"Heart full of sorrow", pope urges prayer and effective action in Middle East

Asia News ^ | August 2, 2006 | Benedict XVI

[ELS]

2 August, 2006
VATICAN - MIDDLE EAST
"Heart full of sorrow", pope urges prayer and effective action in Middle East

At a special audience for ministrants, Benedict XVI condemned the massacre in Qana and the “spilling of innocent blood from whichever part it comes”. He called on 35,000 altar servers to be “witnesses” of nearness to Jesus, and to heed calls to the priesthood.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – With "a heart full of sorrow" and the "chilling images of mangled bodies of so many people, especially children," before his eyes, Benedict XVI appealed once again for prayers "for the dear, martyred region of the Middle East", for more effective commitment from the international community for an "immediate cessation of all hostilities" and for "conditions for a definitive political solution to the crisis."

Recalling in particular the massacre in Qana in Lebanon, the pope said: "I wish to repeat that nothing can justify the spilling of innocent blood, no matter from which part it comes!"

Benedict XVI emphasized that only a "definitive political solution to the crisis" will be capable of "delivering a more serene and safe future for generations to come."

Since the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah started on the Israeli-Lebanese border, the Pope has not let one public occasion pass by without repeating his appeal for an end to hostilities by Israel and Hezbollah. He has urged a quest for conditions of lasting peace, the safeguarding of the security of Israel and Lebanese sovereignty and guarantees for a homeland for the Palestinians.

Today’s event was a special audience by Benedict XVI for more than 35,000 ministrants (altar boys and choir singers) coming from all over the world. It is also his first audience in St Peter’s Square after his summer break.

The international meeting of ministrants was organized by the Coetus Internationalis Ministrantium, a group set up in Altenberg (Cologne, Germany) in 1960 and dedicated to the spiritual formation of lay people committed to liturgical service.

Speaking in German – 30,000 of those present were from Germany – the pope reminded them that serving at the altar "is a witness" of "nearness" to Jesus. "If you remain united to Jesus and his words remain in you, then you will truly be his apostles and will take the fruit of good and of service into every area of your life: family, school and free time. Bear that love you receive in the Liturgy to all, especially where you see that love is lacking."

Quoting the words of John’s Gospel ("I do not call you servants but friends: remain in my love and you will bear much fruit." cfr Jn 15:9 -16), the pope also asked the young ministrants to be attentive to the voice of Jesus.

"Listen to that voice! Listen to it with great availability," he added, "if it calls you to give yourselves without any reservations to the life of the priesthood. Listen to it with faith whatever the road of your vocation may be, because Christ wants to establish ties of friendship with you too, as he did with Simon, who he called Peter, with Andrew, James, John and the other Apostles."

At the end, the pope delivered greetings in several languages.

[ELS]

Pope Benedict XVI wears a scarf given by German faithful during a weekly audience in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican August 2, 2006. The pope called for a lasting political solution between Israel and Hizbollah on Wednesday to stop more ' spilling of innocent blood ' in Lebanon after Israeli bombs killed 37 children in the village of Qana this weekend. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi (VATICAN)

Cardinal archbishop of Vienna Christoph Schonborn (R) gestures as he chats with Pope Benedict XVI during a weekly audience in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican August 2, 2006. The pope called for a lasting political solution between Israel and Hizbollah on Wednesday to stop more 'spilling of innocent blood ' in Lebanon after Israeli bombs killed 37 children in the village of Qana this weekend. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi (VATICAN)

Pope Benedict XVI gives his blessing during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2006. In the photo, on the left, Cardinal archbishop of Vienna Christoph Schonborn. The pontiff issued a new appeal for peace, saying his heart was full of pain for the bloodshed of innocent people and making a reference to the Israeli attack last weekend in the southern Lebanese town of Qana. (CPP/Daniele Colarieti)

[ELS]

Weekly audience ping!

Zenit News is on holiday until August 16th and the Vatican Web site has not posted any transcripts of this today's audience in St. Peter's Square. I checked Asia News which didn't have a transcript, but had the article posted above. As soon as I find a transcript online, I will post it here and send out a new ping.

Please let me know if you want on or off of this list.

[Nihil Obstat]

30,000 of those present were from Germany

That's great. Hope the Pope can inspire an increase in holy vocations from the young Germans the way Pope John Paul did with the Poles.

[annalex]

nothing can justify the spilling of innocent blood

Amen.

[Carolina]

Aww, they look so boyish in their kerchiefs...the Pope and the Cardinal.

