Speeches 2005-13 33

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CONCERT OFFERED IN HONOUR OF THE HOLY FATHER

SPONSORED BY THE DOMENICO BARTOLUCCI FOUNDATION

Sistine Chapel Saturday, 24 June 2006


Your Eminences,
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Presbyterate,
Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,

At the end of this concert, evocative because of the place we are in - the Sistine Chapel - and because of the spiritual intensity of the compositions performed, we spontaneously feel in our hearts the need to praise, to bless and to thank. This sentiment is addressed first of all to the Lord, supreme Beauty and Harmony, who has given men and women the ability to express themselves with the language of music and song.

"Ad Te levavi animam meam", [to you, Lord, I lift up my soul], the Offertory of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina has just said, echoing the Psalm (25[24]: 1).

Our souls are truly lifted up to God, and I would therefore like to express my gratitude to Maestro Domenico Bartolucci and to the Foundation named after him that planned and put on this event. Dear Maestro, you have offered to me and to all of us a precious gift, preparing the programme in which you wisely situated a choice of masterpieces by the "Prince" of sacred polyphonic music and some of the works that you yourself have composed.

In particular, I thank you for having wished to conduct the concert personally, and for the motet Oremus pro Pontefice that you composed immediately after my election to the See of Peter. I am also grateful to you for the kind words you have just addressed to me, witnessing to your love for the art of music and your passion for the good of the Church.

Next, I warmly congratulate the Choir of the Foundation and I extend my "thank you" to all who have collaborated in various ways.

Lastly, I address a cordial greeting to those who have honoured our meeting with their presence.

All the passages we have heard - and especially the performance as a whole in which the 16th and 20th centuries run parallel - together confirm the conviction that sacred polyphony, particularly that of the so-called "Roman School", is a legacy to preserve with care, to keep alive and to make known, not only for the benefit of experts and lovers of it but also for the entire Ecclesial Community, for which it constitutes a priceless spiritual, musical and cultural heritage.

The Bartolucci Foundation aims precisely to safeguard and spread the classical and contemporary tradition of this famous polyphonic school that has always been distinguished by its form, focused on singing alone without an instrumental accompaniment. An authentic renewal of sacred music can only happen in the wake of the great tradition of the past, of Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony.
For this reason, in the field of music as well as in the areas of other art forms, the Ecclesial Community has always encouraged and supported people in search of new forms of expression without denying the past, the history of the human spirit which is also a history of its dialogue with God.

Venerable Maestro, you have also always sought to make the most of sacred music as a vehicle for evangelization. Through numberless concerts performed in Italy and abroad, with the universal language of art, the Pontifical Musical Choir conducted by you has thus cooperated in the actual mission of the Pontiffs, which is to disseminate the Christian message in the world. And you still continue to carry out this task under the attentive direction of Maestro Giuseppe Liberto.

Dear brothers and sisters, after being pleasantly uplifted by this music, let us turn our gaze to the Virgin Mary, placed at Christ's right hand in Michelangelo's Last Judgment: let us especially entrust all lovers of sacred music to her motherly protection, so that always enlivened by genuine faith and sincere love of the Church, they may make their precious contribution to liturgical prayer and effectively contribute to the proclamation of the Gospel.

To Maestro Bartolucci, to the members of the Foundation and to all of you who are present here, I cordially impart the Apostolic Blessing.


TO THE MEMBERS OF THE DELEGATION OF THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE OF CONSTANTINOPLE Thursday, 29 June 2006



Dear Brothers in Christ,

With great joy and sincere affection in the Lord I welcome today Your Eminence, Metropolitan John, and the other members of the Delegation that His Holiness Bartholomew I and the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate have graciously sent for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, patrons of the Church of Rome. To each of you I offer my cordial greetings. It gives me pleasure to welcome you in the words of the Apostle Peter: "Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours in the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord" (2P 1,1-2). These words call to mind our common faith and the mystery of the salvation we have received, a gift which we must pass on to the men and women of our day. The fact that the feast of Saints Peter and Paul is celebrated on the same day by both Catholics and Orthodox evokes our shared Apostolic succession and ecclesial fraternity. I am pleased to recall here how Byzantine hymnography attributes to Saint Peter a title charged with meaning, that of protocoryphaeus, the first in the choir who has the task of maintaining the harmony of the voices, for the glory of God and the service of his people. I am therefore grateful to you who have come to unite your prayer to ours, prompted by our common commitment to continue the journey that leads us step by step to eliminate all dissonance from the choir of the one Church of Christ.

