II. Returning to Christ,
the source of all hope

Confessing our faith

18. From the synodal Assembly there emerged the clear and passionate certainty that the Church has to offer Europe the most precious of all gifts, a gift which no one else can give: faith in Jesus Christ, the source of the hope that does not disappoint;³⁰ a gift which is at the origin of the spiritual and cultural unity of the European peoples and which both today and tomorrow can make an essential contribution to their development and integration. After twenty centuries, the Church stands at the beginning of the third millennium with a message which is ever the same, a message which constitutes her sole treasure: Jesus Christ is Lord; in him, and in no one else, do we find salvation (cf. Acts 4:12). Christ is the source of hope for Europe and for the whole world, “and the Church is the channel in which the grace pouring from the pierced Heart of the Saviour flows and spreads”.³¹

This confession of faith causes our hearts and lips to raise “a joyful confession of hope: 'Risen and living Lord, you are the new hope of the Church and of humanity. You are the one true hope for the human family and for history. Already in this life, and in the life to come you are “among us the hope of glory” (Col 1:27). In you and with you, we find truth: our life has meaning, communion is possible, diversity can become richness, and the power of the kingdom is at work in history and helps to build the city of mankind. Love gives an eternal value to human efforts. Suffering becomes salvific, life will conquer death, creation will share in the glory of the children of God' ”.³²

Jesus Christ our hope

19. Jesus Christ is our hope because he, the Eternal Word of God, who is always with the Father (cf. Jn 1:18), loved us so much that he assumed our human nature in all things but sin and shared in our life, for the sake of our salvation. The profession of this truth stands at the very heart of our faith. The loss of the truth about Jesus Christ, or a failure to comprehend that truth, prevent us from appreciating and entering into the mystery of God's love and the Trinitarian communion.³³

Jesus Christ is our hope because he reveals the mystery of the Trinity. This is the core of the Christian faith, and it can still make a significant contribution, as it has in the past, to the creation of structures which, inspired by the great values of the Gospel or measuring itself against them, are capable of promoting the life, history and culture of the different peoples of the Continent.

Many are the spiritual roots underlying the recognition of the value of the human person and his inalienable dignity, the sacredness of human life and the centrality of the family, the importance of education and freedom of thought, speech and religion, the legal protection of individuals and groups, the promotion of solidarity and the common good, and the recognition of the dignity of labour. These roots have helped lead to the submission of political power to the rule of law and to respect for the rights of individuals and peoples. Here we should mention the spirit of ancient Greece and Rome, the contributions of the Celtic, Germanic, Slav and Finno-Ugric peoples and the influence of Jewish and Islamic culture. Yet it must be acknowledged that these inspiring principles have historically found in the Judeo-Christian tradition a force capable of harmonizing, consolidating and promoting them. This is a fact which cannot be ignored; on the contrary, in the process of building a united Europe there is a need to acknowledge that this edifice must also be founded on values that are are most fully manifested in the Christian tradition. Such an acknowledgment is to everyone's advantage.

The Church “is not entitled to express preferences for this or that institutional or constitutional solution” for Europe, and for this reason she consistently desires to respect the legitimate autonomy of the civil order.³⁴ Nevertheless, she has the task of reviving faith in the Trinity among the Christians of Europe, knowing full well that this faith is the herald of authentic hope for the continent. Many of the great paradigms of reference mentioned above, which are at the core of European civilization, have their deepest roots in the Church's trinitarian faith. This faith contains an extraordinary spiritual, cultural and ethical potential which is also capable of shedding light on some of the more important questions discussed in Europe today, such as social disintegration and the loss of a meaningful point of reference for life and history. Hence the need for a renewed theological, spiritual and pastoral meditation on the mystery of the Trinity.³⁵

