A Vision of the Whole of Theology

I greet all of you with great joy who have come here to Rome on the occasion of the International Symposium on Erik Peterson. In particular, I thank you, dear Cardinal Lehmann, for the cordial words with which you have introduced our meeting.
 
As you said, celebrated this year are the 120 years of the birth in Hamburg of this illustrious theologian; and, almost on this same day, Oct. 26, 1960, Erik Peterson died, still in his native city of Hamburg. He lived here in Rome, with his family, for some periods beginning in 1930, and afterward he established himself here from 1933: first on the Aventine, near St. Anselm, and subsequently on the outskirts of the Vatican, in a house facing St. Anne's Gate. That is why it is a particular joy for me to be able to greet the Peterson family present among us, his esteemed sons and daughters with their respective families. In 1990, together with Cardinal Lehmann, I was able to give your mother, in your apartment, on the occasion of her 80th birthday, an autograph with the image of Pope John Paul II, and I happily remember this meeting with you.