Letter from Pope Paul VI: To our venerable Brother Gabriel Mary Cardinal Garrone Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education

Media

Part of Boletin Eclesiastico de Filipinas

Title
Letter from Pope Paul VI: To our venerable Brother Gabriel Mary Cardinal Garrone Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education
Language
English
Year
1972
Rights
In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Fulltext
LETTER FROM POPE PAUL VI TO OUR VENERABLE BROTHER GABRIEL MARY CARDINAL GARRONE PREFECT OF THE SACRED CONGREGATION FOR CATHOLIC EDUCATION The graces which God, the giver of every good gift, pours out upon us, remind us continually to thank Him with a sincere and humble heart. However there are certain times and occasions in human life which inspires us to fullfil this duty of gratitude with greater care and zeal and earnestness. This is surely the way you will feel, when in the very near future you celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of your episcopal consecration. We certainly do not want this anniversary of yours to pass by without congratulating you sincerely and expressing the love and goodwill which We have for you. Christ Jesus loved you first and called you that you might partake in His saving mission as a priest, and subsequently might attend to a larger flock as a “steward of the grace of the high priesthood” (Vat. II, Lumen Gentium, 26). ZEAL IN PASTORAL MINISTRY It is a consolation to recall that soon after you were promoted by right of succession to the See of Toulouse, you had missions take place throughout the entire archdiocese, you organized a diocesan Synod, you restructured and streamlined the entire framework of the Church in the territory of your jurisdiction, and you built new churches. We are not ignorant of the fact that you worked hard for the Catholic Action group and for the association called Worker’s Mission, because it had • L’Osservatore Romano July 13, 1972. 504 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS as its scope the evangelization of the working classes, and finally that you strove to further the teaching of the catechism. In this way you endeavoured to present an image of the pastor who was driven by “the love of the truth” and “the urgency of love” (cf. St. Augustine The City of God. XIX. 11; PL XLI, 647). After you were appointed a member of the College of Cardinals and put in charge of the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, your activity spread out into a wider field and now closely cooperates with our own ministry, which must look to the good of the entire Church. We have indeed placed a heavy burden and task on your shoulders; for you have to devote much care and concern to seminarians, in order that they may be trained through soundness of teaching and holiness of life to enter upon the priesthood. If, according to the principle of the Second Vatican Council, “the hope of the Church has been entrusted” to the Directors and teachers in seminaries (Optatwi tot.iiis, 22) this pertains ways protect you. BLESSINGS AND PROTECTION Therefore We pray God that He may graciously assist you in carrying out such important duties, and that the Virgin Mother of God, the Mother of the Eternal High Priest and Mother of the Church may always protect you. These then are the thoughts which We desired to share with you together with Our esteem. The best wishes which We extend are accompanied by Our Apostolic Blessing which We most willingly impart to you. From the Vatican, 10 June 1972. in the ninth year of our Pontificate. PAULUS PP. VI