In the future there will be important opportunities for encounter and fraternal dialogue. Your presence, Your Eminence, as Co-President of the Mixed International Commission for theological dialogue between Orthodox and Catholics, brings to my mind the plenary session of the said Commission which is to take place in Belgrade in September, thanks to the welcome extended by the Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate. Dialogue thus resumes its path and enters a new phase. Spontaneously we find ourselves wanting to pray that the Holy Spirit will enlighten and inflame our hearts, strengthening our common will to respond, insofar as it depends on us, to the Lord’s ardent prayer: "Ut unum sint"; in this way, may the disciples of Christ, united in faith, together proclaim his Gospel to the whole world, so that, believing in him, all will be saved.

Furthermore, responding to the invitation extended by the Government, the Patriarchate and the local Catholic Community, I hope to be able to undertake an apostolic pilgrimage to Turkey, a country of ancient and rich culture, a noble country where many holy Fathers of our ecclesial, theological and spiritual tradition spent their lives. This will allow me to take part in the celebrations on the occasion of the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle, brother of Saint Peter. As I repeat the gesture of my predecessors of blessed memory, Paul VI and John Paul II, on the occasion of their visits to Phanar, it will be a joy for me to meet His Holiness Bartholomew I, thereby reciprocating the welcome visits that he has been good enough to pay here in Rome. I am certain that this mutual exchange will strengthen our ecclesial fraternity and facilitate collaboration in our common initiatives. May the Lord help us to move forward with renewed confidence towards the day when we will be able to celebrate together the Holy Eucharist of the Lord, as a sign of full communion.

With these cordial sentiments, I ask you, Your Eminence, and those accompanying you, to convey my fraternal greetings to Patriarch Bartholomew I and to the Holy Synod, while I give thanks to the Lord who has granted us to accomplish a new step in the implementation of his will for unity and peace.


TO H.E. MR MARIO JUAN BOSCO CAYOTA ZAPPETTINI AMBASSADOR OF THE ORIENTAL REPUBLIC OF URUGUAY TO THE THE HOLY SEE


Friday, 30 June 2006
Mr Ambassador,

I am pleased to offer you a cordial welcome, Your Excellency, at this ceremony for the presentation of the Letters accrediting you as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay to the Holy See.

I thank you for the kind words you have addressed to me, as well as for the thoughtful greeting you have been so good as to convey from H.E. Mr Tabaré Vázquez Rosas, President of the Republic. I ask you to express to him my very best wishes for his personal well-being and that of his family, as well as for the prosperity and peaceful coexistence in solidarity of this noble Nation.

On its path through history, Uruguay has continued to make its own the Christian ideals of justice and peace. Various concepts of the human being and human destiny coexist in its heart peacefully and with mutual respect, but without diminishing the sincere and real appreciation of the religious dimension and, in particular, of the Church's mission.

A demonstration of affection for the Holy See by so many Uruguayans, as Your Excellency has said, constitutes the undying memory of the two Visits to your Country made by my Predecessor, John Paul II, which lives on, commemorated by a monument in the place where he celebrated his first Mass in Montevideo.

In this perspective, it is to be hoped that the Christian vision of man, created in the image and likeness of God and called to a supernatural destiny, can be openly expressed in the education of the new generations.

In fact, the educational task must not be limited to the merely technical and professional dimension but must include every aspect of the person: his social side and his desire for transcendence, which is expressed in love, one of his noblest dimensions.

The loftiest values rooted in peoples' hearts and in the social fabric are as it were the soul of peoples, which make them strong in adversity, generous in loyal collaboration and eager to build a better future full of life where all, without exception, have the opportunity to develop the full dignity of the human being.

Therefore, certain tendencies that attempt to limit the inviolable value of human life itself, from conception to its natural end, or separate it from its natural context, such as human love in marriage and the family, are viewed with concern.

The Church certainly encourages a generous "culture of life" which creates hope and not only for strictly denominational reasons. As you well know, Mr Ambassador, there are many eminent people also in your Country who for ethical and rational reasons are similarly preoccupied.

