To pilgrims from Thailand (February 4, 1983)

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ADDRESS OF JOHN PAUL II
TO PILGRIMS FROM THAILAND

Friday, 4 February 1983

In you, venerable brother, dear Cardinal Michael Michai Kitbunchu, I greet the whole Church in Bangkok and in Thailand, invoking grace and peace in our Lord upon all the clergy, religious and laity.

In you I wish to honour all the people of your noble land, rich in culture and in spiritual values. I am deeply grateful for the fact that today you are surrounded in this audience by illustrious personages, who represent your Government to the Holy See, your fellow-citizens and your fellow Catholics in the household of the faith. To all I extend a welcome as wide and all-embracing as the colonnade of Saint Peter’s Square. In her universality and Catholic unity, the Church in Rome opens her heart to each of you.

In a special way my thoughts turn to those who sustain you at home in your ministry as pastor of the flock: those who collaborate wish you in proclaiming the Gospel of Christ to anyone who may freely wish to hear the Good News of Redemption in Jesus Christ. I wish to evoke and bless the memory of all the generations of missionaries, past and present, who have offered the Gospel message to you and to your forebears and who have borne witness in friendship and respect to an immense esteem for the Thai people.

I give thanks to the Lord who has brought us to this day that emphasises how beautifully the Church in Thailand lives her mission of Christian witness and evangelical service, rejoicing in the consolation of the Holy Spirit, and striving to be faithful to the mandate of the Lord in faith, hope and charity.

When you return home to meet, together with your people, the challenges of daily living, you shall have the assurance - you must be convinced more than ever before that you are one with the Pope and with the universal Church in proclaiming Christ, in loving your neighbour, and in working for the well-being of all your brothers and sisters in Thailand and throughout Asia and the whole world.

May God’s love be always in your hearts!