The Weekly Benedict - Introduction

The Weekly Benedict is a compilation of documents, speeches, and other texts brought into an ebook format.

The Weekly Benedict was inspired by Catholic Apologist Jimmy Akin who came up with the idea to create a weekly link page to the words of the Holy Father.

All texts are © Copyright 2011 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Considering the increasing prevalence of electronic book readers and their ease in reading textual documents this provides an ideal format in making available the wonderful and insightful words of Pope Benedict XVI.  This ebook compilation is provided as a public service with no associated fees.

Jeff Miller

The Curt Jester blog

Catholic Apologist Jimmy Akin's blog can be found at JimmyAkin.org *

* While this ebook publication take it's cue from Jimmy Akin's weekly post with links, it is done without association and any copyright problems or formatting mistakes are entirely my own.

BENEDICT XVI

ANGELUS

St. Peter's Square

Sunday, 13 November 2011

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The word of God of this Sunday — the second to last Sunday of the liturgical year — warns us of the transience of our earthly existence and invites us to live it as a pilgrimage, keeping our gaze fixed on the destination for which God has created us. Moreover, since he made us for himself (cf. St Augustine, Confessions 1, 1), he is our ultimate destination and the meaning of our existence.

Death, followed by the Last Judgement, is an obligatory stage to pass through in order to reach this definitive reality. The Apostle Paul says: “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thess 5:2), that is, without warning. May knowledge of the glorious return of the Lord Jesus spur us to live in an attitude of watchfulness, waiting for his manifestation and in constant remembrance of his first Coming.

In the well known Parable of the Talents — recounted by the Evangelist Matthew (cf. 25: 14-30) — Jesus tells the story of three servants to whom their master entrusted his property, before setting out on a long journey. Two of them behaved impeccably, doubling the value of what they had received. On the contrary, the third buried the money he had received in a hole. On his return, the master asked his servants to account for what he had entrusted to them and while he was pleased with the first two he was disappointed with the third.

Indeed, the servant who had hidden his talent and failed to make it increase in worth, had calculated badly. He behaved as if his master were never to return, as if there would never be a day on which he would be asked to account for his actions. With this parable Jesus wanted to teach his disciples to make good use of his gifts: God calls every person and offers talents to all, at the same time entrusting each one with a mission to carry out. It would be foolish to presume that these gifts are an entitlement, just as failing to use them would mean failing to achieve our purpose in life.

In commenting on this Gospel passage St Gregory the Great noted that the Lord does not let anyone lack the gift of his charity, of his love. He wrote: “brothers, it is necessary that you pay the utmost attention to preserving love in everything you must do” (Homilies on the Gospel, 9, 6). After explaining that true charity consists in loving enemies as well as friends, he added: “if someone lacks this virtue, he loses every good he possesses, he is deprived of the talent he received and is cast out into the darkness” (ibid.).

Dear brothers and sisters, let us accept the invitation to be watchful, of which the Scriptures frequently remind us! This is the attitude of those who know that the Lord will return and that he will wish to see the fruits of his love in us. Charity is the fundamental good that no one can fail to bring to fruition and without which every other good is worthless (cf. 1 Cor 13:3). If Jesus loved us to the point of giving his life for us (cf. 1 Jn 3:16), how can we not love God with the whole of ourselves and love one another with real warmth? (cf. 1 Jn 4:11). It is only by practising charity that we too will be able to share in the joy of Our Lord. May the Virgin Mary teach us active and joyful watchfulness on our journey towards the encounter with God.

After the Angelus:

Today is the World Day of Diabetes, a chronic disease that afflicts many, even young people. I pray for all these brothers and sisters and for all who, every day, share in their daily trials; as well as for health-care workers and for the volunteers who help them.

Today the Church in Italy is celebrating Thanksgiving Day. In looking at the fruits of the earth which the Lord has given to us this year too, let us acknowledge that human work would be fruitless if he did not make it fertile. “Only with God is there a future in the land”. While we give thanks, let us engage to respect the earth that God has entrusted to our keeping.

Dear French-speaking pilgrims, today the Lord asks us to recognize the gifts he has made to us. He entrusts to each one the responsibility for making them fruitful, so that he or she may be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. These words of Christ guided the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops. I hope to impart them to all when I go to Benin to strengthen the faith and hope of the Christians of Africa and of the adjacent Islands. I entrust to your prayers this journey and the inhabitants of the beloved continent of Africa, especially those who are experiencing violence and the lack of security. May Our Lady of Africa accompany and sustain the efforts of all who are working for reconciliation, justice and peace with my blessing!

I welcome the English-speaking visitors gathered for this Angelus prayer, especially the large group of Filipino pilgrims! In today’s Gospel, the Parable of the Talents, Jesus invites us to reflect with gratitude on the gifts we have received and to use them wisely for the growth of God’s Kingdom. May his words summon us to an ever deeper conversion of mind and heart, and a more effective solidarity in the service of all our brothers and sisters. Upon you and your families I invoke the Lord’s Blessings of wisdom, joy and peace!

To the German-speaking faithful the Holy Father spoke of the beatification that afternoon at Dornbirn, Austria, of the priest-martyr, Karl Lampert, who was killed in hatred of the faith on 13 November 1944.

© Copyright 2011 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

BENEDICT XVI

GENERAL AUDIENCE

St. Peter's Square

Wednesday, 9 November 2011

Psalm 119 (118)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In previous Catecheses we have meditated on several Psalms that are examples of typical forms of prayer: lamentation, trust and praise. In today’s Catechesis I would like to reflect on Psalm 119, according to the Hebrew tradition, Psalm 118 according to the Greco-Latin one.

It is a very special Psalm, unique of its kind. This is first of all because of its length. Indeed, it is composed of 176 verses divided into 22 stanzas of eight verses each. Moreover, its special feature is that it is an “acrostic in alphabetical order”, in other words it is structured in accordance with the Hebrew alphabet that consists of 22 letters. Each stanza begins with a letter of this alphabet and the first letter of the first word of each of the eight verses in the stanza begins with this letter. This is both original and indeed a demanding literary genre in which the author of the Psalm must have had to summon up all his skill.

However, what is most important for us is this Psalm’s central theme. In fact, it is an impressive, solemn canticle on the Torah of the Lord, that is, on his Law, a term which in its broadest and most comprehensive meaning should be understood as a teaching, an instruction, a rule of life. The Torah is a revelation, it is a word of God that challenges the human being and elicits his response of trusting obedience and generous love.

This Psalm is steeped in love for the word of God whose beauty, saving power and capacity for giving joy and life it celebrates; because the divine Law is not the heavy yoke of slavery but a liberating gift of grace that brings happiness. “I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word”, the Psalmist declares (v. 16), and then: “Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it” (v. 35). And further: “Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day” (v. 97).

The Law of the Lord, his word, is the centre of the praying person’s life; he finds comfort in it, he makes it the subject of meditation, he treasures it in his heart: “I have laid up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (v. 11), and this is the secret of the Psalmist’s happiness; and then, again, “the godless besmear me with lies, but with my whole heart I keep your precepts” (v. 69).

The Psalmist’s faithfulness stems from listening to the word, from pondering on it in his inmost self, meditating on it and cherishing it, just as did Mary, who “kept all these things, pondering them in her heart”, the words that had been addressed to her and the marvellous events in which God revealed himself, asking her for the assent of her faith (cf. Lk 2:19, 51). And if the first verses of our Psalm begin by proclaiming “blessed” those “who walk in the law of the Lord” (v. 1b), and “who keep his testimonies” (v. 2a). It is once again the Virgin Mary who brings to completion the perfect figure of the believer, described by the Psalmist. It is she, in fact, who is the true “blessed”, proclaimed such by Elizabeth because “she... believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord” (Lk 1:45). Moreover it was to her and to her faith that Jesus himself bore witness when he answered the woman who had cried: “Blessed is the womb that bore you”, with “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Lk 11:27-28). Of course, Mary is blessed because she carried the Saviour in her womb, but especially because she accepted God’s announcement and because she was an attentive and loving custodian of his Word.