Related to this by their very nature are the issues of the family, the essential structure of society, and that of the union in marriage of a man and a woman, in accordance with a plan imprinted in human nature by the Creator.

There are numerous people in the mass media who denigrate or deride the important value of marriage and the family, thereby encouraging selfishness and confusion rather than the generosity and sacrifice necessary to protect the health of this authentic "primary cell" of the human community.

Promoting the family, helping it to carry out its indispensable tasks, means at the same time gaining social cohesion and above all, respecting its rights which cannot be eroded by other forms of union that claim to usurp them.

Today, the vast problem of poverty and marginalization is a pressing challenge to governors and those in charge of public institutions. On the other hand, the so-called "globalization process" has created new possibilities but also new risks that must be faced in the larger concert of nations.

It is an opportunity to go on weaving, as it were, a network of understanding and solidarity between peoples - without reducing everything to merely commercial or pragmatic exchanges - where there is also room for the human problems of every location, especially the problems of emigrants who are forced to leave their country in search of a better standard of life, which sometimes has serious consequences on their personal, family and social contexts.

The Church, considering the practice of charity as an essential dimension of her being and mission, pays careful attention by means of self-denial to the needy of any condition or provenance, and collaborates in this task with the various public bodies and institutions so that no one in search of support is left without a friendly hand to help in overcoming difficulties.

To do this, she offers her personal and material resources, but above all human closeness in the endeavour to relieve the most grievous poverty, loneliness and neglect, knowing that "a pure and generous love is the best witness to the God in whom we believe and by whom we are driven to love" (Encyclical Deus Caritas Est ).

Mr Ambassador, before ending this Meeting, I would like to express to you my best wishes that the mission you are beginning will be fruitful and will contribute to reinforcing the diplomatic relations of your Country with the Holy See, at the same time making them easier and more cordial.

I ask you once again to convey my sentiments and hopes to His Excellency the President of the Republic and to the other Authorities of your Country, while I invoke the maternal protection of Our Lady of the Thirty-Three upon you, Your Excellency, your distinguished family, your collaborators and the beloved sons and daughters of Uruguay.
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TO THE METROPOLITAN ARCHBISHOPS WHO RECEIVED THE PALLIUM ON THE SOLEMNITY OF STS PETER AND PAUL Paul VI Audience Hall Friday, 30 June 2006


Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today's meeting is like an echo of the solemn celebration that took place yesterday in the Vatican Basilica, during which I had the joy of conferring the Pallium upon the Metropolitan Archbishop here with their relatives, friends and a numerous representation of their diocesan communities.

The different places they come from illustrate the catholic character of the Church: the faithful of the various particular Churches who have arrived from every part of the earth feel united with the See of Peter by a special bond of communion that is also clearly expressed by the liturgical symbol of the Pallium worn by their Metropolitans.

I greet each one of you with affection, venerable and dear Brothers, and together with you I greet the members of your faithful who have come on pilgrimage to the tomb of the Apostles.

An affectionate greeting to you in the first place, venerable and dear Pastors of the Church in Italy! I greet you, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, who is now called, after various years of direct service to the Holy See, to be Pastor of the distinguished Archdiocese of Naples; to you, Archbishop Tommaso Valentinetti of Pescara-Penne; to you, Archbishop Luigi Conti of Fermo; to you, Archbishop Ignazio Sanna of Oristano; to you, Archbishop Andrea Mugione of Benevento. May the Lord Jesus, the One who chose you as Pastors of his flock, sustain you in your daily service and with the power of the Holy Spirit make you faithful heralds of the Gospel.

I warmly greet the pilgrims who have come from France and Africa to accompany the new Metropolitan Archbishops upon whom I have had the joy of conferring the Pallium, a sign of very special communion with the See of Peter. My greetings go to Archbishop Odon Razanakolona of Antananarivo, Madagascar, to Archbishop Cornelius Esua of Bamenda, Cameroon, to Archbishop François Xavier Maroy Rusengo of Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, to Archbishop Jean-Pierre Kutwa of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, and to Archbishop Georges Pontier of Marseilles, France. Through you I carry in prayer all the faithful of your Dioceses and your countries.

Since I feel very specially close to Africa at this time, I ask the Lord to help the countries there to advance on the path of peace and the road of development of individuals and peoples. May you each day become ever better witnesses of Christ, concerned to proclaim the Gospel to your brethren and to help them to love our Father in Heaven more and more.

