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’s 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.
By Lorena Leonardi
“The 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.”
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’s mission in Denmark.
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 “strategies or success, but on fidelity to Jesus,” and that the first thing he did was redeem the freedom of some slaves.
Importantly, Cardinal Parolin pointed out, his action, in a world “wounded by new forms of slavery—economic, cultural, spiritual—and marked by exclusion and indifference,” speaks today with “renewed relevance.”
The joy of being forgiven by God
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’s mission twelve centuries ago. A mission that arose from an “extraordinary experience of liberation” in his own life, Cardinal Parolin said.
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 “are 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.”
In the same way, he continued, Ansgar had experienced the joy of being forgiven by God and desired to “share that joy with others,” because that was “the good news he carried with him.”
The courage to follow Jesus
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.
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.
At the moment of leaving familiar places and people to follow Jesus, Cardinal Parolin recounted, Ansgar never wavered, showing “courage and trust” 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.
Cardinal Parolin acknowledged that the Benedictine monk demonstrated Christianity by living as a Christian, in line with the Gospel.
Transformed hearts
Saint Ansgar, the Cardinal recalled, “faced enormous opposition and seemed to fail, but success was not what he sought.”
The Cardinal observed that in him was realized the Pauline paradox of the “foolishness of the cross,” 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.
“But this foolishness,” he clarified, “is the wisdom of God, because it shows a love capable of giving itself completely.” Likewise, the story of Ansgar’s life reminds us that the Church grows “not primarily in numbers, but in men and women who live lives of faithfulness, perseverance, and love: the mission begins with transformed hearts.”
In this context, Cardinal Parolin invited those involved in the jubilee celebrations dedicated to the saint to “renew evangelical boldness” and “guard hope where history seems weary” to testify that fertility “comes from the love that unites and from trust in God’s ongoing action, even in the most fragile situations.”
Walking with Christ
Today, Denmark is no longer the pagan land Ansgar encountered upon his arrival. The history of the country “is indelibly marked by its Christian heritage,” and the Catholic community, along with Lutherans and all people of good will, contributes “through service, solidarity, and respect for human dignity,” the Cardinal emphasized.
Citing Pope Leo’s papal motto In Illo uno unum, the Cardinal concluded by highlighting that Ansgar knew that the mission of Christ’s followers begins with “a transformed heart” and that the health of the Church is measured not by numbers or success but by the ability to “walk with Christ and stay close to Him in every circumstance.”
