Benedict XVI Speechs 2009
Tent city of Onna
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Dear Friends,
I have come in person to your splendid, damaged region, that is living through days of great sorrow and precariousness, in order to express my heartfelt sympathy to you in the most direct way possible. I have been beside you from the first moment ever since I learned the news of the violent earthquake which, in the night of 6 April last, took a toll of almost 300 victims, injuring many and causing extensive material damage to your homes. I followed the news with apprehension, sharing your dismay and your tears for the dead, together with your anxiety over all that you lost in an instant. I am now here among you: I would like to embrace you one by one with affection. The whole Church is with me, close to your suffering, sharing in your grief at the loss of your relatives and friends, anxious to help you rebuild the houses, churches and firms that have collapsed or have been seriously damaged by the earthquake. I admired the courage, dignity and faith with which you have also faced this harsh trial, expressing great determination not to give in to adversity. It was not in fact the first earthquake to have hit your region, and today, as in the past, you have not given up. You have not lost heart. There is in you a strength of mind that inspires hope. Very significant in this regard is a saying dear to your elders: "There are still many days behind the Gran Sasso".
In coming here to Onna, one of the centres that has paid a high price in terms of human lives, I could imagine all the sadness and hardship you have felt during these weeks. If it had been possible, I should have liked to have gone to every village and to every district, to all the tent cities and to have met everyone. I am well aware that despite the commitment of solidarity shown on all sides, there is much daily hardship involved in living out of one's home, in cars or tents, especially because of the cold and the rain. Then I am thinking of all the young people suddenly forced to come to terms with a harsh reality of the children who have had to interrupt their studies together with their relations and with the elderly, deprived of their habits.
One might say, dear friends, that in a certain way you are in the state of mind of the two disciples of Emmaus, of whom the Evangelist Luke speaks. After the tragic event of the Crucifixion they were going home disappointed and embittered because of the "end" of Jesus. It seemed as though there was no more hope, that God had hidden and was no longer present in the world. But on the way he approached them and began to converse with them. Although they did not recognize him with their eyes, something stirred in their hearts: the words of that "Stranger" rekindled in them the enthusiasm and trust that the experience of Calvary had extinguished. So now dear friends: my humble presence among you is intended as a tangible sign of the fact that the Crucified Lord is alive, that he is with us, that he is really Risen and does not forget us, does not abandon you. He does not leave your questions about the future unanswered, nor is he deaf to the anxious cry of so many families who have lost everything: homes, savings, work, and even also human lives. Of course, his practical response passes through our solidarity, which cannot be limited to the initial emergency but must become a permanent, concrete project in time.
I encourage everyone, including institutions and businesses, so that this city and these regions may recover. The Pope is also here with you today to say a word of comfort about your dead: they are alive in God and expect of you a witness of courage and hope. They are waiting to see reborn this land which must be adorned anew with beautiful, solid houses and churches. It is precisely on behalf of these brothers and sisters that you must commit yourselves once again to living, with recourse to what never dies and what the earthquake has not destroyed, and cannot destroy: love. Love also endures on the other side of the passage of our precarious earthly existence because true Love is God. Those who love, in God, triumph over death and know that they do not lose those they have loved.
I would like to conclude these words by addressing a special prayer to the Lord for the earthquake victims.
We entrust these our loved ones to you, O Lord, knowing
that you do not take the life of your faithful but transform it
and, at the very moment, in which
the dwelling of our exile on this earth is destroyed,
you are concerned with preparing for it an eternal and immortal dwelling place in Paradise.
Holy Father, Lord of Heaven and earth,
hear the cry of pain and of hope
that is raised by this community harshly tried by the earthquake!
It is the silent cry of the blood of mothers, fathers, young people,
and also of tiny innocents which rises from this land.
They have been torn from the love of their dear ones,
may you welcome them all in your peace, Lord, who are God-with-us,
Love who can give us life without end.
We are in need of you and your power,
for in the face of death we feel small and frail;
We pray you, help us, because your support alone
can raise us and lead us to set out together anew on the path of life,
holding one another trustingly by the hand.
We ask this of you through Jesus Christ, Our Saviour,
in whom shines out the hope of blessed resurrection. Amen!
Now, let us say the prayer the Lord taught us. "Our Father...".
My prayer is with you. We are together and the Lord will help us. thank you for your courage, your faith and your hope.
Square in front of the School of the "Guardia di Finanza", Coppito - L'Aquila
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Thank you for your welcome by which I am deeply touched. I embrace you all with affection in the name of Christ, our firm Hope. I greet your Archbishop, dear Mons. Giuseppe Molinari, who as Pastor has shared and is sharing with you this harsh trial; I address my thanks to him for the moving words full of faith and evangelical trust with which he has interpreted your sentiments. I greet Hon. Mr Massimo Cialente, Mayor of L'Aquila, who is working with great commitment for the rebirth of this city, as well as Hon. Mr Gianni Chiodi, President of the Region. I thank them both for their courteous words. I greet the Guardia di Finanza, which is hosting us here. I greet the Parish priests, and the other priests and religious. I greet the Mayors of the villages struck by the disaster, and all the civil and military Authorities: the Civil Defence Corps, the Fire brigade, the Red Cross, the Rescue Teams, and the numerous volunteers of the many different associations. To name them all would be difficult, but I would like to reach out to each one with a special word of appreciation.
Thank you for all you have done and especially for the love with which you have done it. Thank you for the example you have given. Persevere united and well-coordinated, so that effective solutions may be found as soon as possible for those who today live in tent camps. I earnestly hope for this and pray for it.
I began my Visit at Onna, so badly shaken by the earthquake, also thinking of the other communities hit by the quake. I carry in my heart all the victims of this catastrophe: children, young people, adults, the elderly, those from the Abruzzo, as well as those from other regions of Italy or even from different nations. The stop in the Basilica of Collemaggio to venerate the remains of Pope St Celestine v gave me an opportunity to feel tangibly this city's wounded heart. My homage is intended as a homage to the history and faith of your region and to all of you who identify with this Saint. As a sign of my spiritual participation I left on his tomb, as you mentioned, Mr Mayor, the Pallium conferred upon me on the day of the inauguration of my Pontificate. Moreover, it was deeply moving for me to pray in front of the Casa dello studente, where many young lives were cut short by the violence of the earthquake. Passing through the city, I have become even more aware of how serious the consequences of the earthquake are.
Here I am now in this square in front of the School of the Guardia di Finanza which has functioned since almost the very first moment as the general headquarters of the entire rescue operation. This place consecrated by prayers and mourning for the victims is the symbol of your tenacious determination not to give into despair. "Nec recisa recedit": the motto of the Corps of the Guardia di Finanza, which we can admire on the façade of the building, seems to express well what the Mayor described as the firm intention to rebuild the city with the constancy which is characteristic of the people of Abruzzo. This large square, which accommodated the bodies of the many victims during the funeral celebration presided by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, my Secretary of State, today gathers the forces committed to helping L'Aquila and Abruzzo to rise quickly from the rubble of the earthquake. As the Archbishop recalled, my visit among you, which I desired to make from the very outset, is intended as a sign of my closeness to each one of you and of the whole Church's fraternal solidarity. In fact, as a Christian community, we constitute a single spiritual body and if one part suffers, all the other parts suffer with it; and if one part tries to raise itself, all the parts share in its effort. I must tell you that expressions of solidarity for you have reached me from all over the world. Numerous senior figures of the Orthodox Churches have written to me to assure me of their prayers and spiritual closeness and have also sent financial aid.
I would like to stress the value and importance of solidarity which, although it is shown in particular in moments of crisis, is like fire concealed beneath the ashes. Solidarity is a deeply civil and Christian sentiment and is the benchmark of a society's maturity. In practice, it manifests in rescue work but it is not only an effective organizational machine: there is a soul, there is a passion, which derive precisely from our people's great civil and Christian history, both in institutional forms and in voluntary work. And today I wish to pay homage to this too.
