Question 2.35

2.35 What memories do you have of your first moments in Rome as secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples?

I arrived in Rome on November 19, 2001. When Bernardin Gantin, who like me had also been named secretary of the congregation, had first stepped onto Roman soil, he was hurt that no one came to welcome him at the airport. He wanted to make sure that I did not suffer the same fate. … With his usual tact with regard to me, the cardinal sent to Fiumicino Airport the nuns who kept house in his apartment, with his own car, to provide me with transportation to my new residence. But Crescenzio Cardinal Sepe, who then headed the dicastery to which I was called, had also sent his representative in the person of the undersecretary. Thus, I had a special entourage!

It is important to understand that the competencies of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples are vast. This dicastery has the responsibility for nominating all the bishops of Africa, Asia, Oceania, a number of important apostolic vicariates in Latin America, and several dioceses in Northern Canada. It was an extraordinary experience, because I had the opportunity of being in contact with all those peoples, all those mission countries, all those cultures and had so many edifying pastoral experiences. Every day I could consult with missionary congregations and institutions throughout the world. The work of preparing episcopal nominations was absolutely immense. During those years, I was able to understand both the strengths and the weaknesses of most of the dioceses in the world.

In Europe, we still have the impression that Catholicism is now near its last gasp. It is enough to spend a week at the congregation to understand that, on the contrary, the Church has an extraordinary vitality. We are experiencing a “new springtime of Christianity”, as John Paul II liked to say. In 1900 there were two million African Catholics; today there are 185 million. In Asia, Catholicism, prompted and stimulated by the tradition of different forms of mysticism, is the embodiment of modernity. I would add that the beauty of the Church does not lie in the number of her faithful but in their holiness.

I have been able to follow the work of more than a thousand dioceses and of countless missionaries who give themselves generously to others in the most arid, remote regions of this earth; with ridiculous resources, they bring all of God’s goodness to mankind. Often the missionary institutions are the only ones to care for the poor and the sick, whom no one wants to look at. When irresponsible governments, cruel armies, or lobbies hungry for profits have sown terror or despair, there is nothing left but the open hands of God, who, through the courage of his messengers of the Gospel, comes to console the poorest of the poor. Among these missionaries there are saints. Many will remain unknown, and yet their sanctity is impressive.

Finally, I always took special care in following up the aid that we were able to provide for the formation of seminarians in disadvantaged countries. In this major dicastery, I had the sense that I understood the fundamental insights of John Paul II. In the West, where everything seems to be dying and Christianity appears to be evaporating inexorably, there are nevertheless extraordinary hidden flowers. For the true springtime of the Church consists of the saints! How could we forget John Paul II, Mother Teresa, and all the saints of the modern era?

Certainly, the job of secretary of a congregation is not easy, but it is a fine apprenticeship. I liked very much working with the two men who succeeded one another at the head of the congregation during my time there: Cardinal Sepe, who has an especially impressive gift for organization, and then with Ivan Cardinal Dias, who displayed such fine spiritual qualities. They were quite different, and I received much from those years.

From 2008 on, I gradually replaced Cardinal Dias in a number of meetings because he suffered from an illness that increasingly disabled him. In those circumstances, I had the chance to have many working meetings with Pope Benedict XVI, in particular concerning his appointment of bishops. His humility, his ability to listen, and his intelligence always struck me.