I extend a cordial greeting to the English-speaking Metropolitan Archbishops upon whom I conferred the Pallium yesterday: Archbishop George Niederauer of San Francisco, U.S.A.: Archbishop Daniel Di Nardo of Galveston-Houston, U.S.A.; Archbishop José Serofia Palma of Palo, the Philippines; Archbishop Antonio Javellana Ledesma of Cagayan de Oro, the Philippines; Archbishop Sylvain Lavoie of Keewatin-Le Pas, Canada; and Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, U.S.A. I also welcome their family members and friends, and the faithful from their Archdioceses who have accompanied them to Rome.

The Pallium is worn by Archbishops as a symbol of their hierarchical communion with the Successor of Peter in the governance of God's People. It is made of sheepswool as a symbol of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and the Good Shepherd who keeps vigilant watch over his beloved flock. This vestment reminds Bishops, as vicars of Christ in their local Churches, that they are called to be shepherds after the Heart of Jesus. To all of you I affectionately impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of joy and peace in the Lord.

I greet with affection the Spanish-speaking Archbishops and those who have accompanied them at the important ceremony of the imposition of the Pallium, which distinguishes them and demonstrates their role as Metropolitans. I am referring to Archbishops Jorge Liberato Urosa Savino of Caracas; Jorge Enrique Jiménez Carvajal of Cartagena; Fabriciano Sigampa of Resistencia and José Luis Mollaghan of Rosario.

Dear members of the faithful who have accompanied them, I ask you to continue to be close to them with prayer and generous collaboration, constant and loyal, so that they may carry out their mission in accordance with God's plans. I ask the Most Holy Virgin Mary, so deeply venerated in your countries - Venezuela, Colombia and Argentina - to inspire the Archbishops' ministry and to accompany with tenderness the priests, religious communities and faithful of your Archdioceses.

Take back to everyone my affectionate greeting, together with the Apostolic Blessing that I now warmly impart to you.

The Church in Brazil is rejoicing today because the Archiepiscopal Sees of São Luís do Maranhão, Ribeirão Preto and Londrina are celebrating the imposition of the Pallium on their new Archbishops: José Belisário da Silva, Joviano de Lima Júnior and Orlando Brandes, who are accompanied today by their priests, their faithful and their relatives.

I would therefore like to greet your particular Churches with affection and express the hope that this important celebration will help to strengthen their unity and communion with the Apostolic See, and to encourage the generous pastoral dedication of their Bishops for the growth of the Church and the salvation of souls.

I greet the pilgrims who have come from Poland. It is a custom of the Church that new Metropolitans receive the Pallium on the Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. The Pallium symbolizes the special bond of each Metropolitan with the Successor of Peter.
Yesterday, among the Metropolitans who have come from various parts of the world, your compatriot Archbishop Wojciech Ziemba, Metropolitan of Warmia, received the Pallium. I hope that he and all the Metropolitans in Poland will receive abundant gifts in their apostolic ministry, in union with the Successor of Peter.

I cordially impart my Blessing to all the pilgrims present here who have accompanied the new Metropolitan. Praised be Jesus Christ!

I address a cordial greeting to Archbishop Franc Kramberger of Maribor, upon whom I conferred the Pallium yesterday. Dear Brother in the Episcopate, may the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, great servants of the Church's unity, be a model in your work for the good of the People of God which has been entrusted to you.

I also greet all the Slovenians, your compatriots, who have accompanied you today. I warmly impart my Apostolic Blessing to you all.

Dear brothers and sisters, this meeting of ours also sheds light on how the Lord continues to care for his people, not allowing them to lack Pastors and reliable guides.

As we thank him, we cannot but be aware that each one of us, according to his or her own vocation, is called to work diligently in the Lord's vineyard so that all may be living members of his Mystical Body, which is the Church. Indeed, we are "like living stones built into a spiritual house", the Apostle Peter recalls, "to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1P 2,5).

May Mary, Mother of God, intercede for us and help us to be ever faithful to our mission. I assure you and the diocesan communities from which you come of my daily remembrance in prayer, as I willingly impart to you my Blessing.