Psalm 119 is thus woven around this Word of life and blessedness. If its central theme is the “word” and “Law” of the Lord, next to these terms in almost all the verses such synonyms recur as “precepts”, “statutes”, “commandments”, “ordinances”, “promises”, “judgement”; and then so many verbs relating to them such as observe, keep, understand, learn, love, meditate and live.

The entire alphabet unfolds through the 22 stanzas of this Psalm and also the whole of the vocabulary of the believer’s trusting relationship with God; we find in it praise, thanksgiving and trust, but also supplication and lamentation. However they are always imbued with the certainty of divine grace and of the power of the word of God. Even the verses more heavily marked by grief and by a sense of darkness remain open to hope and are permeated by faith.

“My soul cleaves to the dust; revive me according to your word” (v. 25), the Psalmist trustingly prays. “I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, yet I have not forgotten your statutes” (v. 83), is his cry as a believer. His fidelity, even when it is put to the test, finds strength in the Lord’s word: “then shall I have an answer for those who taunt me, for I trust in your word” (v. 42), he says firmly; and even when he faces the anguishing prospect of death, the Lord’s commandments are his reference point and his hope of victory: “they have almost made an end of me on earth; but I have not forsaken your precepts” (v. 87).

The Law of the Lord, the object of the passionate love of the Psalmist as well as of every believer, is a source of life. The desire to understand it, to observe it and to direct the whole of one’s being by it is the characteristic of every righteous person who is faithful to the Lord, and who “on his law... meditates day and night”, as Psalm 1 recites (v. 2). The law of God is a way to be kept “in the heart”, as the well known text of the Shema in Deuteronomy says: “Hear, O Israel: And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (6:4, 6-7).

The Law of God, at the centre of life, demands that the heart listen. It is a listening that does not consist of servile but rather of filial, trusting and aware obedience. Listening to the word is a personal encounter with the Lord of life, an encounter that must be expressed in concrete decisions and become a journey and a “sequela”. When Jesus is asked what one should do to inherit eternal life he points to the way of observance of the Law but indicates what should be done to bring it to completion: “but you lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me! (Mk 10: 21ff.). Fulfilment of the Law is the following of Jesus, travelling on the road that Jesus took, in the company of Jesus.

Psalm 119 thus brings us to the encounter with the Lord and orients us to the Gospel. There is a verse in it on which I would now like to reflect: it is verse 57: “the Lord is my portion; I promise to keep his words”. In other Psalms too the person praying affirms that the Lord is his “portion”, his inheritance: “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup”, Psalm 16[15] says. “God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever” is the protestation of faith of the faithful person in Psalm 73 [72]: v. 26b, and again, in Psalm 142[141], the Psalmist cries to the Lord: “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living” (v. 5b).

This term “portion” calls to mind the event of the division of the promised land between the tribes of Israel, when no piece of land was assigned to the Levites because their “portion” was the Lord himself. Two texts of the Pentateuch, using the term in question, are explicit in this regard, the Lord said to Aaron: “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel”, as the Book of Numbers (18:20) declares and as Deuteronomy reaffirms “Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers; the Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord your God said to him” (Deut 10:9; cf. Deut 18:2; Josh 13:33; Ezek 44:28).

The Priests, who belong to the tribe of Levi cannot be landowners in the land that God was to bequeath as a legacy to his people, thus bringing to completion the promise he had made to Abraham (cf. Gen 12:1-7). The ownership of land, a fundamental element for permanence and for survival, was a sign of blessing because it presupposed the possibility of building a house, of raising children, of cultivating the fields and of living on the produce of the earth.

Well, the Levites, mediators of the sacred and of the divine blessing, unlike the other Israelites could not own possessions, this external sign of blessing and source of subsistence. Totally dedicated to the Lord, they had to live on him alone, reliant on his provident love and on the generosity of their brethren without any other inheritance since God was their portion, God was the land that enabled them to live to the full.

The person praying in Psalm 119 then applies this reality to himself: “the Lord is my portion”. His love for God and for his word leads him to make the radical decision to have the Lord as his one possession and also to treasure his words as a precious gift more valuable than any legacy or earthly possession. There are two different ways in which our verse may be translated and it could also be translated as “my portion Lord, as I have said, is to preserve your words”. The two translations are not contradictory but on the contrary complete each other: the Psalmist meant that his portion was the Lord but that preserving the divine words was also part of his inheritance, as he was to say later in v. 111: “your testimonies are my heritage for ever; yea, they are the joy of my heart”. This is the happiness of the Psalmist, like the Levites, he has been given the word of God as his portion, his inheritance.

Dear brothers and sisters, these verses are also of great importance for all of us. First of all for priests, who are called to live on the Lord and his word alone with no other means of security, with him as their one possession and as their only source of true life. In this light one understands the free choice of celibacy for the Kingdom of Heaven in order to rediscover it in its beauty and power.

Yet these verses are also important for all the faithful, the People of God that belong to him alone, “a kingdom and priests” for the Lord (cf. 1 Pet 2:9; Rev 1:6, 5:10), called to the radicalism of the Gospel, witnesses of the life brought by Christ, the new and definitive “High Priest” who gave himself as a sacrifice for the salvation of the world (cf. Heb 2:17; 4:14-16; 5:5-10; 9, 11ff.). The Lord and his word: these are our “land”, in which to live in communion and in joy.

Let us therefore permit the Lord to instil this love for his word in our hearts and to grant that we may always place him and his holy will at the centre of our life. Let us ask that our prayers and the whole of our life be illuminated by the word of God, the lamp to light our footsteps and a light on our path, as Psalm 119 (cf. 105) says, so that we may walk safely in the land of men. And may Mary, who generously welcomed the Word, be our guide and comfort, the polestar that indicates the way to happiness.

Then we too shall be able to rejoice in our prayers, like the praying person of Psalm 16, in the unexpected gifts of the Lord and in the undeserved legacy that fell to us: “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup... the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage” (Ps 16:5, 6).

To special groups:

I welcome the priest jubilarians from England and Wales and I assure them of my prayers for the spiritual fruitfulness of their ministry. I also greet the Sisters of St Paul of Chartres taking part in a programme of spiritual renewal. I also greet the members of the American Society of the Italian Legion of Merit, and I thank the members of the brass ensemble from Malta for their musical offering. Upon all the English-speaking pilgrims present, especially those from England, Denmark, the Philippines, Canada and the United States, I invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace!

Lastly, my thoughts turn to the young people, the sick and the newlyweds. Dear young people, plan your future in full fidelity to the Gospel and grow according to the teaching and example of Jesus. Dear sick people, offer up your suffering to the Lord, so that also thanks to your participation in his suffering, he may extend his saving action in the world. Dear newlyweds, may you be guided by a joyous faith on the journey you have undertaken so that you may always serve life, which is a gift of God.

Appeal:

In this period various parts of the world, from Latin America — especially Central America — to South-East Asia have been hit by inundations, flooding or landslides that have caused numerous deaths and dispersed and homeless people. Once again I would like to express my closeness to all those who are suffering because of these natural disasters. I ask you to pray for the victims and their relatives and to show solidarity so that the institutions and people of good will may generously collaborate to bring aid to the thousands of people stricken by these catastrophes.

© Copyright 2011 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

ON THE OCCASION OF THE SECOND NATIONAL CONGRESS

FOR THE FAMILY IN ECUADOR (9-12 NOVEMBER 2011)

To my Venerable Brother

Metropolitan Archbishop Antonio Arregui Yarza of Guayaquil

President of the Bishops’ Conference of Ecuador

On the occasion of the Second National Congress for the Family I greet with affection the pastors and faithful of the Church in Ecuador, which — in the context of the Continental Mission, proposed by the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops’ Conferences at Aparecida, and in preparation for the Seventh World Meeting for Families that will take place in Milan — will seek to begin a process of reflection on the Gospel that will enable married Christians and their homes to respond to their identity, vocation and mission.

