* Original message posted in: VATICAN.   
   * Crossposted in: IN_CATHOLIC.   
      
   Hello All.   
      
   VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
      
   TWENTIETH YEAR - N. 147   
   ENGLISH   
   WEDNESDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2010   
      
   SUMMARY:   
      
   - Hildegard of Bingen: Exemplary Ministry of Authority   
   - Young People: Live and Transmit the Values of the Gospel   
   - Congress of Asian Catholic Laity: Proclaiming Jesus Christ   
   - Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for September   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   HILDEGARD OF BINGEN: EXEMPLARY MINISTRY OF AUTHORITY   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 1 SEP 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father held his general audience   
   this morning in the square in front of the Apostolic Place of   
   Castelgandolfo, where he is spending the summer. His catechesis was   
   dedicated to St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), a great seer known as the   
   "Teutonic prophetess".   
      
     Before focusing on the saint the Pope turned his attention John Paul II's   
   1988 Apostolic Letter "Mulieris dignitatem", which examined "the precious   
   role women have played and continue to play in the life of the Church". The   
   Church, that text states, "gives thanks for all the manifestations of the   
   feminine 'genius' which have appeared in the course of history".   
      
     "During the centuries we customarily call the Middle Ages", said Benedict   
   XVI, "certain female figures also stood out for the sanctity of their lives   
   and the richness of their teachings". One of these was Hildegard of Bingen,   
   born to a noble family who chose to dedicate her to the service of God.   
      
     Having received an appropriate human and Christian formation at the hands   
   of her teacher Jutta of Spanheim, Hildegard entered the Benedictine convent   
   of St. Disibod where she received the veil from Bishop Otto of Bamberg. In   
   1136 she was elected as mother superior, a role she carried out using "her   
   gifts as a cultured and spiritually elevated woman, capable of dealing with   
   the organisational aspects of life in the cloister", said the Pope.   
      
     Soon afterwards, due to the large number of vocations, Hildegard founded   
   another community, located in Bingen and dedicated to St. Rupert, where she   
   spent the rest of her life. "The manner in which she exercised the ministry   
   of authority remains exemplary for all religious communities", noted the   
   Holy Father. "She aroused saintly emulation in the practice of good works".   
      
     While still superior of the convent of St. Disibod the saint began to   
   dictate her mystical visions to her spiritual advisor, the monk Volmar, and   
   to her own secretary, Richardis of Strade. "As is always the case in the   
   lives of true mystics, Hildegard wished to place herself under the authority   
   of the wise, in order to discern the origin of her visions, which she was   
   afraid could be the fruit of illusions and not from God".   
      
     To this end she spoke with St. Bernard of Clairvaux who calmed her fears   
   and encouraged her. In 1147, moreover, she received the crucial approbation   
   of Pope Eugene III who, in the Synod of Trier, read out one of the texts   
   dictated by Hildegard which had been presented to him by Archbishop Henry of   
   Mainz.   
      
     "The Pope authorised the mystic to write her visions and to speak in   
   public. From that moment Hildegard's spiritual prestige grew to the point   
   that her contemporaries gave her the title of the 'Teutonic prophetess'",   
   said Benedict XVI.   
      
     "The sign of an authentic experience of the Holy Spirit, the source of all   
   charisms", the Pope concluded, "is that the individual possessing   
   supernatural gifts never boasts of them, never shows them off and, above   
   all, demonstrates complete obedience to ecclesiastical authority. All gifts   
   distributed by the Holy Spirit are, in fact, intended for the edification of   
   the Church and it is the Church, through her pastors, who recognises their   
   authenticity".   
   AG/                                                                     VIS   
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   YOUNG PEOPLE: LIVE AND TRANSMIT THE VALUES OF THE GOSPEL   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 1 SEP 2010 (VIS) - Among his remarks to pilgrim groups at the   
   end of this morning's general audience in Castelgandolfo, the Pope addressed   
   a special greeting to participants in the Third Latin American Youth   
   Conference, which is s   
   oon to be held in the city of Los Teques, Venezuela,   
   on the theme "Let us walk with Jesus to give Life to our peoples".   
      
     Benedict XVI invited young people to fix their "gaze on Jesus Christ, the   
   Son of the living God. With His Grace", he said, "you will find the strength   
   which encourages us to commit ourselves to causes that dignify mankind and   
   make peoples great.   
      
     "Dear young people, may these days of coexistence, prayer and study serve   
   to bring you to a personal encounter with the Lord, and to listen to His   
   Word. You will not be disappointed, because He has designs of love and   
   salvation for everyone. The Pope is with you and reiterates his trust, at   
   the same time asking God to help you so that - being authentic disciples of   
   Jesus Christ - you may live the values of the Gospel, transmit them   
   courageously to those around you and draw inspiration from them to build a   
   more just and reconciled world. It is worthwhile committing to this   
   beautiful mission".   
      
     The Holy Father concluded by calling on the Virgin Mary to accompany the   
   young people on their journey and "to remind them always that there is no   
   greater happiness that being a friend of Christ".   
   AG/                                                                     VIS   
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   CONGRESS OF ASIAN CATHOLIC LAITY: PROCLAIMING JESUS CHRIST   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 1 SEP 2010 (VIS) - Made public today was a Message from the   
   Pope for the opening of the Congress of Asian Catholic Laity, which is being   
   held in Seoul, Korea, from 31 August to 5 September on the theme   
   "Proclaiming Jesus Christ in Asia Today".   
      
     In the English-language Message, addressed to Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko,   
   president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, the Holy Father mentions   
   his "wish to single out with gratitude the outstanding work of the many   
   catechists who bring the riches of the Catholic faith to young and old   
   alike". In this context he highlights the contribution of apostolic and   
   charismatic movements which "bring new life and vigour to the formation of   
   the laity, particularly families and young people".   
      
     "I pray", the Holy Father writes, "that the present congress will   
   highlight the indispensable role of the lay faithful in the Church's mission   
   and develop specific programmes and initiatives to assist them in their task   
   of proclaiming Jesus Christ in Asia today".   
      
     "Those who have found in Jesus the truth, joy and beauty which give   
   meaning and direction to their lives will naturally desire to bring this   
   grace to others. Undaunted by the presence of difficulties, or the enormity   
   of the task at hand, they will trust in the mysterious presence of the Holy   
   Spirit Who is always at work in the hearts of individuals, in their   
   traditions and cultures, mysteriously opening doors to Christ as 'the way,   
   and the truth and the life', and the fulfilment of every human aspiration".   
   MESS/                                                                   VIS   
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   BENEDICT XVI'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR SEPTEMBER   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 1 SEP 2010 (VIS) - Pope Benedict's general prayer intention   
   for September is: "That in less developed parts of the world the   
   proclamation of the Word of God may renew people's hearts, encouraging them   
   to work actively toward authentic social progress".   
      
     His mission intention is: "That by opening our hearts to love we may put   
   an end to the numerous wars and conflicts which continue to bloody our   
   world".   
   BXVI-PRAYER INTENTIONS/                                 VIS 20100901 (80)   
      
   --- timEd/2 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS-Meridian, MS-bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)