Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - On Wednesday 6 December the Pope gave his general audience in two places, first of all in St Peters where he met Italian visitors mostly from the dioceses of Lazio accompanied by their Bishops making the five yearly ad limina visit and then in the Paul VI Audience Hall where he met visitors from various parts of the world.
Addressing the Italians Pope Benedict XVI said: “I encourage you to strive to intensify your life of faith, keeping in mind the guidelines which emerged from the recent meeting of the Italian Church in Verona. Courageous work of evangelisation, we are certain, will give rise to the awaited renewal of commitment of Catholics in society, also in the Lazio region. The principal task of evangelisation is to indicate in Jesus Christ, the Saviour of every human person. Never tire of entrusting yourselves to him, of announcing him with your life in the family and in every environment. This is what the men and women of today expect of the Church and of Catholics.”
In his address in the Paul VI Hall the Pope retraced the events of his apostolic visit to Turkey, inviting those present to join him in thanking the Lord for the event. The Pope entrusted to God the fruits that may come from that journey, “with regard to our relations with our Orthodox brothers and sisters and for dialogue with Muslims”, and he expressed his gratitude to the civil authorities of Turkey, the Catholic Bishops and their co-workers there and the religious authorities.
The Pope began by recalling his meetings with the authorities. “That intense series of meetings was an important part of the Visit especially considering that Turkey is a mainly Muslim country, regulated however by a Constitution which affirms the secular nature of the state. It is therefore an emblematic country with regard to today’s great challenges at the world level: on the one hand, it is necessary to rediscover the reality of God and the public relevance of religious faith and on the other to guarantee that the expression of this faith is free, and also free of fundamentalistic degeneration and able to repudiate all forms of violence”. The Pope then renewed his “sentiments of esteem for Muslims and Islamic civilisation”, insisting on the importance of joint commitment of Christians and Muslims “for man, for life, for peace and justice, reaffirming that the distinction between the civil and religious sphere constitutes a value and that the State has the duty to guarantee the citizen and religious communities effective freedom of worship”. Pope Benedict XVI said during the visit to the famous Blue Mosque, when he prayed a few moments in silence: “I prayed to the One Lord of heaven and earth, Merciful Father of all humanity. May all believers recognise themselves as his creatures and bear witness of authentic brotherhood!”
The Pope’s visit to Ephesus on the second day was an opportunity for direct contact with the Catholic community in Turkey at the Shrine of the House of Mary “since time immemorial a place of Marian devotion, dear also to Muslims”. “At the ‘House of Mary’ we felt truly ‘at home - the Holy Father said -, and in the atmosphere of peace we prayed for the Holy Land and for the whole world. While there I recalled Fr Andrea Santoro, a priest from Rome, who in the land of Turkey bore witness to the Gospel with his blood”.
The feast of Saint Andrew in November 30, “offered the ideal context to consolidate fraternal relations between the Bishop of Rome, the Successor of St Peter, and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, a Church founded according to tradition by the apostle Saint Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter ”. Pope Benedict XVI and His Holiness Bartholomew I, in the footsteps of their Predecessors, confirmed “reciprocal commitment to go forward on the path towards re-established full communion between Catholics and Orthodox Christians”. The Joint Declaration signed at the end of the Divine Liturgy in honour of Saint Andrew “constitutes another step on this journey”, and also shows that “the basis of all ecumenical effort is prayer and perseverant invocation of the Holy Spirit”. The Pope then recalled his meetings in Istanbul respectively with the Patriarch of the Apostolic Armenian Church, His Beatitude Mesrob II, the Syrian Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop and with the Chief Rabbi of Turkey.
The visit concluded with Mass in Holy Spirit Latin Cathedral in Istanbul, in the presence of the entire Catholic community, the Ecumenical Patriarch, the Armenian Patriarch, the Syrian Orthodox Metropolitan and representatives of the Protestant churches. “In brief - the Pope underlined -, it was a gathering of all the Christians of all the different rites, traditions and languages . Comforted by the Word of Christ, who promises believers ‘rivers of living water’, and the image of the many members united in one body, we experienced a new Pentecost”.
Pope Benedict XVI told those present that he returned to the Vatican “with his heart overflowing with gratitude to God and sentiments of sincere affection and esteem for the people of beloved nation of Turkey by whom I felt welcomed and understood”. The Pope concluded: “May almighty and all merciful God help the people and leaders of Turkey and the representatives of the different religions build together a future of peace, so that Turkey may serve as a "bridge" of friendship and fraternal collaboration between East and West. Let us pray that through the intercession of Most Holy Mary, the Holy Spirit may render my apostolic visit fruitful and may he vivify in the whole world the mission of the Church instituted by Christ to announce the Gospel of truth, peace and love to all peoples.” (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 7/12/2006, righe 66, parole 950)
