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II
11.
On October 11, 1959, We shall have the
great pleasure of presenting mission crucifixes to a large group of Catholic
missionaries who are about to leave their beloved homes and undertake the heavy
responsibility of bringing the light of Christianity to distant
people.6 On the same day, in the afternoon, We are scheduled to visit
the North American College on the Janiculum and there joyously celebrate with
its superiors, faculty, and seminarians the completion of that college's first
century.7
12. Although these two
celebrations fall only by coincidence on the same day, they have the same
meaning and importance: in all that she does the Catholic Church is motivated
by heaven's inspiration and drawn on by the principles and precepts of eternal
truth; all of her children contribute with a selfless and dynamic will to
mutual respect, the fraternal union of mankind, and solid peace.
Hope
for the Future
13. These young men
present such a wonderful spectacle that We must be optimistic for the future.
They have overcome many obstacles and inconveniences and given themselves to
God that other men might gain Christ,8 whether in foreign lands as yet
untouched by the light of truth or in those immense, noisy, and busy cities in
which the pace of daily activity, rapid as a whirlwind, sometimes makes souls
wither and become content with earthly goods. From the lips of their elders,
who have labored long in the same cause, comes the ardent prayer of the Prince
of the Apostles: "Grant to thy servants to speak thy word with all
boldness."9
14. We trust that the
apostolic labors of these young men will be commended to the Virgin Mary in your
devout prayers through the month of October.
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