The theme of the Congress, “The Ecuadorian Family on Mission: Work and Rest at the Service of the Individual and of the Common Good”, recognizes that the family, born from the covenant of love and of the total and sincere reciprocal gift of a man and a woman in marriage, is not a private affair, closed in on itself. By its vocation it carries out a marvellous service, crucial to the good of society and to the Church’s mission. In fact, society is not the mere sum of individuals but rather the fruit of relationships between people: between husband and wife, parents and children, and between siblings, relationships which are founded on family life and the bonds of love that stem from it. Through children each family gives society the human riches it has experienced. It can rightly be said that the health and quality of social relations depend on the health and quality of family relationships.

In this regard, work and rest especially concern and are deeply bound to family life: they condition its decisions, influence relationships between the spouses and between parents and children and affect the family’s ties with society and with the Church.

Through work, human beings experience themselves as subjects who share in God’s plan of creation. Hence the lack of work and its precariousness threaten human dignity. Not only do they create situations of injustice and poverty that degenerate all too often into despair, crime and violence but they even cause people to have an identity crisis. It is, therefore, urgent to find effective measures, serious and appropriate projects, as well as the necessary determination to find ways to enable all to have access to a dignified, permanent and well paid job. This will enable them to be sanctified and to play an active role in the development of society, combining hard and responsible work with sufficient time for a rich, fruitful and harmonious family life. A serene and constructive home atmosphere, with its domestic duties and affections, is the first school of work and the best place for people to discover their potential, increase their eagerness to improve themselves and to achieve their noblest aspirations. Furthermore, family life teaches people to overcome selfishness, to foster solidarity, not to scorn sacrifice for the happiness of others, to value what is good and upright and to apply themselves with conviction and generosity for the benefit of the commonweal and for each other’s good, inasmuch as they are responsible for themselves, for others and for the surrounding context.

Rest, for its part, humanizes time by opening it to the encounter with God, with others and with nature. It follows that families need to recover the genuine feeling of rest, especially on Sunday, the Day of the Lord and of man. In the celebration of Sunday Mass the family experiences here and now the Real Presence of the Risen Lord, receives new life, welcomes the gift of the Spirit, increases its love for the Church, listens to God’s word, shares the Eucharistic Bread and opens to brotherly love.

With these sentiments, while I renew the expression of my closeness and cordiality to the most beloved sons and daughters of this nation, I entrust the results of this Congress to the powerful intercession of Nuestra Señora de la Presentación del Quinché, the heavenly Patroness of Ecuador. As a pledge of abundant divine favours, I gladly impart to everyone present the implored Apostolic Blessing.

From the Vatican, 1 November 2011

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

© Copyright 2011 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

PROMOTED BY THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR CULTURE

Clementine Hall

Saturday, 12 November 2011

Dear Brother Bishops,

Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests,

Dear Friends,

I wish to thank Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, for his kind words and for promoting this International Conference on Adult Stem Cells: Science and the Future of Man and Culture. I would also like to thank Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, President of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Health Workers, and Bishop Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, President of the Pontifical Academy for Life for their contribution to this particular endeavour. A special word of gratitude goes to the many benefactors whose support has made this event possible. In this regard, I would like to express the Holy See’s appreciation of all the work that is done, by various institutions, to promote cultural and formative initiatives aimed at supporting top-level scientific research on adult stem cells and exploring the cultural, ethical and anthropological implications of their use.

Scientific research provides a unique opportunity to explore the wonder of the universe, the complexity of nature and the distinctive beauty of life, including human life. But since human beings are endowed with immortal souls and are created in the image and likeness of God, there are dimensions of human existence that lie beyond the limits of what the natural sciences are competent to determine. If these limits are transgressed, there is a serious risk that the unique dignity and inviolability of human life could be subordinated to purely utilitarian considerations. But if instead these limits are duly respected, science can make a truly remarkable contribution to promoting and safeguarding the dignity of man: indeed herein lies its true utility. Man, the agent of scientific research, will sometimes, in his biological nature, form the object of that research. Nevertheless, his transcendent dignity entitles him always to remain the ultimate beneficiary of scientific research and never to be reduced to its instrument.

In this sense, the potential benefits of adult stem cell research are very considerable, since it opens up possibilities for healing chronic degenerative illnesses by repairing damaged tissue and restoring its capacity for regeneration. The improvement that such therapies promise would constitute a significant step forward in medical science, bringing fresh hope to sufferers and their families alike. For this reason, the Church naturally offers her encouragement to those who are engaged in conducting and supporting research of this kind, always with the proviso that it be carried out with due regard for the integral good of the human person and the common good of society.

This proviso is most important. The pragmatic mentality that so often influences decision-making in the world today is all too ready to sanction whatever means are available in order to attain the desired end, despite ample evidence of the disastrous consequences of such thinking. When the end in view is one so eminently desirable as the discovery of a cure for degenerative illnesses, it is tempting for scientists and policy-makers to brush aside ethical objections and to press ahead with whatever research seems to offer the prospect of a breakthrough. Those who advocate research on embryonic stem cells in the hope of achieving such a result make the grave mistake of denying the inalienable right to life of all human beings from the moment of conception to natural death. The destruction of even one human life can never be justified in terms of the benefit that it might conceivably bring to another. Yet, in general, no such ethical problems arise when stem cells are taken from the tissues of an adult organism, from the blood of the umbilical cord at the moment of birth, or from fetuses who have died of natural causes (cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction Dignitas Personae, 32).

It follows that dialogue between science and ethics is of the greatest importance in order to ensure that medical advances are never made at unacceptable human cost. The Church contributes to this dialogue by helping to form consciences in accordance with right reason and in the light of revealed truth. In so doing she seeks, not to impede scientific progress, but on the contrary to guide it in a direction that is truly fruitful and beneficial to humanity. Indeed, it is her conviction that everything human, including scientific research, “is not only received and respected by faith, but is also purified, elevated and perfected” (ibid., 7). In this way science can be helped to serve the common good of all mankind, with a particular regard for the weakest and most vulnerable.

In drawing attention to the needs of the defenceless, the Church thinks not only of the unborn but also of those without easy access to expensive medical treatment. Illness is no respecter of persons, and justice demands that every effort be made to place the fruits of scientific research at the disposal of all who stand to benefit from them, irrespective of their means. In addition to purely ethical considerations, then, there are issues of a social, economic and political nature that need to be addressed in order to ensure that advances in medical science go hand in hand with just and equitable provision of health-care services. Here the Church is able to offer concrete assistance through her extensive health-care apostolate, active in so many countries across the globe and directed with particular solicitude to the needs of the world’s poor.

Dear friends, as I conclude my remarks, I want to assure you of a special remembrance in prayer andI commend to the intercession of Mary, Salus Infirmorum, all of you who work so hard to bring healing and hope to those who suffer. I pray that your commitment to adult stem cell research will bring great blessings for the future of man and genuine enrichment to his culture. To you, your families and your collaborators, as well as to all the patients who stand to benefit from your generous expertise and the results of your work, I gladly impart my Apostolic Blessing. Thank you very much!

© Copyright 2011 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

APOSTOLIC JOURNEY TO BENIN

18-20 NOVEMBER 2011

Meeting of His Holiness Benedict XVI with journalists during the flight to Benin

Papal Flight

Friday, 18 November 2011

Father Lombardi:  Your Holiness, we welcome you among us, among this group of journalists accompanying you on your way to Africa.  We are very grateful to you for devoting some of your time to us once again.  Here, on this aeroplane, there are around forty journalists, photographers and cameramen from various agencies and television companies, then there are also the Vatican media operators travelling with you: around fifty persons.  In Cotonou, about a thousand journalists are waiting for us, and they will be following the journey in situ.  As usual, we are going to ask you some questions that have been put together in recent days among our colleagues.  The first question I shall address to you in French, as it occurs to me that this would be welcomed by listeners and viewers in Benin, who will be able to follow the interview once we have arrived.

Father Lombardi:  Holy Father, this journey takes us to Benin.  But it is a very important journey for the whole of the African continent.  What made you think Benin would be the right country for a message addressed to the whole of Africa, for today and for the future?

