Pope Benedict XVI: May 2011 Archives

This is a theme that Pope Benedict comes back to with some frequency in his addresses to bishops, to the diplomats, gatherings of priests and religious and encyclicals. It all has to hang together: lectio divina, Scripture study, liturgical praxis, the spiritual and moral life and matters of justice. In the '60s and '70s we would often see a separation of faith from justice which led to a radical reduction of the human person, virtue and politics. As it was said, "The theme engages an urgent need in the world today: to listen to and enhance the important role of new generations in the realization of the common good, and in the affirmation of a just and peaceful social order where the fundamental human rights can be fully expressed and realized," (LOR online).

And, what is our work going to be in the near future: to listen, to enhance, to work and to pray for peace and justice today.

This is the first visit of a pope to Venice in 26 years. The Pope prayed at the Basilica of Saint Mark (in front of the saint's relics preserved there for a 1000 years), addressed civil, culture and business leaders, the bishops, priests, religious and students and mingled with the people.

Note the Pope's mode of transportation!

Among the things the pope noted was that the "patrimony of civil traditions, culture and art, found rich development thanks to Venetians' embrace of the acceptance of Christian faith. Over the centuries the faith transmitted by the first evangelists weaved itself evermore deeply into the social fabric, and eventually became an essential part of it."

The asked the Lord to send the Venetians the grace of a "sincere and fruitful faith, a faith that can nourish both great hope, and the patient search for the common good."