Speeches 2005-13 8119

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am very happy to be in the Parish of St Tadini. I canonized him quite recently and I was edified by this figure of spiritual life who was at the same time a great personality in the social life of the 19th and 20th centuries. With his work he made a gift to humanity and invites all of us to love God, to love Christ, to love Our Lady and to communicate this love to others; to work so that a fraternal world may come into being in which each one lives not for himself but for others. Then I thank you for your warm welcome. It gives me great joy to see the Church alive and joyful here. I wish you a good Sunday and many good things. My best wishes and thanks to you!



OFFICIAL CEREMONY FOR THE INAUGURATION OF THE NEW PREMISES AND FOR AWARDING THE SIXTH PAUL VI INTERNATIONAL PRIZE

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Vittorio Montini Auditorium, Paul VI Institute - Concesio Sunday, 8 November 2009



Your Eminences,
Venerable Brother Bishops and Priests,
Dear Friends,

I cordially thank you for inviting me to inaugurate the new premises of the Institute dedicated to Paul VI, built next to the house in which he was born. I greet each one of you with affection, starting with the Cardinals, the Bishops, the Authorities and the important figures present. I extend a special greeting to the President, Giuseppe Camadini, with gratitude for his courteous words to me describing the Institute's origins, purpose and activities. I take part gladly in the solemn ceremony for the presentation of the "Paul VI International Prize", this year awarded to the French series "Sources Chrétiennes". This choice focuses on the educational context which, as has been clearly underlined, intends to highlight the commitment of this historical series founded in 1942 by Henri De Lubac and Jean Danilou to a rediscovery of ancient and medieval Christian sources. I thank the Director, Bernard Meunier, for the greeting he addressed to me. I welcome this opportunity to encourage you, dear friends, to shed ever more light on the personality and teaching of this great Pontiff, not so much from the hagiographical and celebrative viewpoint as rather and this was rightly stressed under the banner of scientific research to make a contribution to the knowledge of the truth and to the understanding of the history of the Church and the Pontiffs in the 20th century. The better known he becomes, the more the Servant of God Paul VI will be appreciated and loved. I am united to the great Pope by a bond of affection and devotion since the years of the Second Vatican Council. How could I fail to remember that in 1977 it was Paul VI himself who entrusted me with the pastoral care of the Diocese of Munich and created me a Cardinal? I feel I owe this great Pontiff deep gratitude for the esteem he showed me on various occasions.

I would like here to examine the different aspects of his personality but I shall limit my considerations to a single feature of his teaching which seems to me of great timeliness and in tune with the motivation of this year's Prize: his educational skill. We are living in times in which a real "educational emergency" is being felt. Training the young generations on whom the future depends has never been easy, but in this time of ours it seems to have become even more complicated. Parents, teachers, priests and those who hold direct educational responsibilities know this well. An atmosphere, a mindset, and a form of culture are spreading that cast doubt on the value of the person, the meaning of truth and good and ultimately the goodness of life. Yet a widespread thirst for certainties and values is strongly felt. Thus it is necessary to pass on something worthwhile to the generations to come, sound rules for behaviour, and to point out lofty objectives to which to direct decisively their existence. There is a growing demand for an education that can answer the expectations of youth; an education that is primarily a testimony and, for the Christian educator, a witness of faith.

In this regard I remember the incisive programmatic sentence of Giovanni Battista Montini which he wrote in 1931: "I want my life to be a testimony to truth". By testimony I mean the preservation, search for and profession of truth" (Spiritus Veritatis, in Colloqui religiosi, Brescia 1981, p. 81). This testimony Montini noted is made impelling by the realization that "in the secular field, men of thought, also and perhaps especially in Italy, think little of Christ. He is largely unknown, forgotten and absent to the contemporary culture" (Introduzione allo studio di Cristo, Rome 1933, p. 23). Montini the educator, student and priest, Bishop and Pope, always felt the need for a qualified Christian presence in the world of culture, art and social life, a presence rooted in the truth of Christ and at the same time attentive to the human being and his or her vital needs.