Holy Father: There are a number of reasons.  The first is that Benin is a country at peace, both externally and internally.  There are well-functioning democratic institutions, established in a spirit of freedom and responsibility, and so justice and work for the common good are possible and guaranteed by the functioning of the democratic institutions and the sense of responsibility in freedom.  The second reason is that, as in most African countries, there are different religions present, and they coexist peacefully.  There are Christians of different confessions  which is not always easy, there are Muslims, and finally there are the traditional religions, and all three of these different religions live side by side in mutual respect with a shared responsibility for peace, for interior and exterior reconciliation. It seems to me that this coexistence of religions, where interreligious dialogue fosters peace and freedom, is very important, and it is also an important element of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation.  And finally, the third reason is that it is the country of my dear friend Cardinal Bernardin Gantin.  I have always wanted, one day, to pray at his tomb.  He was really a great friend  perhaps I will speak of him at the end, and so to visit the country of Cardinal Gantin, a great representative of Catholic Africa, and of African civilization at its most humane, is a further reason for me to go to Benin.

Father Lombardi:  While Africans are experiencing the weakening of their traditional communities, the Catholic Church finds herself faced with the increasing success of Evangelical or Pentecostal Churches, which sometimes spring up spontaneously in Africa.  They offer an attractive faith, and a great simplification of the Christian message: they emphasize healings, and they mix their rituals with those of the traditional religions.  What stance does the Catholic Church adopt towards these communities, which are so aggressive towards her?  And how can the Church be attractive, when these communities portray themselves as festive, warm or inculturated?

Holy Father:  These communities are a worldwide phenomenon, found in all continents. In particular, they have a strong presence, in different forms, in Latin America and in Africa.  I would say that the characteristic elements are minimal institutional character, few institutions, lightweight teaching, a straightforward message, simple, easily grasped, apparently concrete and then  as you say  a participative liturgy with the expression of personal emotions and of the native culture, with combinations of different religions, sometimes in a syncretistic way.  All this, on the one hand, guarantees success, but it also implies instability.  We also know that many people come back to the Catholic Church or else migrate from one of these communities to another.  Hence, we must not imitate these communities, but we must ask what we can do to give fresh vitality to the Catholic faith.  And I would say that an initial point is certainly a simple, profound, easily grasped message; it is important that Christianity should not come across as a difficult European system that others cannot understand and put into practice, but as a universal message that there is a God, a God who matters [to us], a God who knows us and loves us, and that concrete religion stimulates cooperation and fraternity.  So, a simple concrete message is very important.  Another very important point is that the institution should never be too heavy, that is to say, the initiative of the community and of the individual should be predominant.  And I would also say that a participative but not emotional liturgy is needed:  it must not be based merely on the expression of emotions, but should be characterized by the presence of the mystery into which we enter, by which we are formed.  And finally, I would say, it is important for inculturation not to lose universality.  I would prefer to speak of interculturalism, rather than inculturation, that is, a meeting of cultures within the shared truth of our humanity and our era, giving rise to a growth in universal fraternity; we must not lose the great gift of catholicity, meaning that in every part of the world we are brothers, we are a family, knowing one another and working together in a spirit of fraternity.

Father Lombardi:  Your Holiness, in recent decades Africa has seen many peace-keeping operations, conferences for national reconstruction, truth and reconciliation commissions with results that are sometimes good and sometimes disappointing.  During the Synodal Assembly, the bishops spoke forcefully about the responsibility of politicians for the problems of the continent.  What message do you intend to address to Africas political leaders, and what is the specific contribution that the Church can make to the building of lasting peace on the continent?

Holy Father:  The message is contained in the text that I shall consign to the Church in Africa: I cannot summarize it now, in a few words.  It is true that there have been a great many international conferences specifically about Africa, for universal fraternity.  Good things have been said, and sometimes good things have actually been done: we must acknowledge this.  But without any doubt, words loom larger, good intentions and good will are more conspicuous than real results, and we must ask ourselves why the reality does not match the words and the intentions.  A fundamental factor, it seems to me, is that this renewal, this universal fraternity demands sacrifice, it demands that people move beyond selfishness and live for others.  This is easy to say, but hard to accomplish.  Man, in consequence of original sin, wants to possess himself, to possess life, and not to give his life.  Whatever I have, I want to keep.  But if this is my attitude, if I want not to give but to possess, then of course good intentions lead nowhere.  Indeed it is only through love and knowledge of a God who loves us and gives to us that we can arrive at the point where we dare to lose our lives and give ourselves, knowing that this is how we stand to gain.  So the contents of todays Synod document are concerned with this fundamental position: by loving God and by living in friendship with this God who gives himself, we too can dare to give, we can implore the grace to give, not just to possess; to sacrifice, to be there for others, to lose our lives in the certitude that in this way, we truly gain.

Father Lombardi:  Your Holiness, at the opening of the African Synod in Rome, you spoke of Africa as a great spiritual lung for a humanity that appears to be in a crisis of faith and hope.  Bearing in mind Africas great problems, this expression seems almost disconcerting.  In what sense do you really think that Africa can be a source of faith and hope for the world?  Do you also see a role for Africa in the evangelization of the rest of the world?

Holy Father:  Of course Africa has great problems and difficulties, the whole of mankind has great problems.  If I think back to my youth, the world then was totally different from the world today, and sometimes I think I am living on a different planet from the one I knew as a boy.  Man is caught up in a process of transformation that is getting faster all the time.  For Africa over the last 50-60 years  from independence, after the colonial era, up to the present  this process has been very demanding, and of course it has been very difficult, there have been great difficulties and problems, and they are not solved yet.  As mankind moves forward, so do the difficulties.  Yet the freshness of Africas yes to life and the youthfulness that is found there, so full of enthusiasm and hope as well as humour and liveliness, show us that Africa has a reserve of humanity, there is still a freshness about its religious sense and its hope; there is still a perception of metaphysical reality, total reality, including God: not this reduction to positivism, that constricts our life and makes it somewhat dry, extinguishing hope in the process.  So I would say that the fresh humanism found in Africas young soul, despite all the problems of today and tomorrow, shows that Africa still has a reserve of life and vitality for the future, on which we can depend.

Father Lombardi:  One final question, Your Holiness, let us go back for a moment to a point that you mentioned among the reasons for this journey to Benin: we know that a very important place in this journey belongs to the figure of the late Cardinal Gantin.  You knew him very well: he was your predecessor as Dean of the Sacred College, and he was universally held in great esteem.  Would you like to offer us a brief personal testimony about him?

Holy Father:  I first set eyes on Cardinal Gantin at my ordination as Archbishop of Munich in 1977.  He had come because one of his students had studied with me: so there was already a notional friendship between us, even though we had yet to meet.  On that crucial day of my episcopal ordination, I was very pleased to meet this young African bishop, so full of faith, joy and courage.  Later we worked together a great deal, especially when he was Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and then in the Sacred College.  I always admired his practical and profound intelligence; his sense of discernment, of not resorting to stock phrases, but understanding what was the essential point and what made no sense.  And then his real sense of humour, which was very fine.  Above all he was a man of deep faith and prayer.  All this made Cardinal Gantin not just a friend, but also an example to follow, a great African bishop, a great Catholic.  I am truly glad to have the opportunity now to pray at his tomb and to feel his closeness and his great faith, which for me makes him a constant example and friend.

Father Lombardi: Thank you, Holy Father.  If I may, I will just add that your student who invited Cardinal Gantin is present with us today on this journey: he is Monsignor Barthélémy Adoukounou and he too is present for this beautiful occasion. Finally, we thank you for giving us your time.  We wish you a good journey, and as usual, we will aim to work together to communicate your messages for Africa over the coming days.  Thank you again, and we will see you again soon.

