Acta Apostolicae Sedis - Commentarium Officiale314

name of Jesus, to bring his reconciliation, his healing and his love to all his

beloved brothers and sisters. This radical configuration to Christ, the Good

Shepherd, lies at the heart of our pastoral ministry, and if we open ourselves

through prayer to the power of the Spirit, he will give us the gifts we need to

carry out our daunting task, so that we need never ''be anxious how to speak

or what to say''.18

As I conclude my words to you this evening, I commend the Church in

your country most particularly to the maternal care and intercession of Mary

Immaculate, Patroness of the United States. May she who carried within her

womb the hope of all the nations intercede for the people of this country, so

that all may be made new in Jesus Christ her Son. My dear Brother Bishops,

I assure each of you here present of my deep friendship and my participation

in your pastoral concerns. To all of you, and to your clergy, religious and lay

faithful, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of joy and peace

in the Risen Lord.

Prolato sermone, Summus Pontifex respondit ad quaesita Episcoporum

1. The Holy Father is asked to give his assessment of the challenge of increas-

ing secularism in public life and relativism in intellectual life, and his advice on

how to confront these challenges pastorally and evangelize more effectively.

I touched upon this theme briefly in my address. It strikes me as signifi-

cant that here in America, unlike many places in Europe, the secular men-

tality has not been intrinsically opposed to religion. Within the context of the

separation of Church and State, American society has always been marked by

a fundamental respect for religion and its public role, and, if polls are to be

believed, the American people are deeply religious. But it is not enough to

count on this traditional religiosity and go about business as usual, even as its

foundations are being slowly undermined. A serious commitment to evange-

lization cannot prescind from a profound diagnosis of the real challenges the

Gospel encounters in contemporary American culture.

Of course, what is essential is a correct understanding of the just auton-

omy of the secular order, an autonomy which cannot be divorced from God

the Creator and his saving plan.19 Perhaps America's brand of secularism

18 Mt 10:19. 19 Cf. Gaudium et Spes, 36.