Pope
Francis
Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Heartfelt thanks to your Dean, Ambassador
Jean-Claude Michel, for the kind words that he has addressed to me in the name
of everyone present. It gives me joy to welcome you for this exchange of
greetings: a simple yet deeply felt ceremony, that somehow seeks to express the
Pope’s embrace of the world. Through you, indeed, I encounter your peoples, and
thus in a sense I can reach out to every one of your fellow citizens, with
their joys, their troubles, their expectations, their desires.
Your presence here in such numbers is a
sign that the relations between your countries and the Holy See are fruitful,
that they are truly a source of benefit to mankind. That, indeed, is what
matters to the Holy See: the good of every person upon this earth!
And it is with this understanding that the
Bishop of Rome embarks upon his ministry, in the knowledge that he can count on
the friendship and affection of the countries you represent, and in the
certainty that you share this objective.
At the same time, I hope that it will also
be an opportunity to begin a journey with those few countries that do not yet
have diplomatic relations with the Holy See, some of which were present at the
Mass for the beginning of my ministry, or sent messages as a sign of their
closeness – for which I am truly grateful.
As you know, there are various reasons why
I chose the name of Francis of Assisi, a familiar figure far beyond the borders
of Italy and Europe, even among those who do not profess the Catholic faith.
