04/05/2006SUMMARY:
- The Church of Love Is Also the Church of Truth
- Peace for The Basque Country, Memory of John Paul II
- Meeting of World Youth Day Leaders
- Other Pontifical Acts
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THE CHURCH OF LOVE IS ALSO THE CHURCH OF TRUTH
VATICAN CITY, APR 5, 2006 (VIS) - Service to communion within the Church was the theme of Benedict XVI's catechesis during his general audience, held this morning in St. Peter's Square in the presence of 30,000 people.
"The source of the communion of the disciples, both with one another and with God, is the Spirit that pours the love of God into our hearts," the Pope began. "Where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God, and where the Spirit is, there is the Church and all grace," he added, quoting the words of St. Irenaeus. "This intimate link with the Spirit does not eliminate our humanity with all its weaknesses, as the community of disciples is well aware." Proof of this is "constituted above all by the contrasts concerning the truth of faith and the subsequent lacerations of communion."
"That the early Church was also aware of these potential tensions within the experience of communion is clear from the First Letter of John. No voice in the New Testament rises with greater force to highlight the reality and the duty of fraternal love between Christians; yet the same voice addresses itself with drastic severity to the adversaries who were members of the community but are so no longer. The Church of love is also the Church of truth, primarily understood as being faithfulness to the Gospel that Christ entrusted to His followers."
Communion, the Pope explained, "arises from a faith inspired by apostolic preaching, it is nourished by the breaking of bread and by prayer, and it is expressed in fraternal charity and in service. ... The Apostles and their successors are thus the custodians and authoritative witnesses of the deposit of faith entrusted to the Church, just as they are also ministers of the charity revealed and donated by the Lord Jesus. In this way, theirs is above all a service of love; and the charity they live and promote is inseparable from the truth they defend and transmit. Truth and love are two faces of the same gift that comes from God and that, thanks to the apostolic ministry, is safeguarded within the Church, reaching down to our own time."
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PEACE FOR THE BASQUE COUNTRY, MEMORY OF JOHN PAUL II
VATICAN CITY, APR 5, 2006 (VIS) - At the end of the general audience, the Pope addressed some words to Spanish pilgrims, recalling that April 7 marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of St. Francis Xavier, "the great Jesuit missionary who preached the Gospel in the lands of Asia, opening many doors to Christ."
The Holy Father added: "I unite myself with that celebration, thanking the Lord for this great gift to His Church. ... In contemplating the figure of St. Francis Xavier we feel called to pray for those who dedicate their lives to the evangelizing mission, proclaiming the beauty of the salvific message of Jesus.
"At the same time," he continued, "I invite you to pray that, through the intercession of this saint, everyone may intensify efforts to consolidate the horizons of peace that seem to be opening in the Basque Country and in all Spain, and to overcome the obstacles that may arise on this long journey."
The Holy Father also greeted Polish pilgrims present at the audience. "With you," he said, "I give thanks to God for the pontificate of my great predecessor, John Paul II. May his spiritual presence and the heritage of his teaching strengthen us in the faith and help us on the journey towards the meeting with Christ!"
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MEETING OF WORLD YOUTH DAY LEADERS
VATICAN CITY, APR 5, 2006 (VIS) - The first international meeting of leaders and organizers of World Youth Days will be held at Sassone Di Ciampino near Rome from April 7 to 9.
According to a communique made public yesterday afternoon, the meeting, organized by the Pontifical Council for the Laity, will be attended by delegates from 85 countries and by representatives from 45 communities, associations and Catholic youth movements.
On the first day, Cardinal Joachim Meisner, archbishop of Cologne, Germany, will consider last August's WYD, which was held in Cologne, analyzing its results on his archdiocese and on youth pastoral care throughout Germany, as well as organizational and logistical challenges.
The next day, Cardinal George Pell, archbishop of Sydney, Australia, will speak on the challenges and expectations of the Australian Church with a view to World Youth Day 2008, due to be held in Sydney.
On April 9, Palm Sunday and 21st World Youth Day, the delegates and representatives will participate in the Mass celebrated by Benedict XVI in St. Peter's Square. At the end of the Eucharistic celebration, a group of young people from Germany will hand over the WYD Cross to a group of young Australians.
Before reaching Australia, the Cross will undertake a long journey, beginning on April 10 when it will travel from Rome to Dakar, Senegal where it will remain over Easter. It will subsequently be taken to over 20 African countries, concluding its travels on that continent in February 2007.
From February 2007, the communique concludes, the Cross will begin another journey taking it to many Pacific Ocean islands, before arriving in Sydney for World Youth Day in July 2008.
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
VATICAN CITY, APR 5, 2006 (VIS) - The Holy Father:
- Appointed Bishop Joviano de Lima Junior S.S.S., of Sao Carlos, Brazil, as metropolitan archbishop of Ribeirao Preto (area 8,897, population 942,306, Catholics 756,000, priests 124, permanent deacons 15, religious 207), Brazil. The archbishop-elect was born in Uberaba, Brazil in 1942, he was ordained a priest in 1969 and consecrated a bishop in 1995. He succeeds Archbishop Arnaldo Ribeiro, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese, the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.
- Accepted the resignation of Bishop Attila Mikloshazy S.J. from the office of spiritual assistant to Hungarian emigrants, upon having reached the age limit.
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