July 2006



TO THE BISHOPS OF THE EPISCOPAL CONFERENCE OF CROATIA ON THEIR "AD LIMINA" VISIT Thursday, 6 July 2006

Your Eminence,
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate,

With great joy I cordially welcome you to Peter's house, making my own the words of the Apostle Paul: "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all, making my prayer with joy, thankful for your partnership in the Gospel from the first day until now" (Ph 1,3-5).

Your commitment to proclaiming the Good News in a spirit of convinced ecclesial communion is also confirmed by your ad limina visit, with which you wish to witness to the sincere attachment of the Church in Croatia to the Chair of Peter.

I am grateful to Cardinal Josip Bozanic who, as President of the Croatian Bishops' Conference, has addressed a greeting to me, acting as your spokes-man and of the flock of God entrusted to each one of you.

The brotherly meetings and fruitful conversations of these days, in which you have shared with me the positive results and hopes as well as the difficulties and worries of your Dioceses, have given me an opportunity to be better acquainted with the situation of the Church in your regions.

You are rightly proud of the 14 centuries of Christian heritage and faith of your people, but at the same time you are well aware that dedication to God is not only a fruit of the past but a personal act that engages before God every individual, regardless of the generation to which he belongs.

To enable the souls in your care to acquire a deeper knowledge of Jesus Christ and to encounter him personally, you have prepared numerous pastoral projects that witness to your great commitment and justify hope and optimism. Particularly important are your initiatives for a sound preparation for the sacraments and an appropriate participation in the liturgy.

I also noted your commitment to religious formation and to the quality of catechesis, both in schools and in parishes.

Furthermore, how can one fail to highlight the care for the traditional devotions and frequent pilgrimages, especially to the Marian shrines?

Then, mention should also be made of the prudent opening to the new incentives of the Spirit, who distributes his own charisms and prepares people to assume responsibility and offices that further the renewal and continuing development of the Church.

I warmly hope that, trusting in the Lord's promise to be present among us always, you will continue to journey on with your peoples on the route of consistent adherence to Christ's Gospel.

Your Country, Croatia, has always lived in the context of European civilization; hence, it justifiably desires to be recognized as a member of the European Union. Its desire is to cooperate, with its entry into this Institution, for the good of all the Continent's inhabitants.

Thus, the Nation will be able to enter into relations with other European peoples, bringing the contribution of its own culture and traditions to the joint search for the full truth about man.

Indeed, it is essential that the building of the common European house always be founded on the truth about man, hence, based on the affirmation of each person's right to life, from conception until natural death; on recognition of the spiritual element of the human being in which his inalienable dignity is rooted; and on respect for the religious choices of each person in which his insuppressible openness to the transcendent is witnessed.

It is even possible to find consensus on these values among people who accept the voice of reason, although they do not belong to the Catholic Church, and who are sensitive to the dictates of natural law.

I know that you are working with your priests and faithful with this in mind.

In encouraging you to persevere, I assure you of the backing of the Holy See, which has always viewed Croatia with appreciation and affection. The ties between the Apostolic See and your Nation, already strong in the past, have continued to grow stronger, as the recent approvals of bilateral Accords testify.

In the future too, the Holy See will stand beside you and follow with concern and support the efforts of your people on the path of authentic progress.

It is necessary, nevertheless, to realize that the routes to good and desirable goals are not exempt from the threats of contemporary cultural currents such as secularization and relativism.

Consequently, if the faithful are to avoid these dangers, an unwearying proclamation of Gospel values is essential. Following the example and teachings of the great figures of your particular Churches - I am thinking in particular of Bl. Alojzije Stepinac, Bishop and Martyr -, do not be afraid to point out to them what the Gospel teaches, putting them on guard against all that is in opposition to it so that your communities may be a stimulus for the whole society in the commitment to the common good and attention to the neediest.

My thoughts go at this time to the numerous families, to those who live in a precarious situation despite their hard work, to the unemployed, the elderly and the sick.

Your Country, unfortunately, is still suffering the consequences of the recent conflict whose negative effects are not only felt in the economy, but also in the hearts of the inhabitants who sometimes feel burdened by this legacy.

Always be proclaimers of reconciliation and peacemakers among the citizens of your Homeland, encouraging them on the path of Christian reconciliation: forgiveness first sets free the person who had the courage to grant it.

Venerable Brothers, the pastoral challenges are numerous and the time we are living in is not free of problems. However, we are certain of help from on High.

