ADDRESS OF JOHN PAUL II
TO Mr ALGERNON WASHINGTON SYMMONDS
AMBASSADOR OF BARBADOS TO THE HOLY SEE*

Thursday, 25 February 1982

Mr Ambassador,

I am pleased to accept the Letters which accredit you as the first Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Barbados to the Holy See. I appreciate the good wishes that you have conveyed from the Right Honourable J. M. G. M. Adams and I ask you to reciprocate his cordial greetings.

The Holy See is always interested in promoting dialogue with leaders of nations and other civil authorities who bear a primary responsibility for the stability and well-being of society. Likewise the establishment of diplomatic relations with individual governments is welcomed as a means of working in closer collaboration for the achievement of common objectives and for the betterment of the human person in all his dimensions.

Today is therefore an important moment for both the Holy See and your country. It is a sign of our mutual desire to strengthen the bonds of understanding and trust which already exist, and it is an expression of our commitment to foster a climate of dialogue not only among ourselves but also among the whole family of nations.

I appreciate the reference which you have made to those desires which are common to the Holy See and Barbados: such as our common aspirations for the attainment of international peace and justice and our shared concern for the observance of human rights. The observance of human rights and the attainment of peace and justice on the international level are indeed desirable goals. And as we seek to bring them about, we should not forget that it is their realisation within individual nations which will form the solid foundation for their realisation in the international order. Herein the Church and governments can work hand in hand.

The Church, both on the local level and universally, is ready and eager to cooperate with particular governments, such as your own, in programmes which aim at the full integral development of the human person, whether it be in the field of education or through programmes which provide health care and assistance to the needy. While the Church emphasizes the primacy of the spiritual over the material, nonetheless she supports all worthy efforts to meet the manifold needs of the men and women of our time. I am sure that the Government of Barbados appreciates these objectives.

As I welcome you to your new post, Mr Ambassador, I ask Almighty God to bless you and keep you in his care. It is my hope that you will find happiness in your mission and I express my best wishes for the welfare of your country and for international harmony and peace.

*AAS 74 (1982), p. 570-572.

Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, vol. V, 2 pp. 694-695.

L'Attività della Santa Sede 1982 pp. 171-172.

L’Osservatore Romano 26.2.1982 pp.1, 2.

L'Osservatore Romano. Weekly Edition in English n.12 p.9.

© Copyright 1982 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana