shortly before reaching his destination. The city of Guanajuato, which has a
population of around 70,000, underwent its greatest expansion during the
period of Spanish rule, thanks to the nearby silver and gold mines. It is also
famous for being the
cradle of the Mexican national independence movement led by Miguel Hidalgo. In
1998 the city and its silver mines became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
After entering Guanajuato, the Pope made his way to the Casa del Conde Rul,
the headquarters of the State government, where he paid a courtesy visit to
Felipe de Jesus Calderon Hinojosa, president of Mexico. The two men held a
private meeting, after
Subject: VISnews120326
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt
which Benedict XVI, accompanied by Archbishop Jose Guadalupe Martin Rabago of
Leon, appeared on the balcony of the building to greet children and faithful
gathered below in the Plaza de la Paz.
"You have a very special place in the Pope’s heart", he told the
children. "And in these moments, I would like all the children of Mexico to
know this, especially those who have to bear the burden of suffering,
abandonment, violence or hunger,
which in recent months, because of drought, has made itself strongly felt in
some regions. I am grateful for this encounter of faith, and for the festive
and joyful presence expressed in song. ... God wants us to be happy always. He
knows us and He
loves us. If we allow the love of Christ to change our heart, then we can
change the world. This is the secret of authentic happiness.
"This place where we stand today has a name which expresses the yearning
present in the heart of each and every person: “la paz”, peace.
This is a gift which comes from on high. “Peace be with you”.
These are the words of the
Risen Lord. We hear them during each Mass, and today they resound anew in this
place, with the hope that each one of you will be transformed, becoming a
sower and messenger of that peace for which Christ offered His life.
"The disciple of Jesus does not respond to evil with evil, but is always an
instrument of good instead, a herald of pardon, a bearer of happiness, a
servant of unity. He wishes to write in each of your lives a story of
friendship. Hold on to Him,
then, as the best of friends".
"I have come that you may know my affection. Each one of you is a gift of
God to Mexico and to the world. Your family, the Church, your school and those
who have responsibility in society must work together to ensure that you
receive a better world
as your inheritance, without jealousies and divisions.That is why I wish to
lift up my voice, inviting everyone to protect and to care for children, so
that nothing may extinguish their smile, but that they may live in peace and
look to the future with
confidence.
"You, my dear young friends, are not alone. You can count on the help of
Christ and His Church in order to live a Christian lifestyle. Participate in
Sunday Mass, in catechesis, in apostolic works, looking for occasions of
prayer, fraternity and
charity. Blessed Cristobal, Antonio and Juan, the child martyrs of Tlaxcala,
lived this way, and knowing Jesus, during the time of the initial
evangelisation of Mexico, they discovered that there is no greater treasure
than He".
"We will remain close in prayer. So I invite you to pray continually, even
in your homes; in this way, you will experience the happiness of speaking
about God with your families. Pray for everyone, and also for me. I will pray
for all of you, so that
Mexico may be a place in which everyone can live in serenity and harmony".
___________________________________________________________
HUMAN STRATEGIES WILL NOT SUFFICE TO SAVE US, WE MUST HAVE RECOURSE TO
GOD
Vatican City, 25 March 2012 (VIS) - This morning Benedict XVI celebrated
Mass in the Parque Bicentenario of the city of Leon. He reached the venue by
helicopter from Miraflores College where he is staying during his apostolic
visit to Mexico. On
arrival he was welcomed by the governor of the State of Guanajuato before
boarding the popemobile to greet the 500,000 faithful.
The Holy Father concelebrated Mass with Mexican cardinals and bishops, the
presidents of the twenty-two episcopal conferences of Latin America and the
Caribbean, and some 3,000 priests. The ceremony was accompanied by a
200-strong choir and the
faithful were able to follow the event on giant screens.
Extracts from the Holy Father's homily are given below.
"We said, “A pure heart, create for me, O God” during the
responsorial psalm. This exclamation ... helps us to look deeply into the
human heart, especially in times of sorrow as well as hope, as are the present
times for the people of
Mexico and of Latin America.
"The desire for a heart that would be pure, sincere, humble, acceptable to
God was very much felt by Israel as it became aware of the persistence in its
midst of evil and sin as a power, practically implacable and impossible to
overcome. There was
nothing left but to trust in God’s mercy and in the hope that He would
change from within, from the heart, an unbearable, dark and hopeless
situation".