The tragic event of the earthquake invites the civil community and the Church to profound reflection. As Christians we must ask ourselves: "What does the Lord want to say to us through this sorrowful event?". We lived Easter facing this trauma, questioning the word of God and receiving new light from the Crucifixion and Resurrection of the Lord. We celebrated the death and Resurrection of Christ bearing your sorrow in mind and heart, praying that the afflicted people would never lack trust in God and hope. But also as a civil community it is necessary to make a serious examination of conscience to ensure that the level of responsibility never diminishes. In this condition, L'Aquila [in English "the eagle"], though wounded, will be able to fly again.
I now invite you, dear brothers and sisters, to turn your gaze to the statue of Our Lady of Roio, venerated in a Shrine very dear to you, to entrust to her, Our Lady of the Cross, the city and all the other towns affected by the earthquake. I am leaving her a golden rose as a sign of my prayers for you, while I commend all the places that were struck to her motherly and heavenly protection.
And now, let us pray:
O Mary, our most beloved Mother!
You who stand close to our crosses,
as you remained close to the Cross of Jesus,
sustain our faith, so that even stricken by grief,
we may keep our gaze fixed on the Face of Christ in whom was revealed, in the extreme suffering of the Cross,
God's immense and pure love.
Mother of our hope,
give us your eyes to see beyond suffering and death the light of the Resurrection;
give us your heart to continue,
even in trials, to love and to serve.
O Mary, Our Lady of Roio,
Our Lady of the Cross, pray for us!
Regina Caeli…
Consistory Hall
Thursday, 30 April 2009
Dear Brothers in the Episcopate
It is a cause of great joy to me to meet this group of Pastors of the Church in Argentina, concluding their ad limina visit. I greet you with affection and hope that this brotherly meeting with the Successor of Peter will help you to feel the heartbeat of the universal Church and to consolidate the bonds of faith, communion and discipline that unite your particular Churches to this Apostolic See. At the same time, I give thanks to the Lord for this new opportunity to strengthen my brothers in the faith (cf. Lk Lc 22,32), and to share in their joys and concerns, their successes and their difficulties.
I warmly thank Archbishop Luis Héctor Villalba of Tucumán, Vice-President of the Bishops' Conference of Argentina for his cordial words which he addressed to me on your behalf, in which he expressed your sentiments of affection and adherence, as well as those of the priests, religious and lay faithful of your communities.
Dear Brothers, the Lord Jesus has entrusted to us a ministry of exalted value and dignity: to bring his message of peace and reconciliation to all peoples, to assist the holy People of God with fatherly love and lead it along the path of salvation. This task goes far beyond our personal merits and our poor human capacity, but we devote ourselves to it with simplicity and hope, sustained by Christ's words: "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide" (Jn 15,16). Jesus, the Teacher, watches over you with the love of a brother and a friend, he has called you to enter into intimacy with him and, in consecrating you with the holy oil sacramentally received he has placed the redeeming power of his Blood in your hands, so that, in the certainty of acting always in persona Christi capitis, you may be "a living sign of the Lord Jesus, Shepherd and Spouse, Teacher and High Priest of the Church" (Pastores Gregis, n. 7) in the midst of the people entrusted to you.
In the exercise of his episcopal ministry, the Bishop must always act among his faithful as the servant (cf. Lumen Gentium LG 27), drawing constant inspiration from the example of the One who did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (cf. Mk Mc 10,45). In fact, being a Bishop is a title of honour when one lives with this spirit of service to others and shares humbly and impartially in Christ's mission. Frequent contemplation of the image of the Good Shepherd will serve as an example and as encouragement to you in your efforts to proclaim and spread the Gospel. It will motivate you to care for your faithful with tenderness and mercy, to defend the weak and to spend your life in a constant and generous dedication to the People of God (cf. Pastores Gregis, n. 43).
As an essential part of your episcopal ministry in the Church, true amoris officium (cf. St Augustine in In ev. Jo. 123, 5), I wish to warmly encourage you to foster in your diocesan communities the practice of charity, particularly toward the neediest people. With your closeness and your words, with material aid and prayer, with the appeal for dialogue and in the spirit of understanding that always seeks the common good of the people, and with the light that comes from the Gospel, you want to bear a positive and visible witness to Christ's love among people, to continuously build the Church as the family of God, ever welcoming and merciful to the poorest people so that in all the dioceses charity may prevail in the fulfilment of the mandate of Jesus Christ (cf. Christus Dominus CD 16). In addition, I would also like to insist on the importance of prayer in the face of activism or a secularized vision of Christian charitable work (cf. Deus Caritas Est 37).This diligent contact with Christ in prayer transforms the hearts of believers, opening them to the needs of others, without being inspired by the "ideologies aimed at improving the world, but should rather be guided by the faith which works through love" (ibid., n. 33).
I would like in particular to entrust to you the priests, your closest collaborators. May the embrace of peace with which you welcome them on the day of their ordination to the priesthood be a living reality every day and contribute to deepening ever more the bonds of affection, respect and trust that unite you to them by virtue of the sacrament of Orders. Recognizing your priests' self-denial and devotion to the ministry, I would also like to invite them to identify more and more with the Lord, demonstrating with their virtues and good example that they are true models for the flock, and tending God's flock lovingly (cf. 1P 5,2-3).
The specific vocation of the lay faithful leads them to seek to live an upright social life and to illumine earthly realities with the light of the Gospel. May lay people, conscious of the commitments assumed in Baptism and inspired by the charity of Christ, participate actively in the Church's mission, as well as in their country's social, political economic and cultural life. In this regard, Catholics must distinguish themselves among their fellow citizens through their exemplary fulfilment of civil duties as well as by the exercise of the human and Christian virtues that contribute to improving personal, social and working relations. Their commitment will also lead them to promote in a special way those values that are essential to the common good of society, such as peace, justice, solidarity, the good of the family founded on the marriage between a man and a woman, the protection of human life from its conception until its natural death, and the right and duty of parents to raise their children in accordance with their own moral and religious convictions.
I would like to end by asking you to carry my affectionate greeting to all the members of your diocesan churches. Tell the Bishops emeritus, the priests, the seminarians, the men and women religious, and all the lay faithful that the Pope thanks them for their work for the Lord and the Gospel cause, that he hopes and trusts in their fidelity to the Church. Dear Bishops of Argentina, I thank you for your pastoral concern and I assure you of my spiritual closeness and of my constant prayers. I cordially entrust you to the protection of Nuestra Señora de Luján and I impart to you a special Apostolic Blessing.
Paul VI Audience Hall
Thursday, 30 April 2009
Mr President of the Republic,
Your Eminences,
Honourable Ministers,
Venerable Brothers,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In extending my cordial greeting to all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the President of the Italian Republic, Hon. Giorgio Napolitano, who, on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the beginning of my Pontificate, has offered me this excellent musical homage. Thank you, Mr President, also for the courtesy of the words you addressed to me a moment ago, and a warm greeting also to your gracious wife. I am pleased to greet the Ministers and other Authorities of the Italian State, as well as the Ambassadors and other figures that honour us with their presence.
I greatly enjoyed the return of the Orchestra and "Giuseppe Verdi" Chorus from Milan which we also much appreciated one year ago. Therefore, while I thank the homonymous Foundation and all those who in various ways collaborated in the organization, I renew my congratulations to all members of the Orchestra and Choir, especially to the conductor, Miss Zhang Xian, to the Choir director, Miss Erina Gambarini, and to the three soloists. The skill and enthusiasm of each one contributed to a performance which truly gave new life to the musical excerpts, works of three outstanding Authors: Vivaldi, Haydn and Mozart. I found the choice of compositions quite appropriate for the liturgical season which we are living: the season of Easter. Haydn's 95th Symphony which we heard first seems to contain within itself an itinerary which we could call "paschal".