© Copyright 2011 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

APOSTOLIC JOURNEY TO BENIN

18-20 NOVEMBER 2011

WELCOME CEREMONY

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

Cardinal Bernardin Gantin International Airport, Cotonou

Friday, 18 November 2011

[Video]

Mr President,

Your Eminence,

Dear President of the Episcopal Conference of Benin,

Civil, Ecclesiastical and Religious Authorities,

Dear Friends,

I thank you, Mr President, for the warm words of welcome. You know well the affection which I have for your continent and for your country. I was eager to return to Africa, and a threefold motivation has provided the occasion for this Apostolic Journey. First and foremost, Mr President, is your kind invitation to visit your country. Your initiative was received along with that of the Episcopal Conference of Benin. These are auspicious, since they come during the year in which Benin celebrates the fortieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Holy See, as well the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of her evangelization. While among you, I will have the occasion to meet many people, and I look forward to it. Each of these experiences will be different, and will culminate in the Eucharist which I will celebrate before I leave.

This Apostolic Journey also fulfils my desire to bring back to African soil the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Africae Munus. Its reflections will guide the pastoral activities of numerous Christian communities in the coming years. May this document fall into the ground and take root, grow and bear much fruit “in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty”, as we hear in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (Mt 13:23).

Additionally, there exists a third reason which is more personal and more emotive. I have long held in high esteem a son of this country, His Eminence Cardinal Bernardin Gantin. For many years, we both worked, each according to his proper competence, labouring in the same vineyard. We both happily assisted my predecessor, Blessed John Paul II, in the exercise of his Petrine ministry. We had many occasions to meet, to engage in profound discussions and to pray together. Cardinal Gantin won the respect and the affection of many. So it seemed right that I should come to his country of origin, to pray before his tomb, and to thank Benin for having given the Church such a distinguished son.

Benin is a country of ancient and noble traditions. Her history is significant. I am pleased to take this opportunity to greet the traditional Chiefs. Their contribution is important in the construction of the country’s future. I would like to encourage them to contribute, with their wisdom and understanding of local customs, in the delicate transition currently under way from tradition to modernity.

Modernity need not provoke fear, but neither can it be constructed by neglecting the past. It needs to be accompanied by prudence for the good of all in order to avoid the pitfalls which exist on the African continent and elsewhere, such as unconditional surrender to the law of the market or that of finance, nationalism or exaggerated and sterile tribalism which can become destructive, a politicization of interreligious tensions to the detriment of the common good, or finally the erosion of human, cultural, ethical and religious values. The transition to modernity must be guided by sure criteria based on recognized virtues, which are listed in your national motto, but equally which are firmly rooted in the dignity of the person, the importance of the family and respect for life. All of these values exist in view of the common good which must take first place, and which must constitute the primary concern of all in positions of responsibility. God trusts in man and desires his good. It is our task to respond, in honesty and justice, to his high expectations.

The Church, for her part, offers her own specific contribution. By her presence, her prayer and her various works of mercy, especially in education and health care, she wishes to give her best to everyone. She wants to be close to those who are in need, near to those who search for God. She wants to make it understood that God is neither absent nor irrelevant as some would have us believe but that he is the friend of man. It is in this spirit of friendship and of fraternity that I come to your country, Mr President.

ACƐ MAWU TƆN NI KƆN DO BENIN TO Ɔ BI JI[in Fon: May God bless Benin!]

© Copyright 2011 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

APOSTOLIC JOURNEY TO BENIN

18-20 NOVEMBER 2011

VISIT AT THE CATHEDRAL OF COTONOU

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

Cotonou

Friday, 18 November 2011

Your Eminences,

Most Reverend Archbishop and Dear Brother Bishops,

Reverend Father Rector of the Cathedral,

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The ancient hymn, the Te Deum, which we have just sung, expresses our praise to the thrice-holy God who gathers us in this beautiful Cathedral of Our Lady of Mercy. We pay homage as well to the former Archbishops who are buried here: Archbishop Christoph Adimou and Archbishop Isidore de Sousa. They were heroic workers in the vineyard of the Lord, and their memory lives on in the hearts of Catholics and innumerable other citizens of Benin. These two Bishops were, each in his own way, pastors full of zeal and charity. They spent themselves, without counting the cost, in the service of the Gospel and of the people of God, especially the most vulnerable. You know well that Archbishop de Sousa was a friend of the truth and that he played a decisive role in your country’s transition to democracy.

As we praise God for the marvels which he never ceases to bestow upon humanity, I invite you to meditate for a moment on his infinite mercy. The history of salvation, which culminates in the incarnation of Jesus and finds its fulfilment in the Paschal Mystery, is a radiant revelation of the mercy of God. In the Son, the “Father of mercies” (2 Cor 1:3) is made visible; ever faithful to his fatherhood, he “leans down to each prodigal child, to each human misery, and above all to their moral misery, to their sins” (John Paul II, Dives in Misericordia, 6). Divine mercy consists not only in the remission of our sins; it also consists in the fact that God, our Father, redirects us, sometimes not without pain, affliction or fear on our part, to the path of truth and light, for he does not wish us to be lost (cf. Mt 18:14; Jn 3:16). This double expression of divine mercy shows how faithful God is to the covenant sealed with each Christian in his or her baptism. Looking back upon the personal history of each individual and of the evangelization of our countries, we can say together with the Psalmist, “I will sing of thy steadfast love, O Lord, for ever” (Ps 88:1).

The Virgin Mary experienced to the highest degree the mystery of divine love: “His mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation” (Lk 1:50), she exclaimed in her Magnificat. By her yes to the call of God, she contributed to the manifestation of divine love in the midst of humanity. In this sense, she is the Mother of Mercy by her participation in the mission of her Son: she has received the privilege of being our helper always and everywhere. “By her manifold intercession, she continues to procure the gifts which assure our eternal salvation. By her motherly love, she cares for her Son’s sisters and brothers who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until they are led into their blessed home” (Lumen Gentium, 62). Under the shelter of her mercy, deadened hearts are healed, the snares of the devil are thwarted and enemies are reconciled. In Mary, we have not only a model of perfection, but also one who helps us to realize communion with God and with our brothers and sisters. As Mother of Mercy, she is a sure guide to the disciples of her son who wish to be of service to justice, to reconciliation and to peace. She shows us, with simplicity and with a mother’s heart, the one Light and Truth: her Son, Jesus Christ who leads humanity to its full realization in the Father. Let us not be afraid to invoke, with confidence, her who ceaselessly dispenses to her children abundant divine graces:

O Mother of Mercy,

We salute you, Mother of the Redeemer;

We salute you, Glorious Virgin;

We salute you, our Queen!

O Queen of Hope,

Show us the face of your divine Son;

Guide us along the way of holiness;

Give us the joy of those who say Yes to God!

O Queen of Peace,

Fulfil the most noble aspirations of the young people of Africa;

Fill the hearts of those who thirst for justice, for peace and for reconciliation;

Fulfil the hopes of children, victims of hunger and of war!

O Queen of Peace,

Obtain for us a filial and fraternal love;

Grant that we may be friends of the poor and the little ones;

Obtain for the peoples of the earth a spirit of brotherhood!

Our Lady of Africa,

Obtain from your divine Son healing for the sick, consolation for the afflicted, pardon for sinners;

Intercede for Africa before your divine Son,

And obtain for all of humanity salvation and peace!

Amen.

© Copyright 2011 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

APOSTOLIC JOURNEY TO BENIN

18-20 NOVEMBER 2011

Meeting with Members of the Government, Representatives of the Republic's institutions, the Diplomat Corps and Major Religions

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

Presidential Palace of Cotonou

Saturday, 19 November 2011

[Video]

Mr President,

Distinguished civil, political and religious authorities,

Distinguished heads of the diplomatic missions,

Dear Brother Bishops, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends,

[Solemn greeting in Fon] DOO NOUMI!

Mr President, you have given me the opportunity of this encounter with this distinguished gathering of personalities. I appreciate this privilege, and I offer you my heartfelt thanks for the kind words which you have just expressed to me in the name of all the people of Benin. I also thank the representative of the institutions present for her words of welcome. Allow me to express my best wishes for all of you who are among the foremost protagonists, in various ways, of Benin’s national life.