It is here that the Bishop's service appears even more important. If he is to give a credible witness to all, he must think of nothing but serving Christ.

Be generous, therefore, in serving the Church and your people, persevering in prayer and full of zeal in preaching.

Follow with special care the formation of the priests, your collaborators, encourage priestly vocations and watch attentively over your seminarians.

I urge you to guide in love and in a spirit of reciprocal collaboration the religious communities and movements, both those of consecrated life and the secular ones.

Continue to encourage in families faithful love, harmony and daily prayer, encouraging them to generous openness to life.

Moreover, how can we fail to see the importance of the presence of Catholics in public life as well as in the media? It also depends on them to ensure that a voice of truth on the current problems may always be heard.

I pray that each one will be able to work for the glory of God and for men and women, so that thanksgiving to the Giver of every good may ring out everywhere, in accordance with the Apostle's words: "Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, to him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever" (Ep 3,20-21).

Venerable Brothers, you may be certain of my support and prayer for the work that God has entrusted to you on behalf of your communities. Your ad limina visit has shown that you are of "one heart and one mind" with your faithful and that you foster a profound sense of communion with the Successor of Peter, and therefore with the universal Church.

As I invoke upon you and upon your ministry the intercession of Mary, Our Lady of the Great Croatian Baptismal Vow, I cordially impart my Blessing to you, to your priests, to the consecrated men and women as well as to the entire Croatian People.

May Jesus and Mary be praised!



APOSTOLIC JOURNEY TO VALENCIA (SPAIN) ON OCCASION OF THE FIFTH WORLD MEETING OF FAMILIES


WELCOME CEREMONY Airport of Manises Saturday, 8 July 2006

8076
Your Majesties,
Mr President of the Government,
Distinguished Authorities,
My Brother Cardinals and Bishops,
Dear Brothers and Sisters:

1. With great joy I come today to Valencia, to the noble and much-loved land of Spain, which has given me so many grateful memories from my earlier visits for Congresses and meetings.

2. I cordially greet all of you, those here present and all those following this ceremony through the communications media.

I am grateful to His Majesty King Juan Carlos for his presence, together with the Queen, and in particular I thank him for his words of welcome in the name of the Spanish people.

I express my respectful appreciation to the President of the Government and to the other national, autonomous-regional and municipal Authorities. I am grateful for their cooperation in the organization of this Fifth World Meeting.

I greet with affection the Archbishop of Valencia, Monsignor Agustín García-Gasco, his Auxiliary Bishops, and the whole "levantine" Archdiocese for their warm welcome to this World Meeting. I know that in these days you are grieving with the families mourning their dear ones who were victims of a tragic accident, and are also close to the injured.

My affectionate greeting also goes to the President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, and to the other Cardinals, the President and members of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, the priests, the consecrated persons and all the lay faithful.

3. My reason for this long-awaited visit is to take part in the Fifth World Meeting of Families, whose theme is "The Transmission of Faith in the Family". I wish to set forth the central role, for the Church and for society, proper to the family based on marriage. The family is a unique institution in God’s plan, and the Church cannot fail to proclaim and promote its fundamental importance, so that it can live out its vocation with a constant sense of responsibility and joy.

4. My venerable predecessor, a great friend of Spain, the beloved John Paul II, convoked this Meeting. Prompted by the same pastoral solicitude, tomorrow I will have the privilege of concluding it with the celebration of Holy Mass in the City of Arts and Sciences.

In union with all taking part, I will implore from the Lord, through the intercession of our Most Holy Mother and the Apostle Saint James, plentiful graces for the families of Spain and of the whole world.

May the Lord abundantly bless all of you and your beloved families!



VISIT TO THE BASILICA OF THE "VIRGEN DE LOS DESAMPARADOS" AND PRAYER FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE SUBWAY ACCIDENT Saturday, 8 July 2006

8706

Before the Virgin of the Forlorn, let us ask her comfort for all the families in this city who are suffering the consequences of the accident that plunged them into sorrow and mourning for their children.

With our hearts entrusted to divine mercy, all together let us recite an "Our Father" in suffrage for those who are now in God's presence.

Our Father

All:

Our Father who art in Heaven,
Hallowed by thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us;
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil. Amen.
Lord grant them eternal repose and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. Amen.




Speeches 2005-13 33