It begins, in fact, in the key of C minor, and, following a route which is always perfectly balanced yet also dramatic, reaches its conclusion in C major. This makes one think of the journey of the soul towards peace and serenity, represented in particular by the cello. Immediately after, Mozart's 35th Symphony reaches a point which amplifies and crowns the victory of life over death, of joy over sadness. Indeed, in it, a sense of celebration decisively prevails. The movement is very dynamic, even overwhelming, in its finale and here the orchestral virtuosos have made us understand how strength can be harmonized with grace. This is what happens at the highest level in God's love, if I may allow myself this approach, in which power and grace coincide.
Next, the human voices the choir entered onto the scene, as if to give word to what the music had already sought to express. And it is not by chance that the first word was "Magnificat".Coming from Mary's heart predestined by God for her humility this word became the daily song of the Church, precisely in this hour of vespers, the hour which invites us to meditate upon the meaning of life and history. Clearly, the Magnificat presupposes the Resurrection, that is, the victory of Christ: in him, God fulfilled his promises, and his mercy revealed itself in all of its paradoxical strength. Up until now we have spoken about the "word". And Vivaldi's music? It is worth noting, first of all, the fact that the soloists' arias he composed expressly for certain student singers of his in the Pietà Hospital of Venice: five orphans gifted with extraordinary singing skills. How can one not think of the humility of the young Mary, through whom God accomplished "great things"? Thus, it is as if these five "soloists" represent the voice of the Virgin, while the choral sections represent the Church community. Both Mary and the Church are united in the unique song of praise to the "Holy One", to God who, with the power of his love, realizes his just designs in history. And to conclude, the chorus gave voice to that sublime masterpiece which is Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus. Here meditation gives way to contemplation: the gaze of the soul upon the Blessed Sacrament, recognizing the Corpus Domini, that Body which was truly sacrificed on the cross and from which the source of universal salvation flowed. Mozart composed this motet shortly before his death, and in it one may say that music truly becomes prayer, abandon of the heart to God, with a profound sense of peace.
Mr President, your gracious and generous homage broadly enabled not only the gratification of an aesthetic sense but also the simultaneous nourishment of our spirit, and for this I am doubly grateful. I express my best wishes for the execution of your important mission, willingly extending them to all the Authorities present. Dear friends, thank you for coming! Remember me in your prayers, so that I may always accomplish my ministry as the Lord wishes. May he, who is our peace and our life, bless each of you and your families. Good evening to all!
May 2009
Clementine Hall
Saturday, 2 May 2009
Dear Cardinal Bevilacqua,
Brother Cardinals and Bishops,
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
It is a great pleasure for me to have the opportunity to greet the members of the Papal Foundation once again, on your annual visit to Rome. In this Pauline Year I welcome you with the words of the Apostle of the Gentiles, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rm 1,7).
Saint Paul reminds us of how the entire human race yearns for God’s grace of peace. Today’s world is truly in need of his peace, especially as it faces the tragedies of war, division, poverty and despair. In just a few days I will have the privilege of visiting the Holy Land. I go as a pilgrim of peace. As you are well aware, for more than sixty years, this region — the land of our Lord’s birth, death and Resurrection; a sacred place for the world’s three great monotheistic religions — has been plagued by violence and injustice. This has led to a general atmosphere of mistrust, uncertainty and fear – often pitting neighbor against neighbor, brother against brother. As I prepare for this significant journey I ask in a special way that you join me in prayer for all the peoples of the Holy Land and the region. May they receive the gifts of reconciliation, hope and peace.
Our meeting this year occurs during a time when the entire world is struggling with a very worrying economic situation. At moments such as these it is tempting to overlook those without a voice and think only of our own difficulties. As Christians we are aware, however, that especially when times are difficult we must work even harder to ensure that the consoling message of our Lord is heard. Rather than turning in on ourselves, we must continue to be beacons of hope, strength and support for others, most especially those who have no one to watch over or assist them. For this reason I am pleased to have you here today. You are examples of good Christian men and women who continue to meet the challenges we face with courage and trust. Indeed, the Papal Foundation itself, through the great generosity of many, enables valuable assistance to be carried out in the name of Christ and his Church. For your sacrifice and dedication I am most grateful to you: by means of your support the Easter message of joy, hope, reconciliation and peace is more widely proclaimed.
