Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “Today we pause to consider a great missionary of the 8th century, who spread Christianity in Central Europe, precisely in my homeland as well: St. Boniface, who has been recorded in history as the 'apostle of the Germans.'” These were the words of the Holy Father Benedict XVI in opening his catechesis at the General Audience on Wednesday, March 11, held in Saint Peter's Square. Making reference to the abundant information available on his life, the Pope recalled that Boniface was born in an Anglo-Saxon family in Wessex around 675 and was baptized with the name Winfred. He entered the monastery as a young boy. Possessing notable intellectual capacities, he became a professor of Latin grammar, wrote a few treatises, and also composed some poems in Latin. Ordained a priest at close to 30 years of age, he felt called to the apostolate among the pagans of the European continent. In 716, Winfred, with some companions, headed to Friesland (in present day Holland), but the attempt at evangelization failed and he had to return to his homeland. Two years later, he went to Rome to speak with Pope Gregory II and after having been warmly received and heard at length, he entrusted him with the mission to preach the Gospel among the peoples of Germany.
Boniface dedicated himself to the preaching of the Gospel in those lands, “fighting against the pagan cults and strengthening the bases of Christian and human morality,” the Pope said. “With his tireless activity, with his organizational gifts, with his flexible and amiable character despite its firmness, Boniface obtained great results.” The Pope himself wished to consecrate him “Regional Bishop” of all Germany. Boniface “revived his apostolic efforts in the territories entrusted to him and extended his action as well to the Church of Gaul. With great prudence, he restored ecclesiastical discipline, convoked various synods to ensure the authority of the sacred canons, and reinforced the necessary communion with the Roman Pontiff, a point that he carried especially in his heart.” Even Pope Gregory II's successors held him in great esteem. Amidst his great work of evangelization, he did not fail to favor the foundation of various monasteries, masculine and feminine. “From the Benedictine cenobites of his homeland, he had called men and women monks who lent a most valuable and precious service in the task of announcing the Gospel and spreading the human sciences and arts among the populations. He considered in fact that the work for the Gospel should be also work for a true human culture,” Pope Benedict XVI said, mentioning the monastery at Fulda, which “was the heart and center of the irradiation of the spirituality and the religious culture.”
The Pope then highlighted that “thanks to Boniface, to his men and women monks -- the women too had a very important part in this work of evangelization -- this human culture also flourished, which is inseparable from the faith and reveals its beauty. Boniface himself has left us significant intellectual works.” In spite of his nearly 80 years of age, Boniface “prepared himself for a new evangelizing mission: With some 50 monks, he returned to Friesland, where he had begun his work...While he was beginning the celebration of Mass in Dokkum (in present day North Holland), on June 5, 754, he was assaulted by a band of pagans.” He came forward and prohibited his companions to fight, recalling the words from Scripture. He then fell beneath the blows of his attackers. His remains were taken to the monastery of Fulda, for burial.
The Holy Father then invited those present to reflect on what message we can gather from “this great missionary and martyr?” First on all, the centrality of the Word of God, lived and interpreted in the faith of the Church, a Word that he lived, preached and gave testimony to unto the supreme gift of himself in martyrdom. He was so impassioned by the Word of God that he felt the urgency and the duty of taking it to others, even at his personal risk.” Thus, “his faithful communion with the Apostolic See, which was a firm and central point in his missionary work. He always conserved that communion as a rule of his mission and he left it almost as a testament.” In addition, “he promoted the encounter between the Roman-Christian culture and the Germanic culture. He knew in fact that to humanize and evangelize the culture was an integral part of his mission as a bishop. Transmitting the ancient patrimony of Christian values, he implanted in the German peoples a new style of life that was more human, thanks to which the inalienable rights of the person were better respected. As an authentic son of St. Benedict, he knew how to unite prayer and work (manual and intellectual), pen and plow.”
In concluding his catechesis, the Pope exhorted all present to reflect on the testimony of St. Boniface, “to welcome in our life the Word of God as an essential point of reference, to passionately love the Church, to feel that we are co-responsible for its future, to seek unity around the Successor of Peter.” He thus expressed his admiration for his zeal for the Gospel: “Comparing this ardent faith of his, this zeal for the Gospel, to our faith so often lukewarm and bureaucratic, we see that we have to renew our faith and how to do it, so as to give as a gift to our times the precious pearl of the Gospel.”
After greeting pilgrims in various languages, Benedict XVI made the following appeal for Northern Ireland: “It was with deep sorrow that I learned of the murders of two young British soldiers and a policeman in Northern Ireland. As I assure the families of the victims and the injured of my spiritual closeness, I condemn in the strongest terms these abominable acts of terrorism which, apart from desecrating human life, seriously endanger the ongoing peace process in Northern Ireland and risk destroying the great hopes generated by this process in the region and throughout the world. I ask the Lord that no one will again give in to the horrendous temptation of violence and that all will increase their efforts to continue building - through the patient effort of dialogue - a peaceful, just and reconciled society.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 12/3/2009)