"This should remind each one of us and our peoples that, when addressing
the deeper dimension of personal and community life, human strategies will not
suffice to save us. We must have recourse to the One Who alone can give life
in its fullness,
because He is the essence of life and its author; He has made us sharers in
the same through His Son Jesus Christ.
"Today’s Gospel takes up the topic and shows us how this ancient
desire for the fullness of life has actually been achieved in Christ. ... On
the cross ... His “glory” will begin, because of His sacrifice of
expiation for all, as
the grain of wheat fallen to the ground that by dying germinates and produces
abundant fruit. ... Our Lady of Guadalupe showed her divine Son to St. Juan
Diego, not as a powerful legendary hero but as the very God of the living, by
Whom all live, the
Creator of persons, ... of heaven and earth. At that moment she did what she
had done previously at the wedding feast of Cana. Faced with the embarrassment
caused by the lack of wine, she told the servants clearly that the path to
follow was her Son:
“Do whatever he tells you”".
"By coming here I have been able to visit the monument to Christ the King
situated on top of the Cubilete. ... This monument represents Christ the King.
But His crowns, one of a sovereign the other of thorns, indicate that His
royal status does not
correspond to how it has been or is understood by many. His kingdom does not
stand on the power of His armies subduing others through force or violence. It
rests on a higher power that wins over hearts: the love of God that He brought
into the world
with His sacrifice and the truth to which He bore witness. This is His
sovereignty which no one can take from Him and which no one should forget".
"From this park, foreseen as a memorial of the bicentenary of the birth of
the Mexican nation, ... we ask Christ for a pure heart, where He as Prince of
Peace may dwell “thanks to the power of God Who is the power of
goodness, the power of
love”. But for God to dwell in us, we need to listen to Him; we must
allow His Word to challenge us every day, meditating upon it in our hearts
after the example of Mary. In this way we grow in friendship with Him, we
learn to understand what He
expects from us and we are encouraged to make Him known to others.
"At Aparecida, the bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean saw with
clarity the need to confirm, renew and revitalise the newness of the Gospel
rooted deeply in the history of these lands. ... We need to overcome fatigue
related to faith and
rediscover “the joy of being Christians, of being sustained by the inner
happiness of knowing Christ and belonging to His Church. From this joy spring
the energies that are needed to serve Christ in distressing situations of
human suffering,
placing oneself at His disposition and not falling back on one’s own
comfort”. This can be seen clearly in the saints who dedicated
themselves fully to the cause of the Gospel with enthusiasm and joy without
counting the cost, even of life
itself. Their heart was centred entirely on Christ from Whom they had learned
what it means to love until the end".
"Let us ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to assist us in purifying our hearts.
... And let us also ask her to continue accompanying and protecting her
Mexican and Latin American children, that Christ may reign in their lives and
help them boldly to
promote peace, harmony, justice and solidarity".
___________________________________________________________
TRUE DEVOTION TO THE VIRGIN ALWAYS LEADS US TO JESUS
Vatican City, 25 March 2012 (VIS) - "As we now pray the Angelus and
remember the Annunciation of the Lord, our eyes too turn spiritually towards
the hill of Tepeyac, to the place where the Mother of God, under the title of
“the Ever-Virgin
Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe” has been fervently honoured for centuries
as a sign of reconciliation and of God’s infinite goodness towards the
world", said the Holy Father this morning before the Marian prayer.
"Do not forget", he went on, "that true devotion to the Virgin Mary always
takes us to Jesus, and “consists neither in sterile nor transitory
feelings, nor in an empty credulity, but proceeds from true faith, by which we
are led to recognise
the excellence of the Mother of God, and we are moved to filial love towards
our Mother and to the imitation of her virtues”. To love her means being
committed to listening to her Son, to venerate the Guadalupana means living in
accordance with
the words of the blessed fruit of her womb.
"At this time, when so many families are separated or forced to emigrate,
when so many are suffering due to poverty, corruption, domestic violence, drug
trafficking, the crisis of values and increased crime, we come to Mary in
search of consolation,
strength and hope. She is the Mother of the true God, who invites us to stay
with faith and charity beneath her mantle, so as to overcome in this way all
evil and to establish a more just and fraternal society.
