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Skriven 2005-06-06 09:32:54 av Marc Lewis (1:396/45)
Ärende: Vatican Information Service (Press Release)
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                The following press release is Copyrighted by the
                          Vatican Information Service.
                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                               VIS-Press releases

BENEDICT XVI WELCOMES PILGRIMS FROM DIOCESE OF VERONA

VATICAN CITY, JUN 4, 2005 (VIS) - Pope Benedict today welcomed a pilgrimage
from the diocese of Verona, Italy which is celebrating the end of its three-
year long diocesan synod. "You have come to be confirmed in the faith," he told
the faithful, "and I, called just a short time ago to this serious duty, am
happy to greet (you) ... and to encourage you in the commitment of giving a
Christian witness in today's world."

Noting that the culminating phase of the synod occurs during the Year of the
Eucharist, he said: "'The Church lives by the Eucharist' - thus wrote Servant
of God John Paul II in his last encyclical, 'Ecclesia de Eucharistia'. ... In
the Eucharist, as I said last Sunday in Bari at the end of the National
Eucharistic Congress, Christ is really present among us. His is not a static
presence. It is a dynamic presence which takes hold of us to make us His, to
assimilate us to Himself."

"Our spiritual life," said the Holy Father, "essentially depends on the
Eucharist. Without it, faith and hope are extinguished, charity becomes cold.
Thus, dear friends, I exhort you to attend ever more to the quality of
Eucharistic celebrations, especially on Sundays, so that Sunday will truly be
the Lord's Day and will confer fullness of meaning on everyday events and
activities."

Benedict XVI then noted that the family is also one of the themes of the
diocesan synod. He said that in this diocese, as in so many others, "divorces
and irregular unions have increased and for Christians this is an urgent call
to proclaim and give witness to, in its entirety, the Gospel of life and the
family" which "is founded on indissoluble matrimony. Notwithstanding the
difficulties and social and cultural conditionings of the current historical
moment, may Christian couples never cease to be with their lives a sign of
God's faithful love."

He concluded his remarks by referring to yesterday's solemnity of the Sacred
Heart of Christ, saying "only from this endless source of love can you have the
necessary energy for your mission."
AC/EUCHARIST:FAMILY/VERONAVIS 050606 (350)

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