This explains why attention to the educational problem, to the formation of young people which Montini also drew from the atmosphere in his own family remained constant in his thought and action. He was born into one of the Catholic families of Brescia as they were then, committed and fervent in their actions, and grew up under the tutorship of his father Giorgio, a protagonist of important battles for the affirmation of the freedom of Catholics in education. In one of his first writings Giovanni Battista Montini remarked on the subject of the Italian school: "We ask no more than a little freedom to educate as we wish the young who come to Christianity attracted by the beauty of its faith and traditions" (Per la nostra scuola: un libro del prof. Gentile, in Scritti giovanili, Brescia 1979, p. 73). Montini was a priest with a profound faith and a broad culture, a director of souls, an acute investigator of the "drama of human existence". Generations of young university students found in him, as Chaplain of FUCI [the Italian Catholic Federation of University Students,] a reference point, someone who could form consciences, create enthusiasm and recall the duty of being witnesses at every moment of life, making the beauty of the Christian experience shine out. His students those of that period say that on hearing him speak they noticed the inner fire that gave life to his words, in stark contrast with his seemingly frail body.

One of the basic aims of the formative role proposed by the university circles of FUCI of which he was in charge, consisted in striving for the spiritual unity of the personality of the young: "Not separate compartments in the soul", he said, with "culture on one side and faith on the other; school on one side, Church on the other. Doctrine, like life, is one" (cf. Idee-Forze, in Studium 24 [1928], p. 343). In other words full harmony and integration between the cultural and religious dimensions of formation were essential for Montini, with a special emphasis on the knowledge of Christian doctrine and the practical implications in life. For this reason, from the beginning of his activity in the Roman circle of FUCI, he promoted with a serious spiritual and intellectual commitment charitable initiatives for university students at the service of the poor, through the St Vincent conference. He never separated what he was subsequently to define as "intellectual charity" from a social presence, from meeting the needs of the lowliest. In this way students were taught to discover the continuity between the strict duty to study and practical missions among the slum dwellers. "We believe", he wrote, "that the Catholic is not someone beset by thousands of problems even of a spiritual order.... No! The Catholic is someone who possesses the fruitfulness of certainty. And it is in this way that, faithful to his faith, he can see the world not as an abyss of perdition but, rather, as a field for the harvest" (La distanza del mondo in Azione Fucina, 10 February 1929, p. 1).

Giovanni Battista Montini insisted on the formation of youth to enable them to form a relationship with modernity, a difficult and often critical relationship but always constructive and dialogical. He emphasized certain negative characteristics of modern culture, in the area both of knowledge and of action, such as subjectivism, individualism and the unlimited affirmation of the self. Yet at the same time he deemed dialogue necessary, but always based on a solid doctrinal formation whose unifying principle was faith in Christ; thus a mature Christian "conscience", capable of confronting everyone but without giving into the fashion of the time. As Pontiff, he was to say to the Rectors and Presidents of the Jesuit Universities that "blind imitation of others' doctrine or morals is far from the spirit of the Gospel". "Furthermore, those who do not share with us the stance of the Church", he added, "demand of us extreme clarity in expressing our viewpoint so as to be able to establish constructive and trustworthy dialogue". Therefore cultural pluralism and respect should "never make a Christian lose sight of his obligation to serve the truth in charity, to follow that truth of Christ which alone gives true freedom" (cf. Address to Jesuit Rectors of universities, 6 August 1975; L'Osservatore Romano English edition, [ORE] 21 August 1975, p. 3).

For Pope Montini the young person was to be educated to judge the atmosphere in which he lives and works, to consider himself a person and not just a number among the masses: in a word, he must be helped to have a "strong conviction", able to "act strongly" to avoid the possible danger of putting action before thought and making experience the source of truth. He said on this topic: "Action cannot enlighten itself. For man not to succumb to thinking as he acts, he must be taught to act as he thinks. Even in the Christian world where love and charity have a supreme and decisive importance, one cannot set aside the light of the truth which submits its ends and reasons to love" (Insegnamenti II, [1964], 194).

Dear friends, those FUCI years remained impressed upon Paul VI's personality; they were difficult because of the political context in Italy but exciting because of the young people who recognized in the Servant of God a guide and teacher. In him, Archbishop of Milan then Successor of the Apostle Peter, the aspiration and concern for the subject of education never diminished. His numerous interventions dedicated to the young generations in turbulent and troubled times, like the year 1968, bear witness to this. He pointed out courageously the path to the encounter with Christ as a liberating educational experience and the one, true response to the yearning and aspirations of youth, fallen prey to ideology. "You youngsters of today", he said, "are caught in a conformism that could become habitual, a conformism which unconsciously subjects your freedom to the machine-like tyranny of other people's thinking, opinions, feelings, acts and fashions? So, then you are swept away by a "crowd-spirit' which may make you feel strong, but once it has you in its grip, it drives you at times to group-revolt, often without your knowing why..... But if you once become aware of Christ, if you really get to know him and adhere to him... you will become free within yourselves... you will know the "why and wherefore" of life, and for whom you are living.... And at the same time you will feel a marvellous thing happening, an intelligent power of friendship, sociability and love coming to birth in you. You will not feel lonely" (cf. Insegnamenti VI, [1968], 117-118).

Paul VI described himself as "an old friend of the young". He was able to recognize and share in their anguish when they were discussing the desire to live, the need for certainty, the craving for love, the sense of bewilderment, the temptation to be sceptical, and the experience of disappointment. He had learned to understand their soul and remembered that the agnostic indifference of current thought, critical pessimism and the materialist ideology of social progress did not suffice for the spirit, open to very different horizons of truth and life (cf. ORE, 18 July 1974, p. 12). Today, as in his time, an unavoidable demand for meaning, a search for genuine human relationships, is emerging in the new generations. Paul VI said: "Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses" (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi on Evangelization in the Modern World, n. 41). My venerable Predecessor was a teacher of life and a courageous witness of hope; he was not always understood and indeed was sometimes opposed and isolated by the cultural movements dominant at the time. Yet, firm despite his physical frailty, he guided the Church without hesitation. He never lost the trust of youth, renewing for them, and not only for them, the invitation to trust in Christ and to follow him on the path of the Gospel.

Dear friends, once again I thank you for giving me the opportunity to breathe here in the town of his birth and in these places full of his family and childhood memories the atmosphere in which the Servant of God Paul VI grew up, the Pope of the Second Vatican Council and of the post-conciliar period. Here everything speaks of the riches of his personality and of his extensive doctrine. Here there are also significant memories of other Pastors and protagonists of the Church's history in the last century, such as: Cardinal Bevilacqua, Bishop Carlo Manziana, Mons. Pasquale Macchi and his trusted personal secretary, Fr Paolo Caresana. I warmly hope that this Pope's love for young people, his constant encouragement to entrust themselves to Jesus Christ an invitation taken up by John Paul II and which I too desired to renew precisely at the beginning of my Pontificate may be perceived by the new generations. I assure you of my prayers for this as I bless all of you present here, your families, your work and the initiatives of the Paul VI Institute.



VISIT TO THE PARISH CHURCH OF SANT'ANTONINO WHERE GIOVANNI BATTISTA MONTINI WAS BAPTIZED Concesio Sunday, 8 November 2009

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

My Pastoral Visit to Brescia, the birthplace of my Venerable Predecessor Paul VI, ends with this Meeting. It is a real pleasure for me to conclude it in Concesio, the very place where he was born and began his long, rich human and spiritual journey. Even more meaningful indeed, moving is my stop here in your church which was also his church. Here, on 30 September 1897, he received the Sacrament of Baptism and then who knows how often he must have come back here to pray. In all likelihood it was here that Paul VI came to understand better the voice of the divine Master who was calling him to follow him and who led him, through various stages, to the point of becoming his Vicar on earth. Here too resonate the inspired words which Giovanni Battista Montini, by then a Cardinal, spoke on returning to his baptismal font 50 years ago, on 16 August 1959. "Here I became a Christian", he said, here I became a son of God, I received the gift of faith" (cf. G.B. Montini, Discorsi e Scritti Milanesi, II, p. 3010). In remembering him I would like to greet affectionately all of you, his fellow citizens, your parish priest and the Mayor, together with the Bishop Luciano Monari, Pastor of the Diocese, and all those who would have liked to be present at this brief yet intense moment of spiritual closeness.

"Here I became Christian.... I received the gift of the faith". Dear friends, starting with this very affirmation by Pope Montini and with his other addresses, may I take this opportunity to recall the importance of Baptism in every Christian's life. Baptism, he says, can be called "the first fundamental, vital and supernatural relationship between the Lord's Passover and our Easter" (Insegnamenti IV, [1966], 742). It is the Sacrament in which "the mystery of Christ's death and Resurrection is conveyed to his followers" (L'Osservatore Romano English edition, [ORE], 3 June 1976, p. 10); it is the Sacrament that initiates the relationship of communion with Christ. As St Paul says, "We were buried therefore with him by Baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead... we too might walk in the newness of life" (
Rm 6,4). Paul VI liked to emphasize the Christocentric dimension of Baptism through which we put on Christ, enter into living communion with him and belong to him.

In times of great changes in the Church and the world, how often did Paul VI insist on this need to remain steadfast in living communion with Christ! Indeed it is only in this way that we become members of his family which is the Church. Baptism, he noted, is the "door through which men enter the Church" (ORE, 23 May 1974, p. 1) and the Sacrament by which we become "brothers of Christ and members of that humanity destined to be part of his mystical and universal Body, which is called the Church" (ibid., 24 April 1975, p. 1). Through Baptism God makes the person born to new life share in his own life and, "the baptized person can effectively stretch forth towards God-Trinity, his ultimate end, in order that he may share in his life and his infinite love" (ibid.,4 October 1973, p. 3).

Dear brothers and sisters, I would like to go back in spirit to the visit that the then-Archbishop of Milan made 50 years ago to this parish church of yours. Remembering his Baptism, he questioned himself as to how he had preserved and lived out this great gift from the Lord. While acknowledging that he had neither understood nor fostered it adequately, he confessed: "I want to tell you that the faith I received in this church with the Sacrament of Holy Baptism has been for me the light of life... the lamp of my life" (op. cit. , pp. PP 3010 PP 3011). Echoing his words, we might ask ourselves: "How do I live out my Baptism? What is my experience of walking in the newness of life of which St Paul speaks?". In the world in which we live to borrow another of Archbishop Montini's sayings there is often "a cloud that takes from us the happiness of gazing calmly at the divine heavens... there is a temptation to believe that faith is an encumbrance from which we need to free ourselves, something that unless it is surmounted is obsolete, useless" (ibid., p. 3012). Therefore the human being thinks that "to respond to all the aspirations of the human heart, the economic and social life " suffices (ibid.). In this regard, the words of St Augustine, who wrote in the Confessions that our hearts are restless until they rest in God (cf. 1,1), are particularly eloquent. Only if a human being finds the light that illuminates him and offers him the fullness of meaning is he truly happy. This light is faith in Christ, the gift received in Baptism that must be constantly rediscovered if it is to be passed onto others.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us not forget the immense gift received on the day on which we were baptized! At that moment Christ bound us to him forever but, on our part, have we remained joined to him through decisions consistent with the Gospel? It is not easy to be Christian! It takes courage and tenacity to avoid conforming to the world's mentality; to avoid being seduced by the sometimes powerful attraction of hedonism and consumerism and also, if necessary, to face misunderstandings and even, at times, real persecution. Living out one's Baptism implies remaining firmly united with the Church, even when we see some shadow or blemish on her face. It is she who has renewed the divine life within us and accompanied us throughout our journey: let us love her, let us love her as our true mother! Let us love her and serve her with a faithful love that is expressed in concrete actions in our own communities, in not succumbing to the temptations of individualism and prejudice and in overcoming all rivalry and division. In this way we will become true disciples of Christ! May Mary, Mother of Christ and of the Church whom the Servant of God Paul VI loved and honoured with deep devotion help us from Heaven. Dear brothers and sisters, I am ever grateful for your most cordial and beautiful welcome, and, as I assure you of my remembrance in prayer, I wholeheartedly impart a special Blessing to you all.



TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE SIXTH WORLD CONGRESS FOR THE PASTORAL CARE OF MIGRANTS AND ITINERANT PEOPLE Clementine Hall Monday, 9 November 2009

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Your Eminences,
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am delighted to welcome you at the beginning of the World Congress for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees. In the first place I greet Bishop Antonio Maria Vegliò, President of your Pontifical Council, and thank him for his cordial words introducing this meeting. I greet the Secretary, the Members, the Consultors and Officials of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People. I address a respectful greeting to Hon. Mr Renato Schifani, President of the Senate of the Italian Republic. I greet all of you who are present. To each one I express my appreciation of the commitment and concern with which you work in a social sector, today so complex and delicate, offering support to those who by their own free will or by obligation leave their country of origin and emigrate to other nations.

The theme of the Congress "A Pastoral Response to Migration in the Age of Globalisation" highlights the specific context of migration in our time. In fact, if the phenomenon of migration is as old as the history of humanity, it has never before acquired the great importance it has assumed today, due to the number and complexity of its problems. It now affects almost every country in the world and is part of the vast process of globalisation. Millions of men, women and children, young and old alike, are facing the drama of emigration, sometimes in order to survive more than to seek a better standard of living for themselves and their families. In fact, the financial gap between the poor countries and the industrialized countries is widening. The world financial crisis, with the enormous growth of unemployment, is reducing the possibility of finding work and increasing the number of those who do not manage to find even temporary employment. Consequently, a great many people are obliged to leave their own countries and the communities of their origins; they are prepared to accept work in conditions that are in no way consonant with human dignity and the differences of language, culture and social system of the host society intensify the difficulty of integration.

The plight of migrants and especially of refugees in a certain way evokes that of the ancient biblical people who, fleeing slavery in Egypt with the dream of the promised land in their hearts, crossed the Red Sea but, instead of immediately reaching the desired destination, were obliged to face the trials and tribulations of the desert. Today, many migrants leave their country to escape humanly unacceptable living conditions but do not find elsewhere the welcome for which they had hoped. In the face of such complex situations how can one fail to pause to reflect on the consequences of mere material development as the fundamental basis of society? In my Encyclical Caritas in veritate I noted that integral development is the only true development, in other words it concerns every man and the whole of man.

Authentic development always features solidarity. In fact, in an increasingly globalised society, the common good and the effort to obtain it, I noted further in Caritas in veritate, "cannot fail to assume the dimensions of the whole human family, that is to say, the community of peoples and nations" (cf. n. 7). Indeed, the current process of globalisation, as the Servant of God John Paul II appropriately emphasized, can represent a propitious opportunity for promoting integral development but only "if cultural differences are accepted as an opportunity for meeting and dialogue, and if the unequal distribution of the world's resources leads to a new awareness of the necessary solidarity which must unite the human family" (Message for the 86th World Day of Migrants and Refugees 21 November 1999, n. 4; L'Osservatore Romano English edition [ORE], 22 December 1999, p. 6). It follows that the great social changes under way demand adequate responses since it is clear that there can be no effective development without promoting encounter among peoples, dialogue among cultures and respect for legitimate differences.

In this perspective, why not consider the contemporary phenomenon of migration as a favourable condition for understanding among peoples, for building peace and for a development that concerns every nation? This is what I wished to recall in my Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees in the Pauline Jubilee Year (Message for the 95th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, 24 August 2008; ORE, 15 October 2008, p. 27): migration is an opportunity to emphasize the unity of the human family and the values of acceptance, hospitality and love of neighbour. However, this must be expressed in daily gestures of sharing, joint participation and concern for others, especially those in need. To achieve this mutual acceptance, St Paul teaches that Christians must be ready to listen to the word of God, which urges all to imitate Christ, and stay united with him. Only in this way is it possible to care for one's neighbour and never to give in to the temptation of contempt or rejection of those who are different. Conformed to Christ, every man and every woman may be regarded as brothers and sisters, children of the same Father. This treasure of brotherhood makes them "practise hospitality", which is the firstborn daughter of agape (ibid.).

Dear brothers and sisters, faithful to Jesus' teaching every Christian family cannot but feel respect and attention for all human beings created in the image and likeness of God and redeemed by Christ's Blood especially when they are in difficulty. This is why the Church invites the faithful to open their hearts to migrants and their families, knowing that they are not merely a "problem" but constitute a "resource" to be appropriately appreciated for humanity's authentic progress and development. I renew to each one of you my thanks for your service to the Church and to society, and I invoke Mary's motherly protection upon all your actions for migrants and refugees. For my part, I assure you of my prayers as I willingly bless you and all who are part of the great family of migrants and refugees.


TO THE STUDENTS AND TEACHERS OF THE "LIBERA UNIVERSITÀ MARIA SANTISSIMA ASSUNTA" (LUMSA) Paul VI Audience Hall Thursday, 12 November 2009

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Your Eminences,
Mr President of the Senate and Distinguished Authorities,
Rector Magnificent and Dear Professors
Dear School Missionaries
Dear Students and All Friends,

I am glad to be meeting you on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the "Libera Università Maria Santissima Assunta". I cordially greet Prof. Giuseppe Dalla Torre, Rector of your University, and thank him for his courteous words. I am pleased to greet Hon. Mr Renato Schifani, President of the Italian Senate, and the other Italian Civil and Military authorities, as well as the numerous well known figures, rectors and administrative directors who are present. I address my warm welcome to all of you who make up the great family of LUMSA.

Your Athenaeum was founded in 1939 on the initiative of the Servant of God Mother Luigia Tincani, Foundress of the School Missionaries of the Union of St Catherine of Siena, and of Cardinal Giuseppe Pizzardo, then Prefect of the Congregation for Seminaries and Universities for the purpose of preparing women religious destined to teach in Catholic schools with an adequate university training. It began its activity in the atmosphere of educational commitment in the Catholic world inspired by Pius xi's Encyclical Divini illius Magistri. Your University thus came into being with a very precise Catholic identity and also encouraged by the Holy See, with which it has retained close ties. In the past 70 years LUMSA has trained thousands of teachers and has developed considerably, especially following its transformation in 1989 into a Free University and the consequent creation of new Faculties with an extension of the catchment area. I know that today it has about 9,000 students in its four establishments in Italy and is an important reference point in the educational sector. While the cultural and legislative situation in Italy and in Europe was evolving with profound changes, LUMSA was able to make headway with a dual objective: to remain faithful to the original insight of Mother Tincani and, at the same time, to respond to the new challenges of society.

In fact, the contemporary context is marked by a disturbing educational emergency on which I have been able to reflect on various occasions and in which the task of those called to the teaching profession acquires a quite special importance. It is primarily a question of the role of university teachers but also of the actual educational curriculum of students training to be teachers in the different kinds and grades of school or as professionals in the various social milieus. In fact, every profession becomes an opportunity for the witness and practical expression of values personally internalized during the academic period. The profound economic crisis which has spread across the whole world, together with its root causes has brought to the fore the need for a more decisive and courageous investment in the field of knowledge and education as a way to respond to the numerous open-ended challenges and to prepare the young generations to build a better future (cf. Encyclical Caritas in veritate ). Thus the need is being felt to make connections in thought, to teach interdisciplinary collaboration and reciprocal learning. Moreover, in the face of the profound changes that are taking place it is ever more urgently necessary to refer to the fundamental values that must be passed on as an indispensable patrimony to the young generations and, consequently, to question oneself on what these values are. Academic institutions are therefore being confronted by pressing ethical questions.

In this context, faithful to their specific identity and in the effort to render a qualified service in the Church and in society, Catholic Universities are entrusted with an important role. In this regard the instructions given by my venerable Predecessor John Paul II in the Apostolic Constitution Ex corde Ecclesiae are more timely than ever. He invited the Catholic University to assure in an institutional manner a Christian presence in the university world. In the complex social and cultural reality, the Catholic University is expected to act with a Christian inspiration not only of individuals but of the university community as a whole; with a continuing sapiential reflection, illumined by faith, and scientific research; in fidelity to the Christian message as it comes to us through the Church; with an institutional commitment to the service of the People of God and of the human family in their pilgrimage to the transcendent destination (cf. n. 13).

Dear friends, LUMSA is a Catholic University; this Christian inspiration is a specific element of its identity. As may be read in its Magna charta, it proposes scientific work oriented to the search for truth in a dialogue between faith and reason, striving for the ideal spiritual integration of knowledge and values. At the same time, a formative activity is established, to be carried out with constant attention to ethics, elaborating positive syntheses between faith and culture and between science and knowledge, for the full and harmonious development of the human person. This structure, dear teachers, is both stimulating and demanding for you. Indeed, while you strive to be ever better qualified in teaching and in research, you also propose to cultivate the educational mission. Today, as in the past, the University stands in need of true teachers who transmit, together with scientific content and knowledge, a strict method of research and profound values and motivation. Immersed in a fragmented and relativistic society, dear students, always keep your minds and hearts open to the truth. Devote yourselves to acquiring a profound knowledge that contributes to the integral formation of your personality, to refining your ability to seek the true and the good throughout your life, to train professionally in order to become builders of a society in which there is greater justice and solidarity. May Mother Tincani's example nurture in you all the commitment to accompany your rigorous academic work with an intense inner life sustained by prayer. May the Virgin Mary, Sedes Sapientiae, guide this process with true wisdom which comes from God. Thank you for this pleasant meeting and I warmly bless each one of you and your work.



Speeches 2005-13 8119