From around the world, pilgrims arrive in Madrid, tired but excited

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from across the world descended on the Spanish capital Aug. 15 with an array of colorful T-shirts, bloodshot eyes and a combined spirit of excitement about World Youth Day.

On the eve of the festivities' official opening, pilgrims with their specially intended World Youth Day backpacks crowded the streets, Metro cars and cafes. Many were tired, having arrived only hours before.

Sona Mpofu of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, landed at Madrid's Barajas airport at 8 a.m. after a 10-hour bus ride, a night at a Catholic center in Johannesburg, and a succeeding 10-hour flight. Despite the lack of sleep on the plane and the intense, dry heat, she and 21 other pilgrims from southern African were delighted about being at World Youth Day.

"When you come here, you feel at home," said Mpofu, 27. "You don't need to give details of yourself. You are who you are. We understand each other."

"It's been an overwhelming experience when you see that everybody shares the same faith, despite color, race and upbringing and culture," said Fungai Mawada, 20. "We all have that one thing in common. To get here, it's like coming home to a bigger family."

For most of the group, it was not only their initial World Youth Day, but their first time coming to Europe and even their first time getting on an airplane or leaving Zimbabwe. This pilgrimage was particularly poignant for the Zimbabweans because their coordinator, Spanish Marianhill Father Ricardo Davila, died in June from injuries continued in a car accident. The family of the late priest stepped up, helping organize and host the pilgrims for their journey.

God always respects our freedom, says Pope

God always respects human freedom and never compels anybody into a connection with him. That was the message of Pope Benedict XVI in his midday Angelus address July 10.

“God does not force us to consider in Him, but draws us to Himself throughout the truth and goodness of his incarnate Son. Love, in fact, always respects freedom,” Pope Benedict said from the balcony of his summer house at Castel Gandolfo, 15 miles southeast of Rome.

The Pope based his end upon the story told by Jesus in today’s Gospel reading: the parable of the sower who plants seed with different degrees of success.

He said that for Jesus the allegory was “autobiographical” because “it reflects the experience of Jesus himself and of his preaching” as “different effects are achieved depending on the kind of reception given to the announcement.”

Pope Benedict then attempted to answer the question consequently raised by the apostles: why does Jesus speak in parables?

The Pope said that Jesus makes a dissimilarity between the general crowd and the apostles.

“To those who have already determined for him, he can speak openly of the Kingdom of God” while to others he must speak in metaphor “to kindle precisely the decision, the conversion of heart” needed. Jesus' parables “require effort to interpret, challenging one’s aptitude but also one’s freedom.”

“After all,” said the Pope, “the real ‘Parable’ of God is Jesus himself, his person, under the form of his humanity, hiding and yet enlightening the same deity.” In this way “God does not strength us to believe in Him, but draws us to himself through the truth and goodness of his incarnate Son.”

Love within Trinity overflows into forgiveness for man, Pope says

The love that exists inside the Holy Trinity overflows into love and forgiveness for man, as shown by Christ’s death on the cross. That was the message of Pope Benedict XVI in his Trinity Sunday sermon throughout his visit to the tiny European state of San Marino June 19.

“So, in the mystery of the cross, there are three Divine Persons,” he told the 25,000 strong congregation at the country’s Serravalle Stadium.

“The Father, who gave his only begotten Son for the deliverance of the world, the Son, who carries out the will of the Father to the very end and the Holy Spirit - poured out by Jesus at the instant of his death - who comes to render us participants in divine life, to transform our lives, so that our lives are lively by divine love.”

San Marino is located in the north-eastern part of the Italian peninsula and is one of just three independent states in the world to be totally surrounded by another country, in this case Italy. It has a population of only 30,000. Pope John Paul II also visited San Marino back in 1982. That visit was for just one day, as is Pope Benedict’s today.

New evangelization must start with the heart, Pope teaches

The effort to renovate the evangelization of mankind begins in the human heart, Pope Benedict XVI told the clergy, religious and laity of the Diocese of Rome, June 13.

“To be effectual the proclamation of faith must begin with a heart that believes, hopes, loves, a heart that loves Christ and believes in the power of the Holy Spirit!” the Pope told those gathered at St. John Lateran Cathedral for the Rome diocese’s annual convention.

