Remarks on Accepting the Credentials of the U.S. Ambassador
Corinne (Lindy) Boggs to the Holy See
John Paul II
December 16, 1997
Your Excellency,
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the Vatican for the presentation
of the Letters of Credence by which you are appointed Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Holy See. I am
grateful for the greetings which you convey from President Clinton, and I
reciprocate with good wishes to him and the American people.
You represent a nation which plays a crucial role in world events today. The
United States carries a weighty and far-reaching responsibility, not only for
the well-being of its own people, but for the development and destiny of peoples
throughout the world. With a deep sense of participation in the joys and hopes,
the sorrows, anxieties, and aspirations of the entire human family, the Holy See
is a willing partner in every effort to build a world of genuine peace and
justice for all. I am certain that, following upon the good work of your
predecessors, you will apply your many personal talents and your long experience
of public life to strengthening understanding and cooperation between us.
The Founding Fathers of the United States asserted their claim to freedom and
independence on the basis of certain "self-evident" truths about the human
person: truths which could be discerned in human nature, built into it by
"nature's God." Thus they meant to bring into being, not just an independent
territory, but a great experiment in what George Washington called "ordered
liberty:" an experiment in which men and women would enjoy equality of rights
and opportunities in the pursuit of happiness and in service to the common good.
Reading the founding documents of the United States, one has to be impressed by
the concept of freedom they enshrine: a freedom designed to enable people to
fulfill their duties and responsibilities toward the family and toward the
common good of the community. Their authors clearly understood that there could
be no true freedom without moral responsibility and accountability, and no
happiness without respect and support for the natural units or groupings through
which people exist, develop, and seek the higher purposes of life in concert
with others.
The American democratic experiment has been successful in many ways. Millions
of people around the world look to the United States as a model, in their search
for freedom, dignity, and prosperity. But the continuing success of American
democracy depends on the degree to which each new generation, native-born and
immigrant, make its own the moral truths on which the Founding Fathers staked
the future of your Republic. Their commitment to build a free society with
liberty and justice for all must be constantly renewed if the United States is
to fulfill the destiny to which the Founders pledged their
"lives....fortunes...and sacred honor."
I am happy to take note of your words confirming the importance that your
Government attaches, in its relations with countries around the world, to the
promotion of human rights and particularly to the fundamental human right of
religious freedom, which is the guarantee of every other human right. Respect
for religious conviction played no small part in the birth and early development
of the United States. Thus John Dickinson, chairman of the Committee for the
Declaration of Independence, said in 1776: "Our liberties do not come from
charters; for these are only the declaration of pre-existing rights. They do not
depend on parchments or seals; but come from the King of Kings and the Lord of
all the earth." Indeed it may be asked whether the American democratic
experiment would have been possible, or how well it will succeed in the future,
without a deeply rooted vision of divine providence over the individual and over
the fate of nations.
As the Year 2000 draws near and Christians prepare to celebrate the
bi-millennium of the birth of Christ, I have appealed for a serious examination
of conscience regarding the shadows which darken our times. Nations and States
too can make this a time of reflection on the spiritual and moral conditions of
their success in promoting the integral good of their people. It would truly be
a sad thing if the religious and moral convictions upon which the American
experiment was founded could now somehow be considered a danger to free society,
such that those who would bring these convictions to bear upon your nation's
public life would be denied a voice in debating and resolving issues of public
policy. The original separation of Church and State in the United States was
certainly not an effort to ban all religious conviction from the public sphere,
a kind of banishment of God from civil society. Indeed, the vast majority of
Americans, regardless of their religious persuasion, are convinced that
religious conviction and religiously informed moral argument have a vital role
in public life.
No expression of today's commitment to liberty and justice for all can be
more basic than the protection afforded to those in society who are most
vulnerable. The United States of America was founded on the conviction that an
inalienable right to life was a self-evident moral truth, fidelity to which was
a primary criterion of social justice. The moral history of your country is the
story of your people's efforts to widen the circle of inclusion in society, so
that all Americans might enjoy the protection of law, participate in the
responsibilities of citizenship, and have the opportunity to make a contribution
to the common good. Whenever a certain category of people -- the unborn or the
sick and old -- are excluded from that protection, a deadly anarchy subverts the
original understanding of justice. The credibility of the United States will
depend more and more on its promotion of a genuine culture of life, and on a
renewed commitment to building a world in which the weakest and most vulnerable
are welcomed and protected.
As they have done throughout your country's history, the Catholic people in
the United States will continue to make an important contribution to the
development of American culture and society. The recently completed Special
Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for America has highlighted the range and
variety of activity which Catholics, out of commitment to Christ, undertake for
the betterment of society. May this transforming and elevating work continue to
flourish for the good of individuals, the strengthening of families, and the
benefit of the American people as a whole.
Your Excellency, these are some of the thoughts prompted by your presence
here as your country's diplomatic representative. These reflections evoke a
prayer: that your country will experience a new birth of freedom, freedom
grounded in truth and ordered to goodness. Thus will the American people be able
to harness their boundless spiritual energy in service of the genuine good of
all humanity. Be assured that the various Offices of the Holy See will be ready
to assist you in the fulfillment of your mission. Upon you and upon the people
of the United States of American I cordially invoke abundant divine blessings.
