ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER PAUL VI
TO THE NEW AMBASSADOR OF THE REPUBLIC OF MALAWI
TO THE HOLY SEE*

Monday 12 December 1977

Mr Ambassador,

It is a pleasure for us today to accept the Letters accrediting Your Excellency as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Malawi to the Holy See.

In your person we honour all the citizens of your country, and through you we send our greetings first of all to His Excellency the President, Dr H. Kamuzu Banda, reciprocating his own best wishes in our regard.

We are grateful for your kind words about the beneficial action of the Catholic Church in your land, especially in what concerns her contribution in the educational and medical fields. We can tell you with all conviction that the solicitude shown through such activities is an expression of the fraternal love that Christ wished his Church to have for all his brethren. His own example is a constant inspiration to all the clergy and religious serving in Malawi, as well as to all loyal citizens concerned with the total wellbeing of their fellowmen.

We likewise appreciate your allusion to the contribution made by the Holy See in the international sphere, in furthering moral and spiritual values and in helping to create a true peaceful atmosphere in which integral development can thrive.

The Holy See is indeed committed to these aims and will pursue them. In particular it will continue to proclaim and defend fundamental human rights, the promotion of which we have called “a sure path to peace” (PAUL PP. VI, Message of 10 December 1973, on Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights). We stated moreover that “while promotion of the rights of the human person leads to peace, at the same time peace contributes towards the realization of this aim” (Ibid.).

Be assured therefore, Your Excellency, that in this precise way the Holy See endeavours to be of service to your people and to all the peoples of the world. The success of your own mission is the object of our prayers today, as we invoke God’s blessings in abundance on the authorities and all the citizens of Malawi.     

*AAS 70 (1978), p.122;

Insegnamenti di Paolo VI, vol. XV, p.1190-1191;

L’Attività della Santa Sede 1977, p.393-394;

OR 12-13.12.1977, p.1;

ORa n.51 p.4.