The Pope sharp to how St. Peter’s proclamation of Jesus’ resurrection at Pentecost was “not limited to a simple list of facts” but “cut to the heart” of those who heard him.

“The resurrection of Jesus was able and is able to light up human existence. In fact, this event has seen a new understanding of the self-respect of man and his eternal destiny.”

Mindful of his liability to lead the 2.5 million Catholics in the Diocese of Rome, Pope Benedict told those in St. John Lateran that there was a real danger to the health of the Church if it downplays the religion of Jesus Christ.

“If people forget God it is also because the person of Jesus is often abridged to that of a wise man and his divinity is weakened, if not denied. This way of thinking prevents people from greedy the radical novelty of Christianity, because if Jesus is not the only Son of the Father, then God never came to visit the history of man.”

Massive 'Christ of the Pacific' statue to be unveiled in Peru

The 121-foot-tall “Christ of the Pacific” sculpture will be unveiled on a hilltop overlooking the city of Lima, Peru on June 29, the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul.

The induction of the massive statue was announced on June 10 by President Alan Garcia of Peru, who said it was his dream to raise a statue on the Pacific coast comparable to the one atop Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. “I have dubbed it the Christ of the Pacific … and on June 29, the day of the Pope and of Sts. Peter and Paul, we will install this statue.”

The inauguration will also agree with the 60th anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s ordination to the priesthood. The Pope was intended together with his brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, at the Cathedral of Freising in Germany on June 29, 1951.

According to the Andina news agency, President Garcia said the statue was not built using tax-payer dollars but in its place through donations from individuals and companies. Garcia himself donated $36,000 of his own money for the project.

“I want it to be a statue that blesses Peru and protects Lima,” Garcia told RPP News.

The large figure shows Christ standing with his arms extended. It was built in Brazil and then brought to Peru in several pieces. The statue will sit on a 49-foot concrete base and will be illuminated by a 26-color lighting system. It will be observable from every point in the Peruvian capital.

Pope points to Moses as model of intercessory prayer

Pope Benedict XVI said at the June 1 general audience that intercessory prayer helps us to grow in deeper information of God and his mercy and makes us more competent of loving others in a self-sacrificial way.

Drawing upon the life of Moses, the Pope told pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square that the Old Testament prophet not only led his people out of slavery in Egypt but also gave them and us an example of how to offer prayers of intervention.

“Even when the people at Sinai, asked Aaron to make the golden calf, Moses prays, and this is very symbolic of his role as intercessor.”

The Pope recognized various aspects of the intercessory prayer of Moses we can learn from. The first he named was fasting, just as Moses did for 40 days on Mount Sinai.

“The act of eating, in fact, involves taking the food that sustains us, so fasting, giving up food is, in this case, of religious significance: it is a way to point out that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that profits from the mouth of the Lord.”

Pope says life accompaniments wherever the Gospel is embraced

The Christian Gospel brings a affluent of life wherever it is embraced. That was the message of Pope Benedict XVI at his midday Regina Coeli on May 29.

Drawing upon the first-century story of Philip the Deacon, who preached Christ and cured many in the city of Samaria, the Pope renowned that the New Testament records that “there was great joy in that city.”

“Every time we hit this expression,” said the Pope to pilgrims in St. Peters Square, “in its spirit it conveys a sense of hope, as if to say: it is possible! It is possible that the world will know true joy, because wherever the Gospel arrives, life flourishes, just as a infertile land, watered by the rain, immediately revives.”

Essentially, the Pope optional, Philip and the other disciples did in the villages of first-century Palestine just what Jesus himself had done in their recent past – “preached the Good News and worked miraculous signs” because “it was the Lord who acted through them.”

As it was in that time and place, said the Pope, so it has been down during the centuries of Christian history.

“It is natural to think of the curative power of the Gospel, which over the centuries has ‘flowed’ as a beneficial river, through many populations.”

“Some great saints have brought hope and peace to entire cities - we think of St. Charles Borromeo in Milan, at a time of plague, or Blessed Mother Teresa in Calcutta, and many missionaries, whose name is recognized only to God, but who gave their lives to the proclamation of Christ and to allow a deep joy to thrive among men.”

Catholic News Agency and EWTN News will launch a new service for Catholic publications on May 31

The CNA Editors Service will supply a full range of news, features, commentary and photojournalism. All content will be provided free-of-charge for publication in print or on the web. Editors will be required to pay small fees for the use of photos provided by Getty Images, one of the world’s top names in news photography.