Entrusting all of you to the loving intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, she who remains always in our midst as our Mother, the Mother of Hope, (cf. Spe Salvi, 50), I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing to you and your families as a pledge of joy and peace in the Risen Savior.
Consistory Hall
Monday, 4 May 2009
Dear Brothers in the Episcopate and the Priesthood,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
As you gather for the fifteenth Plenary Session of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, I am pleased to have this occasion to meet with you and to express my encouragement for your mission of expounding and furthering the Church’s social doctrine in the areas of law, economy, politics and the various other social sciences. Thanking Professor Mary Ann Glendon for her cordial words of greeting, I assure you of my prayers that the fruit of your deliberations will continue to attest to the enduring pertinence of Catholic social teaching in a rapidly changing world.
After studying work, democracy, globalisation, solidarity and subsidiarity in relation to the social teaching of the Church, your Academy has chosen to return to the central question of the dignity of the human person and human rights, a point of encounter between the doctrine of the Church and contemporary society.
The world’s great religions and philosophies have illuminated some aspects of these human rights, which are concisely expressed in “the golden rule” found in the Gospel: “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Lc 6,31 cf. Mt Mt 7,12). The Church has always affirmed that fundamental rights, above and beyond the different ways in which they are formulated and the different degrees of importance they may have in various cultural contexts, are to be upheld and accorded universal recognition because they are inherent in the very nature of man, who is created in the image and likeness of God. If all human beings are created in the image and likeness of God, then they share a common nature that binds them together and calls for universal respect. The Church, assimilating the teaching of Christ, considers the person as “the worthiest of nature” (St. Thomas Aquinas, De potentia, 9, 3) and has taught that the ethical and political order that governs relationships between persons finds its origin in the very structure of man’s being. The discovery of America and the ensuing anthropological debate in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe led to a heightened awareness of human rights as such and of their universality (ius gentium). The modern period helped shape the idea that the message of Christ – because it proclaims that God loves every man and woman and that every human being is called to love God freely – demonstrates that everyone, independently of his or her social and cultural condition, by nature deserves freedom. At the same time, we must always remember that “freedom itself needs to be set free. It is Christ who sets it free” (Veritatis Splendor VS 86).
In the middle of the last century, after the vast suffering caused by two terrible world wars and the unspeakable crimes perpetrated by totalitarian ideologies, the international community acquired a new system of international law based on human rights. In this, it appears to have acted in conformity with the message that my predecessor Benedict XV proclaimed when he called on the belligerents of the First World War to “transform the material force of arms into the moral force of law” (“Note to the Heads of the Belligerent Peoples”, 1 August 1917).
Human rights became the reference point of a shared universal ethos – at least at the level of aspiration – for most of humankind. These rights have been ratified by almost every State in the world. The Second Vatican Council, in the Declaration Dignitatis Humanae, as well as my predecessors Paul VI and John Paul II, forcefully referred to the right to life and the right to freedom of conscience and religion as being at the centre of those rights that spring from human nature itself.
Strictly speaking, these human rights are not truths of faith, even though they are discoverable – and indeed come to full light – in the message of Christ who “reveals man to man himself” (Gaudium et Spes GS 22). They receive further confirmation from faith. Yet it stands to reason that, living and acting in the physical world as spiritual beings, men and women ascertain the pervading presence of a logos which enables them to distinguish not only between true and false, but also good and evil, better and worse, and justice and injustice. This ability to discern – this radical agency – renders every person capable of grasping the “natural law”, which is nothing other than a participation in the eternal law: “unde…lex naturalis nihil aliud est quam participatio legis aeternae in rationali creatura” (St. Thomas Aquinas, ST I-II, 91, 2). The natural law is a universal guide recognizable to everyone, on the basis of which all people can reciprocally understand and love each other. Human rights, therefore, are ultimately rooted in a participation of God, who has created each human person with intelligence and freedom. If this solid ethical and political basis is ignored, human rights remain fragile since they are deprived of their sound foundation.
