Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City(Agenzia Fides) - “Between the end of the fourth and the start of the fifth century, another Church Father after Saint Ambrose, helped considerably to diffuse and consolidate Christianity in northern Italy: Saint Maximus whom we meet as Bishop of Turin in 398, a year after the death of Ambrose. We have little information about him, however his collection of about ninety sermons has come down to us. From them there emerges the Bishop's profound and vital bond with his city, which proves a point of obvious contact between the ministry of Ambrose and that of Maximus.” With these words Pope Benedict XVI began his catechesis at the general audience on Wednesday 31 October dedicated to Saint Maximus.
Outlining the historical context in which the Bishop of Turin ministered, the Holy Father said “in those times grave tensions disturbed ordered civil harmony … the city was threatened by scattered groups of barbarians… and became, at critical moments, a haven for people fleeing rural areas and unprotected urban centres. The interventions of Maximus, in this situation, testify his efforts to react to civil degradation and decay”. Maximus appears to address his preaching “to a specific selected nucleus of the Christian community in Turin, consisting of rich land owners who had property in the surrounding countryside and houses in the city. This was a clear headed pastoral decision on the part of the Bishop who saw in this type of preaching the most effective way to maintain and strengthen his bond with the people.”
Pope Benedict XVI then dwelt on Sermons 17 and 18 of St Maximus, “dedicated to an ever timely theme, wealth and poverty in Christian communities”. There was serious tension in the city, “wealth was being accumulated and hidden… Maximus stigmatises recurrent forms of looting on the misfortunes of others”. The Bishop of Turin preached “a profound relationship between the duties of the Christian and those of the citizen. In his eyes, living a Christian life meant also fulfilling civil duties” the Pope said, recalling that “when the civil authority of the Roman Empire collapsed, Maximus felt fully authorised to exercise in this sense power to control the city. This power was to become ever more encompassing and effective, even filling in for absconding magistrates and civil institutions. In this context Maximus worked not only to rekindle among the faithful traditional love of home-city, but also to proclaim as a precise duty, the payment of taxes, however heavy and unwelcome they might appear”
“Of course - the Pope continued - today's historical, cultural and social is quite different… however, apart from the changed conditions, still valid are the believer's duties towards his city and his country. The interweaving of the duties of the 'honest citizen' with those of the 'good Christian' is not in the least outmoded”. At the end of the audience the Pope cited the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes on consistency between faith and behaviour, between Gospel and culture: “ Vatican Council II, he concluded, "exhorts Christians, as citizens of two cities, to strive to discharge their earthly duties conscientiously and in response to the Gospel spirit. They are mistaken who, knowing that we have here no abiding city but seek one which is to come, think that they may therefore shirk their earthly responsibilities. For they are forgetting that by the faith itself they are more obliged than ever to measure up to these duties, each according to his proper vocation."(n. 43). Following the teaching of Saint Maximus and many other Fathers, we join the Council is wishing that the faithful may always strive to ‘give proper exercise to all their earthly activities and to their humane, domestic, professional, social and technical enterprises by gathering them into one vital synthesis with religious values, under whose supreme direction all things are harmonised unto God's glory.’ (ibid.), and for the good of humanity.” (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 3/11/2007 - righe 45, parole 666)