In addition to news, editors will have free access to CNA’s wide range of columns. These include its “Catholic Womanhood” columns and “Bishop’s Corner,” which features opinion writing by leading U.S. bishops. CNA is also offering a new weekly column, “Answering the Tough Questions,” by Father Rocky Hoffman, a canon lawyer.

The new service includes feature packages on special themes, such as health care and senior citizens. Editors will also have access free-of-charge to CNA’s video offerings, as well as to news and analysis in Spanish, through CNA’s sister agency, ACI Prensa.

“We are conceited to be able to make this service available to the Church,” said David Scott, editor-in-chief of CNA/EWTN News.

“No agency is providing better coverage of the Catholic world today than CNA/EWTN News,” he added. “We have a great team of editors and writers worldwide committed to the highest professional values and to an viewpoint vision that is truly Catholic.”

With news bureaus in North and South America and Europe, CNA is one of the major and fastest growing independent Catholic media outlets in the world.

EWTN News is the news arm of EWTN Global Catholic Network, which provides multimedia services to more than 140 countries and territories and is the world’s main religious media company.

Pope Benedict: proclaiming Jesus Christ is the chore of the Church

Proclaiming Jesus Christ as “the way, the truth and the life” is the main task of the Church, Pope Benedict said in his Sunday Regina Coeli remarks.

“The New Testament put an end to invisibility of the Father. God showed his face, as long-established by the response of Jesus to the Apostle Philip, ‘Whoever has seen me has seen the Father’,” the Pope told the faithful in St. Peter’s Square on May 22.

For Christians, he explained, “the way to the Father is to be guided by Jesus, by his word of truth, and in tolerant the gift of his life.”

Pope Benedict optional the way of Jesus Christ is to be found in “following him every day, in simple actions that make up our day.”

He then quoted his own words from the second volume of his book Jesus of Nazareth:

“That's the mystery of God: to act in the quietest way. He only builds gradually in the great story of mankind’s history. He becomes a man, but in order to be unnoticed by his contemporaries and powerful forces in history ... He continually knocks in the quietest way on the doors of our hearts, and if we open ourselves to him, he gradually makes us able to ‘see’.”

Pope Benedict drew upon the gospel reading for today, the fifth Sunday of Easter, in which Jesus Christ tells his disciples “Have faith in God, believe also in me.” The Pope piercing out that this belief is a single act of faith, and not two separate actions.

He cited the guidance of the 13th-century Italian theologian St. Bonaventure, who said “Open your eyes, therefore, tend the spiritual ears, open your lips and you have your heart, that you can in all creatures see, hear, praise, love, worship, glorify, honor your God.”

Pope reflects on how prayer can spark God’s mercy

Pope Benedict XVI sustained his series of reflections on Christian prayer today as he spoke about the relationship flanked by intercessory prayer and God’s mercy throughout history.

In his third installment on prayer, Pope Benedict looked at Abraham’s example of praying for mercy.

“We now turn to sacred Scripture and its witness to the dialogue between God and man in history, a dialogue culminating in Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. We can begin with the prayer with which Abraham, the father of all believers, implores God not to obliterate the sinful city of Sodom.”

At Sodom, Abraham asked God not to take revenge upon the notoriously sinful city.

“Abraham’s prayer of intercession appeals to God’s justice, begging him not to obliterate the innocent with the guilty. But it also appeals to God’s mercy, which is able of transforming evil into good through forgiveness and reconciliation.”

This aspect of prayer, said the Pope, reflects God’s certain mercy for his creation.

“God does not desire the death of the sinner but his conversion and release from sin,” he explained.

“In reply to Abraham’s prayer, God is willing to spare Sodom if 10 virtuous men can be found there. Later, through the prophet Jeremiah, he promises to pardon Jerusalem if one just man can be found,” the pontiff recalled.

He completed by saying that God’s mercy was most spectacularly manifested over 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem.

“In the end, God himself becomes that just Man, in the mystery of the Incarnation. Christ’s prayer of intercession on the cross brings deliverance to the world. Through him, let us pray with dependable trust in God’s merciful love for all mankind, conscious that our prayers will be heard and answered.”