"With these sentiments, I place once again this country, all Latin America
and the Caribbean before the gentle gaze of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I entrust
all their sons and daughters to the Star of both the original and the new
evangelisation; she has
inspired with her maternal love their Christian history, has given particular
expression to their national achievements, to their communal and social
initiatives, to family life, to personal devotion and to the continental
mission which is now taking
place across these noble lands. In times of trial and sorrow she was invoked
by many martyrs who, in crying out “Long live Christ the King and Mary
of Guadalupe” bore unyielding witness of fidelity to the Gospel and
devotion to the Church. I
now ask that her presence in this nation may continue to serve as a summons to
defence and respect for human life. May it promote fraternity, setting aside
futile acts of revenge and banishing all divisive hatred", the
Pope concluded.
After the Angelus, Benedict XVI prayed for a few moments in silence before
the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. As he imparted the final blessing, he also
blessed ninety-one images of the Virgin of Guadalupe which are destined to be
displayed in all
the dioceses of Mexico.
___________________________________________________________
TO BISHOPS: STAND BESIDE THOSE WHO ARE MARGINALISED
Vatican City, 25 March 2012 (VIS) - At 6 p.m. today the Holy Father arrived
at the cathedral of "Nuestra Senora de la Luz" in the city of Leon, where he
celebrated Vespers with Mexican bishops and numerous other prelates from the
episcopal
conferences of Latin America and the Caribbean. On arrival the Pope was
greeted by the cathedral chapter, then paused for a moment of private prayer
before the Blessed Sacrament.
Following a greeting by Archbishop Carlos Aguiar Retes of Tlalnepantla,
president of the Mexican Episcopal Conference and of the Latin American
Episcopal Council (CELAM), the celebration of Vespers began. Extracts from the
homily delivered by the
Holy Father during the ceremony are given below.
"The Blessed Virgin ... has shown us Jesus and passed down to us the great
things which God constantly does for humanity. ... A decisive sign of these
great things is given to us in the reading just proclaimed at these Vespers.
The people of
Jerusalem and their leaders did not acknowledge Christ, yet, by condemning Him
to death, they fulfilled the words of the prophets. Human evil and ignorance
simply cannot thwart the divine plan of salvation and redemption. Evil is
simply incapable of
that. ... There is no reason, then, to give in to the despotism of evil".
"I have greatly looked forward to this meeting with you, the pastors of
Christ’s pilgrim Church in Mexico and in the different countries of this
great continent. I see this meeting as an occasion to turn our gaze together
to Christ. ...
Certainly your dioceses face a number of challenges and difficulties at the
present moment. Yet, in the sure knowledge that the Lord is risen, we are able
to move forward confidently, in the conviction that evil does not have the
last word in human
history, and that God is able to open up new horizons to a hope that does not
disappoint".
"In you I see reflected the concerns of the flocks which you shepherd, and
I am reminded of the assemblies of the Synod of Bishops, where the
participants applaud after an intervention by someone who exercises his
ministry in particularly troubling
situations for the Church’s life and mission. That applause is a sign of
deep faith in the Lord and fraternity in the apostolate, as well as gratitude
and admiration for those who sow the Gospel amid thorns, some in the form of
persecution, others
in the form of social exclusion or contempt. Neither are concerns lacking, for
want of means and human resources, or for limitations imposed on the freedom
of the Church in carrying out her mission.
"The Successor of Peter shares these concerns and he is grateful for your
patient and humble pastoral outreach. You are not alone. ... All of us are one
in sufferings and in consolation. Know that you can count on a special place
in the prayers of
the one who has received from Christ the charge of confirming his brethren in
faith. He now encourages you in your mission of making our Lord Jesus Christ
ever better known, loved and followed in these lands, and he urges you not to
let yourselves be
intimidated by obstacles along the way".
"The initiatives planned for the Year of Faith must be aimed at guiding men
and women to Christ; His grace will enable them to cast off the bonds of sin
and slavery, and to progress along the path of authentic and responsible
freedom. ... I encourage
you to continue to share freely the treasures of the Gospel, so that they can
become a powerful source of hope, freedom and salvation for everyone".
"Amid the challenges now facing us in our pastoral care and our preaching
of the Gospel, it is essential to show great concern for your seminarians. ...