20. The Particular Churches in Europe are not simple agencies or private organizations. Rather, they carry out their work with a specific institutional dimension that merits legal recognition, in full respect for just systems of civil legislation. In their self-reflection, Christian communities need to appreciate anew that they are a gift which God has given for the enrichment of the peoples living on the continent. This is the joyful message that they are called to bring to every person. In coming to a deeper appreciation of their own essential missionary dimension, they must constantly testify that Jesus Christ “is the one and only mediator of salvation for all of humanity. Only in him do humanity, history and the cosmos find their definitively positive meaning and receive their full realization: he has in himself in his life and in his person the definitive reason of salvation. He is not only the mediator of salvation but salvation's very source”.³⁶

Consequently, in the context of the ethical and religious pluralism which increasingly characterizes Europe, there is a need to profess and proclaim the truth of Christ as the one Mediator between God and men and the one Saviour of the world. Therefore, in union with the whole Church, I invite my brothers and my sisters in faith – as I did at the end of the synodal Assembly – constantly to be open in trust to Christ and to allow themselves to be renewed by him, proclaiming to all people of good will in the power of peace and love that whoever encounters the Lord comes to know the Truth, discovers the Life, and finds the Way leading to it (cf. Jn 14:6; Ps 15:11). From the tenor of life and the witness of Christians, the inhabitants of Europe will come to discover that Christ is the future of man. In the faith of the Church, “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).³⁷

21. For believers, Jesus Christ is the hope of every person because he grants eternal life. He is “the Word of life” (1 Jn 1:1), who came to the world so that men and women “may have life, and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10). He shows us that the true meaning of man's existence does not remain confined within the horizons of this world, but opens instead upon eternity. The mission of each Particular Church in Europe is to take note of every person's thirst for truth and the need for authentic values which can enliven the people living on the continent. With renewed energy, each Particular Church must again bear witness to the newness which is its life. This means initiating a well-structured cultural and missionary outreach, demonstrating by action and by convincing arguments how the new Europe needs to rediscover its ultimate roots. In this context, all those who are inspired by the values of the Gospel have an essential role to play, which is part of the solid foundation for building a more humane and peaceful coexistence respectful of one and all.

The Particular Churches in Europe need to restore to hope its primordially eschatological thrust.³⁸ True Christian hope, in fact, is theological and eschatological, founded on the Risen One who will come again as Redeemer and Judge and who calls us to resurrection and our eternal reward.

Jesus Christ alive in his Church

22. By returning to Christ, the peoples of Europe will be able to rediscover the hope which alone can give full meaning to life. Today too they can discover that hope, for Jesus is present, alive and at work in his Church. He is in the Church and the Church is in him (cf. Jn 15:1ff.; Gal 3:28; Eph 4:15-16; Acts 9:5). In the Church, by virtue of the gift of the Holy Spirit, he unceasingly continues his saving work.³⁹

With the eyes of faith we are enabled to see the mysterious presence of Jesus in the different signs that he has left us. He is present first of all in Sacred Scripture, which everywhere speaks of him (cf. Lk 24:27, 44-47). Yet in a unique way he is present in the Eucharist. This “presence is called 'real' - by which it is not intended to exclude all other types of presence as if they

could not be 'real' too, but because it is presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, the God-Man, is wholly and entirely present”.⁴⁰ In the Eucharist, in fact, “is contained truly, really and substantially the Body and the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, together with his soul and divinity, and therefore the whole Christ”.⁴¹ “Truly the Eucharist is a mysterium fidei, a mystery which surpasses our understanding and can only be received in faith”.⁴² Also real is the presence of Jesus in the other liturgical actions of the Church, which she celebrates in his name. Among these are the Sacraments, actions of Christ which he carries out at the hands of men.⁴³

Jesus is also present in the world in other very real ways, and especially through his disciples who, in fidelity to the twin commandment of love, worship God in Spirit and truth (cf. Jn 4:24) and testify by their lives to the fraternal love that sets them apart as followers of the Lord (cf. Mt 25:31-46; Jn 13:35; 15:1-17).⁴⁴