This is the third week Pope Benedict has used his Wednesday audience to teach pilgrims about Christian prayer. His preceding theme – the lives of the saints – took two years to complete.

Knights leader says Christian families should shine with genuine love

As the world looks at Christian families today, it needs to see genuine love and that living the faith is possible. That’s how Carl Anderson sums up what he’s been saying in Rome over the past few days.

The head of the Catholic fraternal organization the Knights of Columbus is presence a three-day conference at the Pontifical Pope John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family. CNA caught up with him on May 14, before he headed back to the U.S.

“Pope Benedict and Pope John Paul have spoken so frequently about the necessity of witness and the witness of Christians individually, in their marriages and in their families. And we have a lot of different disputes about philosophies, politics or economic systems, but what we can all agree on is that every single one of us is looking for genuine love,” he said.

This is the theme of much, if not most, of Carl Anderson’s work – love. In fact, he is the author of five books, including ‘Called to Love: Approaching John Paul II’s Theology of the Body,’ and ‘A Civilization of Love: What Every Catholic Can Do to Tranform the World’.

“Every single one of us realizes at some level that unless we find real love our life is meaningless. It doesn’t have a full purpose. And, who has a better message as to what authentic love is than Christians? This is the primary task of Christianity today and Christians today. It’s through their events and through their lives to witness to those around them that there is an authentic love and Christians understand what that is.”

The particular focus of the conference is Blessed Pope John Paul II’s 1981 document on the family, “Familiaris Consortio – On the role of the Christian Family in the Modern World.”

“It (Familiaris Consortio) is so very significant because we have a habit of looking at the family in a negative way – ‘you shouldn’t do this,’ ‘you shouldn’t do that’ and looking at it as a place in which it is very easy to break the rules. When, instead, God has planned marriage to be something very positive in which husband and wife find their way to salvation with each other and because of each other. And this is the message of ‘Familiaris Consortio’ and this is why it is so pertinent today,” Anderson said.

Pope urges Venice to build culture ingrained in the Gospel

After traveling through Venice's waterways in a gondola, Pope Benedict urged citizens gathered in the city's main square to farm a society fixed in the “firm foundations of the Gospel.”

“Venice is called to assume important responsibilities in promoting a culture of welcome and sharing,” the Pope said, opinion them to build “a culture of harmony and love that has its firm foundations in the Gospel.”

Pope Benedict's May 7 address in St. Mark's Square came during his two-day visit to Venice over the weekend. It was his first papal trip to the historic Italian city famously built upon a series of canals. The pontiff traveled on the same gondola used by Pope John Paul II in 1985 during the last papal visit to the city.

The Pope highlighted the “openness that has always characterized Venice” throughout his remarks to citizens and government officials. He praised the city for being “a crossroads of peoples and of communities of every provenance, culture, language, and religion.”

The pastoral visit launched on May 7 with a visit to the historic port town of Aquileia where he was met by thousands of excited Venetians.

The highlight of his 27-hour-trip came when Pope Benedict renowned Mass before an probable congregation of 300,000 on May 8. At the San Giuliano de Mestre Park, the Pope urged the massive crowds to give hope to current man by “listening to and loving the Word of God.”

Bring expect to modern man, Pope tells Venetians

On Sunday Pope Benedict XVI renowned Mass near Venice for a congregation of 300,000, telling them to give hope to modern man by “listening to and loving the Word of God.”

“Dear brothers and sisters! I have come among you as the Bishop of Rome and successor of Peter's ministry to corroborate fidelity to the Gospel and communion,” he told those gathered in San Giuliano Park in Mestre, an industrial town on the other side of the lagoon from the famous island city of Venice.

“As in the past, when those churches were known for apostolic zeal and pastoral dynamism, so today we need to endorse and protect the truth with courage and unity of the faith. You must give an account of Christian hope for modern man, often overwhelmed by vast and worrying issues that arise in crisis and shake the very foundations of his organism and his activity.”

In a grand imitation of the byzantine splendor of the city’s St. Mark’s basilica, the organizers of today’s Mass had erected a domed sanctuary draped with golden mosaics on paper on cloth.

There, the Pope gave a explanation on today’s gospel, which recounts the disappointment of two disciples after the crucifixion of Jesus. They shared their gloom while on foot towards the town of Emmaus near Jerusalem.

