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                                  VIS-Press releases   
      
   BENEDICT XVI RECALLS LEO XIII ON BICENTENARY OF HIS BIRTH   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 5 SEP 2010 (VIS) - This morning Benedict XVI made a pastoral   
   visit to Carpineto Romano, a small town located eighty kilometres north of   
   Rome, to mark the bicentenary of the birth of Vincenzo Gioacchino Pecci, a   
   native of Carpineto who later became Pope Leo XIII.   
      
   The Holy Father celebrated Mass in the town's main square in the presence of   
   several thousand faithful. In his homily he commented on today's Gospel   
   readings, which concern the primacy of God and of Christ. In this context he   
   noted that Leo XIII "was a man of great faith and profound devotion. This   
   remains the basis of everything, for all Christians including the Pope", he   
   said, "without prayer; that is, without the inner union with God, we can do   
   nothing, as Jesus made clear to His disciples during the Last Supper".   
      
   "Absolutely nothing comes before the love of God and of Christ. And Vincenzo   
   Gioacchino Pecci absorbed this primary and principal quality here, in his   
   hometown, from his parents and from his parish", said the Pope.   
      
   He then highlighted "another aspect deriving from the primacy of God and   
   Christ, which is to be found in the public activity of all pastors of the   
   Church particularly the Supreme Pontiff, each with the characteristics specific   
   to his own personality. ... All pastors are called to transmit to the People of   
   God not abstract truths but a 'wisdom'; in other words, a message that unites   
   faith and life, truth and tangible reality. Pope Leo XIII, with the assistance   
   of the Holy Spirit, was able to do this in one of the most difficult historical   
   periods for the Church, remaining faithful to tradition while, at the same   
   time, measuring himself against the great questions of his day".   
      
   Leo XIII's social Magisterium was made famous "by his 1891 Encyclical 'Rerum   
   novarum', but it was also rich in many other contributions which together make   
   an organic corpus, the first nucleus of Church social doctrine", said Pope   
   Benedict.   
      
   In this context he also mentioned the 1890 Encyclical "Catholicae Ecclesiae" on   
   the subject of slavery. "The new Christian fraternity overcame the separation   
   between slaves and freemen, introducing into history the principle of human   
   promotion which would lead to the abolition of slavery, but also to overcoming   
   barriers that still exist today".   
      
   On the subject of the "human promotion which Christianity brought to the   
   progress of civilisation", the Pope highlighted how "Christians, acting as   
   individual citizens or in associations, represent a beneficial and peaceful   
   force for profound change, favouring the development of potentials inherent to   
   reality itself. This is the form of presence and activity in the world   
   suggested by Church social doctrine which always aims at maturity of conscience   
   as a condition for valid and lasting transformation".   
      
   "During a period of harsh anticlericalism and virulent demonstrations against   
   the Pope, Leo XIII was able to guide and support Catholics along the path of   
   constructive participation, rich in content, firm in its principles yet capable   
   of openness. The immediate wake of the publication of 'Rerum novarum' was   
   followed, in Italy and other countries, by a veritable explosion of   
   initiatives: associations, savings societies for rural workers and artisans,   
   newspapers, etc. ... Thus, a very old but wise and farsighted Pope was able to   
   steer a rejuvenated Church into the twentieth century, with an attitude   
   appropriate to facing new challenges. He was a Pope still politically and   
   physically 'prisoner' of the Vatican but in reality, with his Magisterium, he   
   represented a Church capable of facing, without too many complexes, the great   
   questions of the modern age".   
      
   The Holy Father concluded by expressing "the old but ever new commandment to   
   love one another as Christ lived us, and with this love to be salt and light of   
   the world. Thus will you be faithful to the heritage of your great and   
   venerated fellow citizen, Pope Leo XIII. And thus may it be for the whole the   
   Church!"   
      
   At the end of the Eucharistic celebration, the Pope returned by helicopter to   
   the Apostolic Palace at Castelgandolfo for the Angelus prayer.   
   PV-CARPINETO ROMANO/VIS 20100906 (690)   
      
   SUMMARY   
      
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