No less fundamental is the need to remain close to your priests; they must
never lack the
understanding and encouragement of their bishop, nor, if necessary, his
paternal admonition in response to improper attitudes. ... The same should be
said for the different forms of consecrated life, whose charisms need to be
gratefully esteemed and
responsibly encouraged, in a way respectful of the gift received. Greater
attention is due to the members of the lay faithful most engaged in the fields
of catechesis, liturgical animation, charitable activity and social
commitment. Their faith
formation is critical if the Gospel is to become present and fruitful in
contemporary society. It is not right for them to feel treated like
second-class citizens in the Church, despite the committed work which they
carry out in accordance with
their proper vocation, and the great sacrifice which this dedication at times
demands of them. In all of this, it is particularly important for pastors to
ensure that a spirit of communion reigns among priests, religious and the lay
faithful, and that
sterile divisions, criticism and unhealthy mistrust are avoided".
"Stand beside those who are marginalised as the result of force, power or a
prosperity which is blind to the poorest of the poor. The Church cannot
separate the praise of God from service to others. The one God, our Father and
Creator, has made us
brothers and sisters: to be human is to be a brother and guardian to our
neighbour. ... The Church must relive and make present what Jesus was: the
Good Samaritan Who came from afar, entered our human history, lifted us up and
sought to heal us".
Following the ceremony, Juan Manuel Oliva Ramirez, governor of the State of
Guanajuato, handed the Pope a device with which he illuminated the new
lighting system of the nearby Shrine of Christ the King.
___________________________________________________________
THE CHURCH CALLS FOR POLITICS NOT TO BE A POWER STRUGGLE, BUT TO WORK IN
FAVOUR OF CITIZENS
Vatican City, 25 March 2012 (VIS) - This evening, following the celebration
of Vespers, Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. presided at a
dinner in the courtyard of the cathedral of Leon. The event was attended by
Mexican and Latin
American bishops, and by members of the papal entourage.
The secretary of State pronounced an address in which he observed that the
Pope's visit to Mexico was "an occasion of profound happiness, seeing how this
beloved nation has once again opened wide its doors to the Successor of Peter,
manifesting in
this way the greatness of spirit of her children, her exquisite hospitality
and the robust Catholic faith rooted among her citizens".
Cardinal Bertone noted that this year marks the twentieth anniversary of
the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mexico and the Holy See.
"Both the Church and the State share a common duty, each according to its
specific mission, in
protecting and promoting the fundamental rights of each person", he said. "Of
special note among them is the freedom of man to search for the truth and to
profess his own religious convictions, in public as well as in private, which
has been recognised
and guaranteed by civil law. And it is to be hoped that in Mexico this
fundamental right will continue to be strengthened, conscious that it goes
much further than mere freedom of worship. It penetrates every dimension of
the human person, called to
express his or her faith, to proclaim it and share it with others, without
imposing it, as the most precious gift from God.
"Moreover", the cardinal added, "diplomatic efforts must be more fully
rooted in the promotion of this great common cause, to which Christianity can
offer a valid contribution, because it is “a religion of freedom and of
peace, and it is at the
service of the authentic good of humanity”. The Church never ceases to
call on everyone to let political activity be a praiseworthy and ceaseless
endeavour in support of citizens, and not become a struggle for power or an
imposition of rigid
ideological systems, which so often result in the radicalisation of wide
sectors of the population.
"In this sense, the bishops here present represent the Catholic
Church’s engagement to work for the benefit of the human family, for
whom Jesus Christ gave His life. In each generation, she has written a page of
this history of service to
humanity. Some lines of it are the work of saints, others of the martyrs. This
history has not been lacking in daring pastors, in exemplary religious men and
women, in young people with prophetic voices, in valiant witnesses to charity
and in faithful
lay people who, often with great simplicity, have offered a hand and an open
door to their brothers and sisters in need. The beauty of Christianity has
been expressed in many different ways so that each man or woman, without
regard to race, language or
social class can be embraced. In it, much of the dimension of faith has come
to be so deeply professed and celebrated, as is seen in Mexico and throughout
Latin America, and shown through the many charitable projects which have
inspired so many to overcome selfishness and to help with the most basic and
urgent social needs. Nor should we forget initiatives for the promotion of the
right of every person and all peoples, the defence of their liberty and the
cultivation of art
and culture.
"If this mission has been tainted in some way, that does not tarnish the
splendour of the Gospel, which is always present to purify and illuminate our
path, which today is seen in the revitalisation of the faith to which Benedict
XVI continues to
invite us".
___________________________________________________________
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