Pope Benedict calls for prayer for victims of disaster in Japan

Saying he, too, was shocked by the images of the death and devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Pope Benedict XVI asked people to join him in praying for the dead.

"May the bereaved and injured be reassured and may the rescue workers be strengthened in their efforts to assist the courageous Japanese people," the pope said in English March 13 after reciting the Angelus prayer with visitors in St. Peter's Square.

Government officials predictable that perhaps 10,000 people lost their lives after the earthquake March 11 and the tsunami it triggered.

Speaking in Italian after the Angelus, the pope said, "The images of the disastrous earthquake and the resulting tsunami in Japan have left us deeply horrified.

"I want to renew my religious closeness to that country's dear people, who with self-respect and courage are dealing with the consequences of the calamity. I pray for the victims and their families and for all who are suffering because of these terrible events. I give confidence all those who, with laudable speed, are working to bring help. Let us remain united in prayer."

Bishop Marcellino Daiji Tani of Saitama, one of the dioceses hit hardest by the disaster, told the Catholic disciple news agency Fides that the catastrophe is a reminder that "life is in the hands of God and that life is a gift from God," and he described the disaster as a challenge for Christians during Lent "to practice and witness to the commandment of love and brotherly love."

However, he also told Fides, "Of exacting concern to us is the situation of the nuclear power plant in Fukushima. But we must take courage, with the help of the Holy Spirit."

Two reactors at the Fukushima plant were hit by explosions and another was behind its cooling system. Japanese officials were playing down the health risks posed by the emergency at the plant, but they did order evacuations for hundreds of thousands of people.

In a message March 13 to members of the Orthodox Church, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople said the Japanese disaster demonstrates the threat posed by nuclear power plants and it calls for serious reflection.

"With all due admiration to the science and technology of nuclear energy and for the sake of the endurance of the human race, we counter-propose the safer green forms of energy," the patriarch said.

Catholics protect Cathedral of Lima against gay provocation with prayer

Hundreds of Peruvian Catholics gathered at the entry to the Cathedral of Lima to pray a Rosary for Peace in reply to a “Kiss-in Against Homophobia” prearranged by a small group of homosexuals and lesbians just a few yards away from the church.

This was the second time gay activists staged a “kiss-in,” after their first protest ruined with police forcibly removing them from the steps of the cathedral on Feb. 12.

This time they came with the open blessing of Lima’s mayor, Susana Villaran, who has voiced her support for homosexual unions on many occasions.

Despite a heavy media campaign to endorse the Feb. 19 “kiss-in,” only eight people showed up in Lima’s central square.

In response to the planned protest, some 200 Catholics showed up at 3:30 p.m. exterior the cathedral and formed a human barrier for more than three hours. The group spent the time quietly praying the Rosary and singing hymns.

Not surprisingly, a large dependent of reporters and cameramen showed up to cover the protest by three gay couples and a pair of lesbians.

Daniel Torres Cox, who came to pray the rosary, told ACI Prensa, “We are really here to defend our faith in some way.” He called the homosexual protest “an attack on what we consider in, and that’s why we are here, to simply protect that.”

New start available for those who believe Christ, says Pope

"A new form of existence driven by love and intended to eternity" is possible through imitation of Christ, said Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday.

Before the conventional noon Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square on Feb. 20, the Pope spoke of the day's Mass readings. He said the readings "speak ... of the will of God to make men participants in his life."

The words, "Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy," from the Book of Leviticus were an request to the chosen people to be faithful to the agreement with the Lord, the Pope said. They also "founded social legislation on the commandment 'you shall love your neighbor as yourself'."

"If we listen, then, to Jesus ... we find that same call, that same daring objective. The Lord says, in fact, 'be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect'."

"But who could become perfect?" asked the Pope. "Our perfection is living as children of God satisfying concretely his will."

Man corresponds to God's fatherhood by praising and glorifying him through good conduct, he explained.

"In what way can we imitate Jesus?" the Pope asked.

Pope’s meeting with Russian president signals new era in relationship

Pope Benedict XVI met with president Dmitry Medvedev at the Vatican on Feb. 17 in their first meeting since the Holy See and Russia determined to upgrade their diplomatic relationship in 2009.

Medvedev was accompanied by his wife and several assistants, as well as his minister for foreign affairs, Sergey Lavrov. The Russian president is also in Italy for two days to meet with government leaders and induct a year of cultural exchange between the two nations.