Speaking on other occasions, I have often joined the word hope to the word Africa. I did so in Luanda two years ago as well as in reference to the Synod. The word hope is also found several times in the post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Africae Munus which I am shortly going to sign. When I say that Africa is a continent of hope, I am not indulging in mere rhetoric, but simply expressing a personal conviction which is also that of the Church. Too often, our mind is blocked by prejudices or by images which give a negative impression of the realities of Africa, the fruit of a bleak analysis. It is tempting to point to what does not work; it is easy to assume the judgemental tone of the moralizer or of the expert who imposes his conclusions and proposes, at the end of the day, few useful solutions. It is also tempting to analyze the realities of Africa like a curious ethnologist or like someone who sees the vast resources only in terms of energy, minerals, agriculture and humanity easily exploited for often dubious ends. These are reductionist and disrespectful points of view which lead to the unhelpful “objectification” of Africa and her inhabitants.

I am aware that words do not always mean the same thing everywhere; but the meaning of hope differs little from culture to culture. A few years have now passed since I dedicated an encyclical letter to Christian hope. To talk of hope is to talk of the future and hence of God! The future has its roots in the past and in the present. The past we know well, regretting its failures and acknowledging its successes. The present we live as well as we can, I hope, for the best with God’s help! It is upon this mixture of many contradictory and complementary elements that we must build with the help of God.

Dear friends, in the light of this experience which ought to encourage us, I would like to mention two current African realities. The first relates in a general way to the socio-political and economic life of the continent, the second to interreligious dialogue. These realities concern all of us, because this century seems to be coming into being painfully and to struggle to make hope grow in these two particular domains.

During recent months, many peoples have manifested their desire for liberty, their need for material security, and their wish to live in harmony according to their different ethnic groups and religions. Indeed, a new state has been born on your continent. Many conflicts have originated in man's blindness, in his will to power and in political and economic interests which mock the dignity of people and of nature. Human beings aspire to liberty; then to live in dignity; they want good schools and food for their children, dignified hospitals to take care of the sick; they want to be respected; they demand transparent governance which does not confuse private and public interests; and above all they desire peace and justice. At this time, there are too many scandals and injustices, too much corruption and greed, too many errors and lies, too much violence which leads to misery and to death. These ills certainly afflict your continent, but they also afflict the rest of the world. Every people wishes to understand the political and economic choices which are made in its name. They perceive manipulation and their revenge is sometimes violent. They wish to participate in good governance. We know that no political regime is ideal and that no economic choice is neutral. But these must always serve the common good. Hence we are faced with legitimate demands, present in all countries, for greater dignity and above all for greater humanity. Man demands that his humanity be respected and promoted. Political and economic leaders of countries find themselves placed before important decisions and choices which they can no longer avoid.

From this place, I launch an appeal to all political and economic leaders of African countries and the rest of the world. Do not deprive your peoples of hope! Do not cut them off from their future by mutilating their present! Adopt a courageous ethical approach to your responsibilities and, if you are believers, ask God to grant you wisdom! This wisdom will help you to understand that, as promoters of your peoples’ future, you must become true servants of hope. It is not easy to live the life of a servant, to remain consistent amid the currents of opinion and powerful interests. Power, such as it is, easily blinds, above all when private, family, ethnic or religious interests are at stake. God alone purifies hearts and intentions.

The Church does not propose any technical solution and does not impose any political solution. She repeats: do not be afraid! Humanity is not alone before the challenges of the world. God is present. There is a message of hope, hope which generates energy, which stimulates the intellect and gives the will all its dynamism. A former Archbishop of Toulouse, Cardinal Saliège, once said: "to hope is never to abandon; it is to redouble one's activity". The Church accompanies the State and its mission; she wishes to be like the soul of our body untiringly pointing to what is essential: God and man. She wishes to accomplish, openly and without fear, the immense task of one who educates and cares, but above all who prays without ceasing (cf. Lk 18:1), who points to God (cf. Mt 6:21) and to where the authentic man is to be found (cf. Mt 20:26, Jn 19:5). Despair is individualistic. Hope is communion. Is not this a wonderful path that is placed before us? I ask all political and economic leaders, as well those of the university and cultural realms to join it. May you also be sowers of hope!

I would now like to touch upon the second point, that of interreligious dialogue. I do not think it is necessary to recall the recent conflicts born in the name of God, or deaths brought about in the name of him who is life. Everyone of good sense understands that a serene and respectful dialogue about cultural and religious differences must be promoted. True interreligious dialogue rejects humanly self-centred truth, because the one and only truth is in God. God is Truth. Hence, no religion, and no culture may justify appeal or recourse to intolerance and violence. Aggression is an outmoded relational form which appeals to superficial and ignoble instincts. To use the revealed word, the Sacred Scriptures or the name of God to justify our interests, our easy and convenient policies or our violence, is a very grave fault.

I can only come to a knowledge of the other if I know myself. I cannot love unless I love myself (cf. Mt 22:39). Knowledge, deeper understanding and practice of one's religion, are therefore essential to true interreligious dialogue. This can only begin by sincere personal prayer on the part of the one who desires to dialogue. Let him go in secret to his private room (cf. Mt 6:6) to ask God for the purification of reason and to seek his blessing upon the desired encounter. This prayer also asks God for the gift to see in the other a brother to be loved and, within his tradition, a reflection of the truth which illumines all people (Nostra Aetate, 2). Everyone ought therefore to place himself in truth before God and before the other. This truth does not exclude and it is not confusion. Interreligious dialogue when badly understood leads to muddled thinking or to syncretism. This is not the dialogue which is sought.

Despite the steps already taken, we know that sometimes interreligious dialogue is not easy or that it is impeded for various reasons. This does not necessarily indicate failure.  There are many forms of interreligious dialogue. Cooperation in social or cultural areas can help people to understand each other better and to live together serenely. It is also useful to know that dialogue does not take place through weakness; we enter into dialogue because we believe in God, the Creator and Father of all people. Dialogue is another way of loving God and our neighbour out of love for the truth (cf. Mt 22:37).

Having hope does not mean being ingenuous but making an act of faith in God, the Lord of history, and the Lord of our future. Thus the Catholic Church puts into action one of the intuitions of the Second Vatican Council, that of promoting friendly relations between herself and the members of non-Christian religions. For decades now, the Pontifical Council dedicated to this task has been creating links, holding meetings and publishing documents regularly in order to foster such a dialogue. In this way the Church strives to overcome the confusion of languages and the dispersal of hearts born of the sin of Babel (cf. Gen 11). I greet all religious leaders who have kindly come here to meet me. I would like to assure them, as well as those from other African countries, that the dialogue offered by the Catholic Church comes from the heart. I encourage them to promote, above all among the young people, a pedagogy of dialogue, so that they may discover that our conscience is a sanctuary to be respected and that our spiritual dimension builds fraternity. True faith leads invariably to love. It is in this spirit that I invite all of you to hope.

These general ideas may be applied especially to Africa. In your continent, there are many families whose members profess different beliefs, and yet these families remain united. This is not just a unity wished by culture, but it is a unity cemented by a fraternal affection. Sometimes, of course, there are failures, but there are also many successes. In this area, Africa can offer all of us food for thought and thus become a source of hope.

To finish, I would like to use the image of a hand. There are five fingers on it and each one is quite different. Each one is also essential and their unity makes a hand. A good understanding between cultures, consideration for each other which is not condescending, and the respect of the rights of each one are a vital duty. This must be taught to all the faithful of the various religions. Hatred is a failure, indifference is an impasse, and dialogue is an openness! Is this not good ground in which seeds of hope may be sown? To offer someone your hand means to hope, later, to love, and what could be more beautiful than a proffered hand? It was willed by God to offer and to receive. God did not want it to kill (cf. Gen 4:1ff) or to inflict suffering, but to care and to help live. Together with our heart and our intelligence, our hand too can become an instrument of dialogue. It can make hope flourish, above all when our intelligence stammers and our heart stumbles.

