Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, presided over Mass at the Cathedral of Copenhagen as the Papal Legate for the celebrations marking the 12th centenary of the start of Saint Ansgar\u2019s mission in Denmark, and recalled the relevance of the Benedictine monk in a world wounded by new forms of slavery and marked by exclusion and indifference.<\/p>\n
By Lorena Leonardi<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Church remains credible not because of power, numbers, or strategies, but when faith becomes a lived witness, expressed and translated into concrete acts of liberation, justice, and mercy that restore dignity and open paths to true freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cardinal Pietro Parolin made this statement when presiding over Mass on Sunday, January 25, at the Cathedral of Copenhagen as the Papal Legate for the celebrations of the 12th centenary of Saint Ansgar\u2019s mission in Denmark.<\/p>\n
The Secretary of State recalled that it was in the 9th century when the Benedictine monk arrived in Northern Europe for a mission founded not on \u201cstrategies or success, but on fidelity to Jesus,\u201d and that the first thing he did was redeem the freedom of some slaves.<\/p>\n
Importantly, Cardinal Parolin pointed out, his action, in a world \u201cwounded by new forms of slavery\u2014economic, cultural, spiritual\u2014and marked by exclusion and indifference,\u201d speaks today with \u201crenewed relevance.\u201d<\/p>\n
The joy of being forgiven by God <\/p>\n
The Cardinal emphasized the strength of a bond forged in the past and the ongoing presence of pastoral care and the evangelical zeal that animated Ansgar\u2019s mission twelve centuries ago. A mission that arose from an \u201cextraordinary experience of liberation\u201d in his own life, Cardinal Parolin said.<\/p>\n
Drawing from the reading of Isaiah (52:7-10), he observed, that it is not so much about the message but about the messenger, whose feet \u201care beautiful not for the ideas or explanations they bring, but because they bring the good news, capable of saving people by transforming the hearts of those who listen and making them free.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the same way, he continued, Ansgar had experienced the joy of being forgiven by God and desired to \u201cshare that joy with others,\u201d because that was \u201cthe good news he carried with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The courage to follow Jesus <\/p>\n
Speaking in the temple dedicated to the Benedictine monk, who was the first Christian missionary to the people of what are now Denmark and Sweden, the Cardinal recounted key moments in his biography: from his entry, still a child, into the French monastery of Corbie, to his transfer at age twenty to the recently founded monastery of Corvey, in what is now Germany.<\/p>\n
Then came his courageous choice of an evangelizing mission in Denmark when Emperor Louis the Pious requested priests to accompany the newly baptized Danish King Harald Klak.<\/p>\n
At the moment of leaving familiar places and people to follow Jesus, Cardinal Parolin recounted, Ansgar never wavered, showing \u201ccourage and trust\u201d that impressed those around him. He recalled that Ansgar’s disciple and biographer, Saint Rembert, noted in the Vita Anskarii the amazement of those who saw him make painful choices for the love of Christ.<\/p>\n
Cardinal Parolin acknowledged that the Benedictine monk demonstrated Christianity by living as a Christian, in line with the Gospel.<\/p>\n
Transformed hearts <\/p>\n
Saint Ansgar, the Cardinal recalled, \u201cfaced enormous opposition and seemed to fail, but success was not what he sought.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cardinal observed that in him was realized the Pauline paradox of the \u201cfoolishness of the cross,\u201d as expressed in the First Letter to the Corinthians, where in a world that teaches the value of power, influence, and success, the crucified Christ appears to be a failure.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut this foolishness,\u201d he clarified, \u201cis the wisdom of God, because it shows a love capable of giving itself completely.\u201d Likewise, the story of Ansgar\u2019s life reminds us that the Church grows \u201cnot primarily in numbers, but in men and women who live lives of faithfulness, perseverance, and love: the mission begins with transformed hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n
In this context, Cardinal Parolin invited those involved in the jubilee celebrations dedicated to the saint to \u201crenew evangelical boldness\u201d and \u201cguard hope where history seems weary\u201d to testify that fertility \u201ccomes from the love that unites and from trust in God\u2019s ongoing action, even in the most fragile situations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walking with Christ <\/p>\n
Today, Denmark is no longer the pagan land Ansgar encountered upon his arrival. The history of the country \u201cis indelibly marked by its Christian heritage,\u201d and the Catholic community, along with Lutherans and all people of good will, contributes \u201cthrough service, solidarity, and respect for human dignity,\u201d the Cardinal emphasized.<\/p>\n
Citing Pope Leo’s papal motto In Illo uno unum, the Cardinal concluded by highlighting that Ansgar knew that the mission of Christ\u2019s followers begins with \u201ca transformed heart\u201d and that the health of the Church is measured not by numbers or success but by the ability to \u201cwalk with Christ and stay close to Him in every circumstance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, presided over Mass at the Cathedral of Copenhagen as the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[20660,27,26,4203],"class_list":{"0":"post-35493","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-denmark","8":"tag-catholic-church","9":"tag-danmark","10":"tag-denmark","11":"tag-pietro-parolin"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116194903716851921","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}