[starfish923]

30,000 of those present were from Germany
That's great. Hope the Pope can inspire an increase in holy vocations from the young Germans the way Pope John Paul did with the Poles.

Yes. I hope he does too, at least from Catholic Bavaria. Chances are good. Nothing like a role model. Southern Germans has been Catholic since Roman times.

[starfish923]

My two cents: Lasting solution? Won't happen.
God will have to end it.

European monarchs should have done a better job with recapturing the Holy Land from the Muslims....that would be the Crusades, of course. They weren't all a total failure. Too bad. A Christian Holy Land, with Muslims and Jews living under Christian governments, would have precluded today's latest battle.

Their civil war won't end....ever. Israel has everything to lose so they will never, ever, ever, ever, ever give up; the Palestinians have nothing to lose. People with nothing to lose are so desperate that young people commit suicide. For them, at least, it seems a better option than life. Sad future for all the children over there.

The only hope over there is to give Palestinians some hope, that is, economic hope. Middle class people tend not to riot or make war, as we see with middle class Muslims, Palestinians included, in America. Palestinians here in San Francisco own the Mom&Pop stores that were once owned by Chinese immigrants, and before that by Irish and Italian immigrants.

That economic hope won't happen either. That would require, well, never mind, you get my point.

Great photo.

[Salvation]

Unfortunately the images of Qana were staged in some instances. The death toll there was not as huge as first reported (I think down to 28) and pictures only tell part of the story.

What they don't tell because television in this case did not do a good job -- is that fact that Hezbollah bullies the civilians into letting them store their ammo and shoot from residences of civilians, schools, hospitals, etc.

Only now are we getting the 'rest of the story.'

Too bad that the Pope did not get the whole story before he spoke out.

At least he's is not bad-mouthing Israel quite so much.

[PandaRosaMishima]

The photo of Papa Benedict in his white kerchief makes me think of nothing so much as the Boy Scouts. Both of them are agents of Good and of G_d, in the end.

[ELS]

Finalmente!

Special catechesis for the European Pilgrimage of Altar Servers

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Thank you for your welcome! I greet you all with great affection. After an interval, due to my stay in the Aosta Valley, today I am resuming the General Audiences. And I am starting with a truly special Audience, because I have the joy of welcoming the large European Pilgrimage of Altar Servers. Dear boys and girls and young people, welcome! Since most of the Altar Servers who have gathered in this Square today are German-speaking, I will first address them in my mother-tongue.

Dear Altar Servers,

I am pleased that my first Audience after my holiday in the Alps is with you Altar Servers, and I greet each one of you with affection. I thank your Pastor, Auxiliary Bishop Martin Gächter of Basle, for the words with which, as President of Coetus Internationalis Ministrantium, he introduced the Audience, and I am grateful for the scarf, thanks to which I am once again an altar boy. In 1935, more than 70 years ago, I began as an altar boy; consequently, it has been a long journey on this path.

I cordially greet Cardinal Christoph Schönborn who celebrated Holy Mass for you yesterday, and the many Bishops and priests who have come from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Hungary.

I would like to offer you, dear Altar Servers - briefly, since it is hot - a message that can accompany you throughout your life and your service in the Church.

I would therefore like to resume the subject I have been addressing at the Catecheses in recent months. Perhaps some of you know that at the Wednesday General Audiences I am presenting the figures of the Apostles. First came Simon, whom the Lord called Peter, his brother Andrew, then another pair of brothers, St James known as "the Greater", the first martyr among the Apostles, and John the theologian and Evangelist, then James called "the Lesser".

I am planning to continue my presentation of the individual Apostles at the next Audiences, in which the Church, so to speak, becomes personal.

Today, however, we are reflecting on a common subject: on what kind of people the Apostles were.

In short, we might say that they were "friends" of Jesus. This is what he himself called them at the Last Supper, saying to them:  "no longer do I call you servants... but... friends" (Jn 15: 15).

They were, and were able to be, apostles and witnesses of Christ because they were close to him. They were united to him by a bond of love, brought to life by the Holy Spirit.

In this perspective, we can understand the theme of your pilgrimage: "Spiritus vivificat". It is the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, who gives life. It is he who gives life to your relationship with Jesus, in such a way that it becomes not only exterior: "we know that he existed and that he is present in the Sacrament", but he makes it become an intimate, profound and truly personal friendship which can give meaning to each one of your lives. And since you know him and know him in friendship, you will be able to witness to him and take him to others.

