Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – At the close of the General Audience on Wednesday, May 19, the Holy Father Benedict XVI greeted Italian-speaking pilgrims, offering a special greeting to the priests of the International College of St. Paul, saying: “I extend a cordial welcome to the Italian-speaking pilgrims. In particular I greet the priests of St. Paul's International College in Rome, who have completed their studies at various pontifical universities and are about to return to their countries. I urge them to always live their pastoral ministry faithfully, treasuring the spiritual and theological formation received in these years spent in Rome.”
In his catechesis given during the audience, the Holy Father recalled his apostolic journey to Portugal, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the beatification of the little shepherds, Jacinta and Francisco. He said: “In the capital, from where so many missionaries left over the course of the centuries to take the Gospel to many continents, I encouraged the various components of the local Church to a vigorous evangelizing action in the various realms of society, to be sowers of hope in a world often marked by mistrust. In particular, I exhorted believers to be heralds of the death and resurrection of Christ, heart of Christianity, fulcrum and support of our faith and reason of our joy.”
Later, in Fatima, “I made myself a pilgrim with the pilgrims,” the Pope said, “presenting to the Heart of the Holy Virgin the joys and expectations as well as the problems and sufferings of the whole world.” In the Church of the Holy Trinity, “I manifested my heartfelt appreciation to priests, to men and women religious, to deacons and to seminarians who came from every part of Portugal, thanking them for their witness -- often silent and not always easy -- and for their fidelity to the Gospel and to the Church.”
The climax of the pastoral visit was the Mass on May 13, anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady to Francisco, Jacinta, and Lucia: “Precisely charged with hope is the exacting and at the same time consoling message that Our Lady left in Fatima,” the Holy Father explained. “It is a message centered on prayer, on penance and on conversion, which is projected beyond the threats, the dangers and the horrors of history, to invite man to have confidence in God's action, to cultivate great hope, and to experience the Lord's grace to be enamored of him, source of love and peace.”
In the last stretch of the journey, during the Mass celebrated in the city of Porto, “I reminded the great crowd of faithful gathered in the Avenue dos Aliados of the commitment to witness the Gospel in every environment, offering the world the Risen Christ, so that every situation of difficulty, of suffering, of fear is transformed, through the Holy Spirit, into an occasion of growth and life.”
In closing, the Holy Father encouraged everyone to unite their prayer to his, praying that “through the intercession of Mary Most Holy, the Holy Spirit will make this apostolic journey fruitful, and animate in the whole world the mission of the Church, instituted by Christ to proclaim to all peoples the Gospel of truth, of peace and of love.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 20/05/2010)