The Church’s action in promoting human rights is therefore supported by rational reflection, in such a way that these rights can be presented to all people of good will, independently of any religious affiliation they may have. Nevertheless, as I have observed in my Encyclicals, on the one hand, human reason must undergo constant purification by faith, insofar as it is always in danger of a certain ethical blindness caused by disordered passions and sin; and, on the other hand, insofar as human rights need to be re-appropriated by every generation and by each individual, and insofar as human freedom – which proceeds by a succession of free choices – is always fragile, the human person needs the unconditional hope and love that can only be found in God and that lead to participation in the justice and generosity of God towards others (cf. Deus Caritas Est 18, and Spe Salvi, 24).
This perspective draws attention to some of the most critical social problems of recent decades, such as the growing awareness – which has in part arisen with globalisation and the present economic crisis – of a flagrant contrast between the equal attribution of rights and the unequal access to the means of attaining those rights. For Christians who regularly ask God to “give us this day our daily bread”, it is a shameful tragedy that one-fifth of humanity still goes hungry. Assuring an adequate food supply, like the protection of vital resources such as water and energy, requires all international leaders to collaborate in showing a readiness to work in good faith, respecting the natural law and promoting solidarity and subsidiarity with the weakest regions and peoples of the planet as the most effective strategy for eliminating social inequalities between countries and societies and for increasing global security.
Dear friends, dear Academicians, in exhorting you in your research and deliberations to be credible and consistent witnesses to the defence and promotion of these non-negotiable human rights which are founded in divine law, I most willingly impart to you my Apostolic Blessing.
Clementine Hall
Thursday, 7 May 2009
Egregious Commandant,
Reverend Chaplain,
Dear Swiss Guards and
your dearest families,
I am glad to be able to welcome you all here in the Apostolic Palace on the occasion of the swearing in of the new Swiss Guard recruits. In particular, I offer my welcome to the new guards and their parents, relatives and friends. I extend a warm greeting to the new commandant Oberts Anrig and I thank him very much for his responsible commitment to the Successor of Peter and to the Church. At the same time, I also thank the chaplain of the guards Mons. de Raemy, who, with deep involvement follows the daily lives of the guards as well as the path of each one's faith.
Dear guards, your service, rendered day and night in the Apostolic Palace and at the external posts to the Vatican City, is highly visible and with certainty also collectively. You will quickly learn the three dimensions that are formed within you like concentric circles: you have the task of protecting the Successor of the Apostle Peter. You carry it out mainly in the Pope's home. You do so in Rome, a city that since the beginning has always been called "the eternal city". Here close to the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul, where the Pope lives is the heart of the Catholic Church and, where there are the heart and the core, there is also the entire world.
Let us consider first of all the home of the Pope, the Apostolic Palace. You must watch over this home, not only the building itself and its prestigious apartments but more so over the people you will meet and to whom you will do well to treat with courtesy and care. This counts as much for the Pope himself, for the people who live with him and for his collaborators in the Palace, as it does for his guests. This therefore also applies to the common life with your comrades, those with whom you share your service and who have the same goal, that is, to serve the Pontiff "honourably, loyally and in good faith" and to give, if necessary, your life for him.
We now turn our attention to Rome, the eternal city, that distinguishes itself by its rich history and its culture. Our admiration is not only for the witnesses of Antiquity. In this city, in a certain sense, the faith itself and the prayer of many centuries have evolved into stones and structures. These places welcome us and inspire us to take up the example of countless saints who have lived here. Thanks to them, we may progress in our life of faith.
In the hope that your stay here in Rome may be spiritually and humanly edifying, I assure you of my prayers and I entrust you to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of your Patrons, the Saints Martin and Sebastian, as well as to the Patron Saint of your homeland Brother Klaus Saint Nicholas of Flüe. I wholeheartedly impart my Apostolic Blessing to you, your families, your friends and to all those who have come to Rome for the occasion of the swearing-in ceremony.
Benedict XVI Speechs 2009