Today, seeing you here before me in St Peter's Square, I think of the Apostles and I hear Jesus' voice saying to you: I do not call you servants but friends; abide in my love and you will bear an abundance of fruit (cf. Jn 15: 9, 16).

I ask you to listen to this voice! Christ did not only say this 2,000 years ago; he is alive and saying it to you now. Listen to his voice with great openness; he has something to say to each one. Perhaps he is saying to some of you: "I want you to serve me in a special way as a priest, thus becoming my witness, being my friend and introducing others into this friendship".

Listen faithfully, therefore, to Jesus' voice. Each person's vocation is different, but Christ wants to make friends with everyone, just as he did with Simon, whom he called Peter, with Andrew, James, John and the other Apostles.

He has given you his word and continues to give it to you, so that you may know the truth, know how things truly are for human beings, and thus, so that you know how one ought to live in the right way, how one ought to face life so that it may become true. Thus, each of you, in your own way, will be able to be his disciples and apostles.

Dear Altar Servers, you are, in fact, already apostles of Jesus! When you take part in the Liturgy by carrying out your altar service, you offer a witness to all. Your absorption, the devotion that wells up from your heart and is expressed in gestures, in song, in the responses: if you do it correctly and not absent-mindedly, then in a certain way your witness is one that moves people.

The Eucharist is the source and summit of the bond of friendship with Jesus. You are very close to Jesus in the Eucharist, and this is the most important sign of his friendship for each one of us. Do not forget it.

This is why I am asking you not to take this gift for granted so that it does not become a sort of habit, knowing how it works and doing it automatically; rather, discover every day anew that something important happens, that the living God is among us and that you can be close to him and help him so that his mystery is celebrated and reaches people.

If you do not give into habit, if you put your innermost self into carrying out your service, then you will truly be his apostles and bear fruits of goodness and service in every context of your life: in the family, at school, in your free time.

Take to one and all that love which you receive in the Liturgy, especially to places where you realize that they lack love, where they do not receive goodness, where they suffer and are lonely.

With the power of the Holy Spirit, try to take Jesus to those very people who are outcast, who are not very popular or have problems. With the power of the Holy Spirit, it is precisely there that you must take Jesus.

In this way, the Bread you see broken upon the altar will be shared and multiplied even more, and you, like the Twelve Apostles, will help Jesus distribute it to the people of today in their different walks of life.

So it is, dear Altar Servers, that my last words to you are: May you always be friends and apostles of Jesus Christ!

And I now move on to the other languages....

***

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I welcome all the English-speaking pilgrims here today, including the groups from Scotland and Ireland, Asia, Norway and the United States. A special greeting to the English-speaking Altar Servers present:  by serving at Mass, may you come ever closer to Christ our Lord. Upon all of you I invoke God's abundant Blessings.

I now address a special greeting to the sick and the newly-weds who are present today. May Christ's love always be for you, dear sick people, a source of comfort and peace; and may it help you, dear newly-weds, to make your union stronger and deeper every day.

***

APPEAL FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Lastly, I invite everyone to continue to pray for the beloved and tormented region of the Middle East.

Our eyes are filled with chilling images of the mangled corpses of so many people, especially children - I am thinking in particular of Cana, in Lebanon.

I would like to repeat that nothing can justify the shedding of innocent blood, wherever it may occur!

With my heart full of grief, I renew once again a pressing appeal for the immediate cessation of all hostilities and all violence, as I urge the international community and those who are more directly involved in this tragedy to create the conditions for a definitive political solution to the crisis that can pass on to the generations to come a more peaceful and secure future.

© Copyright 2006 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

[ELS]

Reply #10 has the transcript of the Pope's address at last week's general audience. I'll have a new thread about today's audience up soon.

Please let me know if you want on or off of this list.

[sitetest]

"Benedict XVI emphasized that only a 'definitive political solution to the crisis' will be capable of 'delivering a more serene and safe future for generations to come.'"

Can't happen when one side (Muslims) wants to murder everyone on the other side (Jews).

[PandaRosaMishima]

Good to hear Papa's words on this ongoing sorrow; I don't listen to Bush much anymore. (I don't always get up in time to hear the Papal Audience on TV.) He does not back down, does he? G_d bless the Pope and those like him, (Papa still looks like the highest scoutmaster of all in that kerchief.)

[annalex]

that would be the Crusades

Yup.

That is my conclusion as well: Peace in the Holy Land will not be unless a Christian nation brings it. Israel won't do it.

[starfish923]

That is my conclusion as well: Peace in the Holy Land will not be unless a Christian nation brings it. Israel won't do it.

Amen.