According to Sacred Scripture, three symbols describe the hope of Christians: the helmet, because it protects us from discouragement (cf. 1 Th 5:8), the anchor, sure and solid, which ties us to God (cf. Heb 6:19), and the lamp which permits us to await the dawn of a new day (cf. Lk 12:35-36). To be afraid, to doubt and to fear, to live in the present without God, or to have nothing to hope for, these are all attitudes which are foreign to the Christian faith (St John Chrysostom, Homily XIV on the Letter to the Romans, 6; PG 45, 941 C) and, I am convinced, to all other forms of belief in God. Faith lives in the present, but it awaits future goods. God is in our present, but he is also in the future, a place of hope. The expansion of our hearts is not only hope in God but also an opening to and care for physical and temporal realities in order to glorify God. Following Peter, of whom I am a successor, I hope that your faith and hope will be in God (cf. 1 Pet 1:21). This is my wish for the whole of Africa, which is so dear to me! Africa, be confident and rise up! The Lord is calling you. May God bless you! Thank you.

© Copyright 2011 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

APOSTOLIC JOURNEY TO BENIN

18-20 NOVEMBER 2011

Meeting with priests, men and women religious, seminarians and lay faithful

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

Courtyard of St Gall Seminary - Ouidah

Saturday, 19 November 2011

Your Eminence,

Bishop N’Koué, responsible for priestly formation,

Dear Brother Bishops and Priests,

Dear men and women religious,

Dear seminarians and lay faithful,

Thank you, Bishop N’Koué, for your kind words, and thank you dear seminarian, for your own welcoming and respectful ones. It is a great joy for me to be among you, in Ouidah, and in particular in this seminary placed under the protection of Saint Joan of Arc and dedicated to Saint Gall, a man of outstanding virtue, a monk who desired perfection, and a pastor full of meekness and humility. What could be more noble than to have him as your model, as well as the figure of Monsignor Louis Parisot, indefatigable apostle of the poor and promoter of the local clergy, and that of Father Thomas Moulero, the first priest of the then Dahomey, as well as Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, eminent son of your land and humble servant of the Church?

Our encounter this morning offers me the opportunity to express directly to you my gratitude for your pastoral commitment. I give thanks to God for your zeal, in spite of the occasionally difficult conditions in which you are called to give witness to his love. I thank him for the many men and women who have proclaimed the Gospel in this land, and indeed throughout Africa.

Shortly, I will sign the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Africae Munus. It will treat the question of peace, justice and reconciliation. These three values stand out as an evangelical ideal fundamental to baptismal life, and they demand sound acceptance of your identity as priests, as consecrated persons and as lay faithful.

Dear priests, the responsibility for promoting peace, justice and reconciliation falls in a special way to you. Owing to your reception of Holy Orders and your celebration of the Sacraments, you are called in effect to be men of communion. As crystal does not retain the light but rather reflects it and passes it on, in the same manner the priest must make transparent what he celebrates and what he has received. I thus encourage you to let Christ shine through your life, by being in full communion with your Bishop, by a genuine goodwill towards your brother priests, by a profound solicitude for each of the baptized and by great attention to each person. In letting yourself be modelled on Christ, you will never substitute the beauty of your priestly being with ephemeral and at times unhealthy realities which the contemporary mentality tends to impose on every culture. I urge you, dear priests, never to underestimate the unfathomable riches of the divine grace placed in you and which you have been called to live at the service of peace, of justice and of reconciliation.

Dear men and women religious, either active or contemplative, the consecrated life is a radical following of Jesus. May your unconditional choice for Christ lead you to an unlimited love for your neighbour. Poverty and chastity make you truly free to obey unconditionally the one Love which, when it takes hold of you, impels you to proclaim it everywhere. May poverty, obedience and chastity increase your thirst for God and your hunger for his Word, who, by increasing, transforms hunger and thirst into service of those who are deprived of justice, peace and reconciliation. Faithfully lived, the evangelical counsels transform you into a universal brother or sister of all, and they will help you to walk resolutely on the way of holiness. You will arrive there, if you are convinced that, for you, to live is Christ (cf. Phil 1:21), you will make of your communities reflections of the glory of God and places where you have no debts to anyone, except that of mutual love (cf. Rom 13:8). By means of your proper charisms lived with a spirit of openness to the catholicity of the Church, you can contribute to a harmonious expression of the immensity of the divine gifts at the service of all humanity!

Turning now to you, dear seminarians, I encourage you to place yourselves in the school of Christ in order to acquire those virtues which will help you to live the ministerial priesthood as the locus of your sanctification. Without the logic of holiness, the ministry is merely a social function. The quality of your future life depends on the quality of your personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ, on your sacrifices, on the right integration of the requirements of your current formation. Faced with the challenges of human existence, the priest of today and tomorrow – if he wants to be a credible witness to the service of peace, justice and reconciliation – must be a humble and balanced man, one who is wise and magnanimous. After 60 years in priestly life, I can tell you, dear seminarians, that you will not regret accumulating intellectual, spiritual and pastoral treasures during your formation.

Dear lay faithful here present, you who are at the heart of the daily realities of life, you are called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, I urge you to renew yourselves and your work for justice, peace and reconciliation. This mission requires first of all a faith in your family built according to the design of God and in fidelity to his plan for Christian marriage. He also demands of you to be true domestic churches. Thanks to the power of prayer, “personal and family life is transformed, gradually improved and enriched with dialogue, faith is transmitted to the children, the pleasure of being together grows and the home is further united and consolidated” without ceasing (Message for the Sixth World Day of Families, Mexico, 17 January 2009, 3). By having love and forgiveness reign in your families, you will contribute to the upbuilding of a Church which is beautiful and strong, and to the advent of greater justice and peace in the whole of society. In this way, I encourage you, dear parents, to have a profound respect for life and to bear witness to human and spiritual values before your children. And I am pleased to recall that, ten years ago, Pope John Paul II founded at Cotonou a section for French-speaking Africa of the Institute which bears his name, to contribute to theological and pastoral reflection on marriage and the family. Lastly, I exhort especially the catechists, those valiant missionaries at the heart of the most humble realities, to offer them always, with an unshakable hope and determination, an outstanding and absolutely necessary contribution to the spread of the faith through fidelity to the teaching of the Church (cf. Ad Gentes, 17).

To conclude this conversation with you, I would like to encourage you all to have an authentic and living faith, which is the unshakeable foundation of a holy Christian life and which is at the service of the building of a new world. The love for the God who reveals himself and for his word, the love for the sacraments and for the Church, are an efficacious antidote against a syncretism which deceives. This love favours the correct integration of the authentic values of cultures into the Christian faith. It liberates from occultism and vanquishes evil spirits, for it is moved by the power of the Holy Trinity itself. Lived deeply, this love is also a ferment of communion which breaks down every barrier, promoting the building of a Church in which there is no segregation among the baptized, for all are made one in Christ Jesus (cf. Gal 3:28). With great confidence, I count on each one of you, priests, men and women religious, seminarians and lay faithful, to bring such a Church to life. As a token of my spiritual and paternal closeness, and entrusting you to the Virgin Mary, I invoke upon all of you, your families, the young and the sick, an abundance of divine blessings. AKLUNƆ NI KƆN FƐNU TƆN LƐ DO MI JI[Fon: May the Lord fill you with his blessings!]

© Copyright 2011 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

APOSTOLIC JOURNEY TO BENIN

18-20 NOVEMBER 2011

Visit at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception of Mary of Ouidah and signing of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Ouidah

Saturday, 19 November 2011

Your Eminences,

Dear Brother Bishops and Priests,

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I cordially thank the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, Archbishop Nikola Eterović, for his words of welcome and presentation, as well as all the members of the Special Council for Africa who helped to collate the results of the Synodal Assembly in preparation for the publication of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation.

