God-with-them. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes.. the world of the past has gone”

Then, in the letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians and to the Colossians there are abundant references to what the characteristics of the one family of God and the Church of Christ are and should be.

In Ephesians 1, 3-23 we read: “Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ.. Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ, to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence, determining that we should become his adopted sons, through Jesus Christ for his own kind purposes… He has let us know the mystery of his purpose, the hidden plan he so kindly made in Christ from the beginning, to act upon when the times had run their course to the end: that he would bring everything together under Christ, as head of everything in the heavens and everything on earth… it is in him that we were claimed as God’s own… you have been stamped with the seal of the Holy Spirit as promised, the pledge of our inheritance… May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you… He has put all things under his feet, and made him, as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church; which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creation.”

And in Colossians 1,9-29 “we have always prayed for you, ever since we heard about you. We ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will, with all the wisdom and the understanding that his Spirit gives. Then you will be able to live as the Lord wants and will always do what pleases him. Your lives will produce all kinds of good deeds, and you will grow in your knowledge of God. May you be strong with all the strength whch comes from his glorious power, so that you may be able to endure everything with patience. And with joy give thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to have your share of what God has reserved for his people in the kingdom of light.He rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us safe into the kingdom of his dear Son, by whom we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He is the first-born Son, superior to all created things… all things were created through him and for him,.. Christ is the head of his body, the Church… Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son’s sacrificial death on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven… And now I am happy about my sufferings for you, for by means of my physical sufferings I am helping to complete what still remains of Christ’s sufferings on behalf of this body the church. And I have been made a servant of the church by God, who gave me this task to perform for your good. It is the task of fully proclaiming his message, which is the secret he hid through all past ages from all mankind but now has been revealed to his people… this is the Christ we proclaim, this is the wisdom in which we thoroughly train everyone and instruct everyone, to make them all perfect in Christ.” (but in the one Christ who is undivided.)

And in 1 Corinthians 12, 4-14 it says:”There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. There are different ways of serving, but the same Lord is served. There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to everyone for their particular service. The Spirit’s presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all… But it is the one and same Spirit who does all this: as he wishes, he gives a different gift to each person. Christ is like a single body, which has many parts; it is still one hody, even though it is made up of different parts. In the same way, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether slaves or free, we have been baptized into the one body by the same Spirit, and we have all been given the one Spirit to drink. For the body itself is not made up of only one part, but of many parts…”

This calls us to consider: if the Church is the body of Christ and if the body is made up of different members, then eveyone is called to actively collaborate in the church, as a living member of his body. Maybe because of our theme of Ecumenism we should know that there are many diverse ways of expressing the same faith, but we whould remember that there is only one Holy Spirit and one body of Christ.

Let’s pose the question; to the four billion and more people who don’t know the word of God and know nothing about the gospel, wouldn’t we be able to give the greatest witness if we succeeded in achieving unity among ourselves?

Primacy of Peter

Having spoken about the church and the Word of God as presented in the old and new testaments I would now like to talk about the primacy of Peter in the one church of Christ with the help of Pope Jo