Discurso al Embajador de BOLIVIE,
Excmo. Sr. Don Huascar Cajias KAUFFMANN*

13 de noviembre de 1986

Mr. Ambassador,

The words which Your Excellency so kindly addressed to me while presenting your Letters of Credence as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Bolivia to the Holy See are especially gratifying, because they allow me to appreciate once more the affection of the sons and daughters of that nation for the Vicar of Christ.

First of all I want to thank you for the expression of these sentiments as well as the deferential greeting which you were kind enough to convey on behalf of the President and the other members of the Government of the nation. In welcoming you now I wish to assure you of my full support and good will in the carrying out of the mission which has been entrusted to you.

During the course of your address you mentioned the pressing need – in this tormented period of our history – for united efforts to arrive at solid foundations capable of pointing the way by which people may walk side by side and we will see a world in which reconciliation, community, public and private freedom, and social justice will be held up as primary values.

These elements have always existed in the Bolivian Church community. Faithful to Christ's commandment which cannot be renounced, it continues to enlighten human events through the Word of God and the social doctrine of the Church, recognizing that the Church has a temporal dimension as well as an eschatological perspective.

Therefore, it is to be desired, Mr. Ambassador, that the leaders of your country, keeping as a precious gift the spiritual and human inheritance they have received from your ancestors, commit themselves increasingly to the promotion of peace, and more specifically, social peace, as a reality which must be always maintained. The framework for this will be respect for the inviolable rights of the human person created in the image and likeness of God.

So, it should not strike us as strange that the Catholic Church and her members continue to defend the cause of the human person and his dignity. The pastoral concern has been and always is that of serving generously all people everywhere without any distinction of race, class or culture. That is because, as Puebla says, in this arduous task of achieving the total liberation of the human being, she relies only on the means offered by the Gospel and not on any kind of violence nor on any dialectic of class struggle

This is the idea which five centuries ago inspired the first evangelizers who set foot on that dear land to let the Good News be known as a message transcending every form of self interest and egotism. As Your Excellency pointed out, that people, so profoundly religious, has seen the greatest fulfilment of humanity in the Cross of Christ.

It should cause no surprise, therefore, that the Christian faith should be an integral part of what it is to be Bolivian. Hence in the present challenging time, the Bolivian Church, led by its hierarchy, wishes to cooperate loyally with the various civil institutions, so that the beloved people of Bolivia in this new stage of dialogue concerning the economy and work may find Christian responses to the questions of today's society.

Mr. Ambassador, while renewing my best wishes for the happy outcome of the mission which you take up today and in anticipation of the day when I can personally visit your noble nation as a pilgrim of Jesus Christ and his message, with special affection I invoke upon you, your distinguished family, upon the authorities and the very dear Bolivian people the constant protection of the Most High.