Today, the celebration of the Synod concludes with the signing of the Exhortation Africae Munus.  The Synod gave an impetus to the Catholic Church in Africa, which prayed, reflected on and discussed the theme of reconciliation, justice and peace.  This process was marked by a special closeness uniting the Successor of Peter and the Particular Churches in Africa.  Bishops, but also experts, auditors, special guests and fraternal delegates, all came to Rome to celebrate this important ecclesial event.  I myself went to Yaoundé to present the Instrumentum Laboris of the Synod to the Presidents of the Bishops Conferences, as a sign of my interest and concern for all the peoples of the African continent and the neighbouring islands.  I now have the joy of returning to Africa, and particularly to Benin, to consign this final document, which takes up the reflections of the Synod Fathers and presents them synthetically as part of a broad pastoral vision.

La Deuxième Assemblée spéciale pour lAfrique du Synode des Évêques a bénéficié de lExhortation apostolique post-synodale Ecclesia in Africa du Bienheureux Jean-Paul II, dans laquelle a été soulignée fortement lurgence de lévangélisation du continent, qui ne peut être dissociée de la promotion humaine. Par ailleurs, le concept dÉglise-famille de Dieu y a été développé. Ce dernier a produit beaucoup de fruits spirituels pour lÉglise catholique et pour  laction dévangélisation et de promotion humaine quelle a mise en uvre, pour la société africaine dans son ensemble. En effet, lÉglise est appelée à se découvrir toujours plus comme une famille. Pour les chrétiens, il sagit de la communauté des croyants qui loue Dieu Un et Trine, célèbre les grands mystères de notre foi et anime avec charité les rapports entre les personnes, les groupes et les nations, au-delà des diversités ethniques, culturelles et religieuses. Dans ce service rendu à chaque personne, lÉglise est ouverte à la collaboration avec toutes les composantes de la société, en particulier avec les représentants des Églises et des Communautés ecclésiales qui ne sont pas encore en pleine communion avec lÉglise catholique, tout comme avec les représentants des religions non chrétiennes, surtout ceux des Religions Traditionnelles et de lIslam.

Prenant en compte cet horizon ecclésial, la Deuxième Assemblée spéciale pour lAfrique sest concentrée sur le thème de la réconciliation, de la justice et de la paix. Il sagit de points importants pour le monde en général, mais ils acquièrent une actualité toute particulière en Afrique. Il suffit de rappeler les tensions, les violences, les guerres, les injustices, les abus de toutes sortes, nouveaux et anciens, qui ont marqué cette année. Le thème principal concernait la réconciliation avec Dieu et avec le prochain. Une Église réconciliée en son sein et entre tous ses membres pourra devenir signe prophétique de réconciliation au niveau de la société, de chaque pays et du continent tout entier. Saint Paul écrit : « Tout vient de Dieu, qui nous a réconciliés avec Lui par le Christ et nous a confié le ministère de la réconciliation » (2 Co 5, 18). Le fondement de cette réconciliation se trouve dans la nature même de lÉglise qui est « dans le Christ, en quelque sorte le sacrement, c'est-à-dire à la fois le signe et le moyen de l'union intime avec Dieu et de l'unité de tout le genre humain » (LG 1). Sur cette assise, lÉglise en Afrique est appelée à promouvoir la paix et la justice. La Porte du Non-retour et celle du Pardon nous rappellent ce devoir et nous poussent à dénoncer et à combattre toute forme desclavage.

[The Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops benefited from the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa of Blessed John Paul II, which emphasized the urgent need to evangelize this continent, an activity which cannot be separated from the work of human promotion.  The Exhortation also developed the concept of the Church as Gods Family.  This concept has borne many spiritual fruits for the Catholic Church and for the activity of evangelization and human promotion which she has carried out in African society as a whole.  The Church is called to see herself increasingly as a family.  For Christians, this means being a community of believers which praises the triune God, celebrates the great mysteries of our faith and enlivens with charity relationships between individuals, groups and nations, above and beyond ethnic, cultural and religious differences.  In offering this service to everyone, the Church is open to cooperation with all the components of society, particularly with the representatives of the Churches and Ecclesial Communities not yet in full communion with the Catholic Church, as well as with the representatives of the non-Christian religions, above all those of traditional religions and of Islam.

Within this ecclesial horizon, the Second Special Assembly for Africa concentrated on the theme of reconciliation, justice and peace.  These are important issues for the world in general, but they take on a particular urgency in Africa.  We need but recall the tensions, the acts of violence, the wars, the injustices and abuses of all sorts, new and old, which have marked this year.  The principal theme was that of reconciliation with God and with ones neighbour.  But a Church reconciled within herself and among all her members can become a prophetic sign of reconciliation in society within each country and the continent as a whole.  Saint Paul writes: All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18).  The basis of this reconciliation is found in the very nature of the Church, which in Christ, is a sacrament  a sign and instrument that is, of communion with God and of the unity of the entire human race (Lumen Gentium, 1).  Following on this assembly, the Church in Africa is called to promote peace and justice.  The Gate of No Return, as well as that of Pardon, remind us of this duty and impel us to combat every form of slavery.]

É preciso não cessar jamais de procurar os caminhos da paz. Esta é um dos bens mais preciosos. Para alcançá-la, é necessário ter a coragem da reconciliação que nasce do perdão, da vontade de recomeçar a vida comunitária, da visão solidária do futuro, da perseverança para superar as dificuldades. Os homens, reconciliados e em paz com Deus e o próximo, podem trabalhar por uma justiça maior no seio da sociedade. É preciso não esquecer que a justiça primeira é, segundo o Evangelho, cumprir a vontade de Deus. Desta opção de base, derivam inúmeras iniciativas que visam promover a justiça na África e o bem de todos os habitantes do continente, principalmente dos mais carenciados que precisam de emprego, escolas e hospitais.

África, terra de um Novo Pentecostes, tem confiança em Deus! Animada pelo Espírito de Jesus Cristo ressuscitado, torna-te a grande família de Deus, generosa com todos os teus filhos e filhas, agentes de reconciliação, de paz e de justiça. África, Boa Nova para a Igreja, torna-te isto mesmo para o mundo inteiro! Obrigado!

[We must never give up the search for new paths of peace!  Peace is one of our greatest treasures!  To attain peace, we need to have courage and the reconciliation born of forgiveness, the will once more to live as one, to share a vision of the future and to persevere in overcoming difficulties.  Men and women reconciled and at peace with God and neighbour can work for greater justice in society.  Let us not forget that the Gospel teaches that justice means above all doing Gods will.  This fundamental resolve spawns countless initiatives aimed at promoting justice in Africa and the welfare of all its peoples, especially the most disadvantaged and those in need of employment, schools and hospitals.

Africa, land of a New Pentecost, put your trust in God!  Impelled by the Spirit of the Risen Christ, become Gods great family, generous with all your sons and daughters, agents of reconciliation, peace and justice!  Africa, Good News for the Church, become Good News for the entire world! Thank you!]

© Copyright 2011 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Table of Contents

The Weekly Benedict - Introduction

ANGELUS

St. Peter's Square Sunday, 13 November 2011

GENERAL AUDIENCE

St. Peter's Square Wednesday, 9 November 2011

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI ON THE OCCASION OF THE SECOND NATIONAL CONGRESS FOR THE FAMILY IN ECUADOR (9-12 NOVEMBER 2011)

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE PROMOTED BY THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR CULTURE

Clementine Hall Saturday, 12 November 2011

APOSTOLIC JOURNEY TO BENIN 18-20 NOVEMBER 2011

Meeting of His Holiness Benedict XVI with journalists during the flight to Benin

Papal Flight Friday, 18 November 2011

WELCOME CEREMONY

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI Cardinal Bernardin Gantin International Airport, Cotonou Friday, 18 November 2011

VISIT AT THE CATHEDRAL OF COTONOU

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI Cotonou Friday, 18 November 2011

Meeting with Members of the Government, Representatives of the Republic's institutions, the Diplomat Corps and Major Religions

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI Presidential Palace of Cotonou Saturday, 19 November 2011

Meeting with priests, men and women religious, seminarians and lay faithful

Courtyard of St Gall Seminary - Ouidah Saturday, 19 November 2011

Visit at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception of Mary of Ouidah and signing of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation

Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Ouidah Saturday, 19 November 2011