“This is a very important meeting,” the Pope told the Medvedev as they exchanged greetings briefly before concluding the doors for their private audience in the papal library.

After an strangely long encounter of more than a half-hour, the doors were opened again to reporters who witnessed the exchange of gifts.

The Pope received a two-volume set of letters from the former Russian president to foreign heads of state and Pope John Paul II from 1996-99. He also was given “Orthodox encyclopedia” and a painting of the Moscow with a sight of the Russian government headquarters of the Kremlin.

Coptic Catholic patriarch welcomes fall of Mubarak

Cardinal Antonios Naguib, patriarch of the Coptic Catholic Church, has issued a declaration welcoming the fall of the regime of Hosni Mubarak.

“The Egyptian Catholic Church joins all Egypt's loyal citizens to thank God enormous for the wonderful success he granted to the daring youth of the January 25 movement,” he said. “Thanks are due to the crowds of patriotic youth who aggravated the spark from which this movement started off and became an erupting volcano that cannot be extinguished and that gathered all the forces that refuse the wrong situation scheming the country for so long, by looking forward to a better and brighter future for the Egyptian civilization, and meeting around one cause which is the love of Egypt and the self-respect of its citizens.”

“This experience has shaped a reality that was absent for so long, which is the unity of the citizens, the youth and the old, Christians and Muslims, without any distinction or discrimination, in purpose and action for the good of Egypt, and for the protection and safety in the country,” he added. “We are convinced that these feelings that reigned in the hearts will last for the near and distant future.”

“We want Egypt to have its location among the modern countries,” he continued. “A civil country, a democratic one based on laws, justice and equality, that respects one’s freedom and dignity based only on the citizenship, allows contribution for all categories without reducing persons and categories to one member, and achieves what the analysts, politicians and intellectuals have called for in order to prevent divisions that caused bend in all the fields. Here they are the loyal Egyptians ready for making all efforts for the good of the dear nation. And the Catholic Church with all its institutions will work with them in reconstructing and happening along this path for a better future.”

Pope prays for peaceful ending of Egyptian unrest

Pope Benedict XVI prayed for a peaceful ending of the political unrest in Egypt, and the Vatican spokesman said he hoped the changes in the area would lead to greater religious freedom.

"In these days I am following closely the fragile situation of the dear Egyptian nation," the pope told pilgrims at his noon blessing at the Vatican Feb. 6.

"I ask God that this land, blessed by the attendance of the Holy Family, may find again tranquility and peaceful coexistence, in a shared commitment to the common good," the pope said.

It was Pope Benedict's first remark on nearly two weeks of protest demonstrations that have shaken President Hosni Mubarak's nearly 30-year hold on power.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, reviewed the political turmoil in Egypt in a commentary Feb. 5 on Vatican Radio. He said it was not wrong to speak of a "revolution" in countries of North Africa and the Middle East, where extensive political opposition has emerged for the first time.

Father Lombardi said that along with economic causes of the unrest, many people of the region -- particularly young people -- want more freedom and a more responsive government. He noted that at the new Synod of Bishops for the Middle East, leaders of Christian minorities there made similar calls for religious freedom.

"Now there are whole populations that, in order to more fully realize their dignity, are asking to exercise more responsibly the right of citizenship that belongs to every person of whatever religion," the spokesman said.

"If these mostly Muslim nations succeed in the crucial undertaking of growth in dialogue, in the respect of the rights of everyone, in contribution and in freedom, then the world will be a safer place," Father Lombardi said.

May the holiness of consecrated people edify the Church, Pope prays

At the conclusion of Evening Prayer in Feb. 2, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI offered a special prayer that those in the consecrated life would edify the entire Church with their holiness of life.

“My thoughts turn affectionately to all consecrated men and women everywhere, who I entrust to the Blessed Virgin Mary,” the Pope said.

“Oh Mary, Mother of the Church,

I entrust consecrated life to you

That you may obtain for it the fullness of divine light.

May it remain attentive to the Word of God,

Humble in the following of Jesus your son and our Lord,

Open to the visit of the Holy Spirit,

In the daily joy of the Magnificat,

So that the Church might be edified by the holiness of life

Of these your sons and daughters

In the commandment of love.

Amen.”