APOSTOLIC JOURNEY
TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC,
MEXICO AND THE BAHAMAS

VISIT TO THE CATHEDRAL OF THE ANNUNCIATION

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II

Santo Domingo, The Dominican Republic,
Thursday, 25 January 1979

Lord Cardinal,
Brothers in the Episcopate,
Beloved Sons,

It is but a few moments since I had the happiness to arrive in your country, and now I feel a new joy on meeting you in this cathedral, dedicated to the Annunciation, where so many of you have desired to come to see the Pope: the primatial cathedral, which stands beside what was the first archiepiscopal see in America.

My thanks go in the first place to you, Lord Cardinal, for your kind words; they have filled my spirit with satisfaction, admiration and hope.

I wish to tell you that the Pope, too, desires to be with you, in order to know you and love you even more. My only regret is not to be able to meet and speak with each one of you.

But although that is not possible, rest assured that no one is excluded from the affection, from the memory, of the common father who, even though far away, thinks of you and prays for your intentions.

In order that this meeting may be more intimate, let us pray for a moment and ask the Lord, through the intercession of Our Lady of High Grace, whose image is present here, to grant that you may always be good children of the Church, that you may grow in the faith, and that yours may be a life worthy of Christians.

I very willingly impart my Blessing to you, to your fellow countrymen and members of your families, and, above all, to the sick and to those who are suffering.

And you, too, pray for the Pope.

 © Copyright 1979 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana