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Skriven 2005-07-05 08:55:06 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

TO FAITHFUL OF MADRID: BE BEARERS OF THE GOSPEL LIGHT

VATICAN CITY, JUL 4, 2005 (VIS) - Benedict XVI today received a group of
pilgrims from the archdiocese of Madrid, Spain, accompanied by their
archbishop, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, and his auxiliaries. The visit
marked the close of the third diocesan synod the theme of which was: "The
transmission of faith, lived and practiced in communion with the Church."

The Pope pointed out how during the synod assembly "the ecclesial community
became conscious of being a 'family in faith'," and a "symbol of unity for all
society. It is a Catholic community, and Catholic means precisely that it is an
open gathering, repository of a universal message destined for all human
beings. ... This Catholic community today makes its pilgrimage to Rome as a
sign of communion with Peter's Successor and, consequently, with the Universal
Church."

"In a society thirsting for true human values and suffering so many divisions
and fractures, the community of believers must become bearers of the light of
the Gospel, in the certainty that charity is, in the first instance, the
communication of truth."

He went on: "To this end, the Church in Madrid wishes to be present in all
areas of daily life, ... because the Spirit impels us to bring to all men and
women the love that God the Father showed us in Jesus Christ. ... We must go to
the confines of society in order to bring to everyone the light of Christ's
message on the meaning of life, of family and of society, reaching those people
who live in the desert of abandonment and poverty and loving them with the love
of the Risen Christ."

"Following the guidelines of the synod," he concluded, "seek to nourish
yourselves spiritually with prayer and with an intense sacramental life; deepen
your personal knowledge of Christ and walk with all your strength towards
sanctity, 'the highest level of Christian life' as the beloved John Paul II
used to say."
AC/DIOCESAN SYNOD MADRID/ROUCO VIS 050704 (340)

SUMMARY

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