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  DISCORSO DI SUA SANTITÀ PIO XII
AL PRIMO RAPPRESENTANTE DIPLOMATICO DELL'INDONESIA*

Giovedì, 25 maggio 1950

 

Mr. Minister :

Today brings an addition to the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See, which, as all true friends of peace will recognize, is highly significant and filled with promise for the advancement of happy relations between peoples and governments. As a new and fully qualified member of the cotimy of nations, the United States of Indonesia deemed it important not to let pass the first year of its freedom and independence without giving proof of its friendly attitude towards the Holy See by establishing diplomatic relations. Fully conscious of what this step means, to Your Excellency, to whom the President has confidently entrusted the post of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, We extend Our hearty welcome.

Occupying a corner of the globe which, while offering great and unusual possibilities of development, is also exposed to manifest difficulties and dangers, a people of seventy million citizens, in its struggles to consolidate and strengthen its freedom, deserves the fraternal assistance and encouragement of all, who are sincere in their purpose no longer to withhold from nations and international society the blessings and fruits of a just and lasting peace.

This goal, object of the deepest longing and most earnest prayer of all men of good will is worthy of man's finest efforts, and no one is more laboriously intent on its attainment than We. Our paternal heart is heavy with anxiety, as the whole tragic story of international disunion unfolds before Our eyes, and We gaze on the results in the material and especially the moral order of the present phase of a persistent policy to retard and to block and to menace the peace of the world.

Mr. Minister, at your first solemn entrance upon your high Mission, speaking in the name of your countrymen, you have paid tribute to the ultimate and richest source of true and genuine peace. In the basic principles proclaimed by your nascent State in the « Pantjasila » the name and the supreme authority of the Almighty hold a foremost place. Where the primacy due to God and to Him alone is recognized and upheld men, nations, democracy and a right social consciousness naturally and in forceful, fruitful harmony, find their proper place in the hierarchy of values; and though external circumstances and human weakness and liability to err may at times hinder progress, as long as the goal and the path that leads to it remain substantially unchanged, the way is open to a bright and hopeful future.

God who knows all things, knows how sincere is Our wish, that the Indonesian people so dear to Our heart may in this hour of their existence make rapid strides towards happiness, progress and prosperity. This is the wish of all who share Our faith and convictions; and We are sure that the children of the Church working in Indonesia will yield to none in their ambition to serve their country and fellow-citizens with devoted unselfishness in the fields of education, charity and civic duty This is their duty as members of the great human family and as Catholics.

We recall here with pleasure the words of His Excellency the President of the Republic pronounced when Our inter-Nuntius was received in the Sping of this year. Referring to the cultural activity of Catholics in Indonesia, he declared that this was assured for the future under the guaranty of « Pantjasila ». Those words have thrown a bridge of confidence across vast stretches of land and sea to link your distant country with the Holy See. You have been entrusted with the noble charge to ensure its strength and stability. Nor have We any doubt that from this first day of your mission Your Excellency will carry through that charge in a way to bring keen satisfaction to your own high moral sense and enrichment and blessing to your country and its folk.

In this spirit of happy anticipation We beg you to extend Our greetings to His Excellency the President, to the members of the government and to all classes of the Indonesian people. Let all be assured that We shall rejoice always in being witness to the progress achieved by your State, young but conscious of its lofty destiny, in a temper of self-reliance, wisdom and moderation, until it takes its place in the council of nations, where its endeavours for national prosperity and greatness will be fond to harmonize effectively with a united service dedicated to the universal good of all mankind. God grant it.


*Discorsi e Radiomessaggi di Sua Santità Pio XII, XII,
 Dodicesimo anno di Pontificato, 2 marzo 1950 - 1° marzo 1951, pp. 79 - 81
 Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana.

 AAS vol. XXXXII (1950), n. 7 - 8, pp. 441 - 443.

 



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