Benedict Among The Scots
Posted by Rebecca Teti in Faith on Thursday, September 16, 2010 2:00 PM
The Pope arrived in the United Kingdom today, first heading North to Scotland.
Yes, there were protesters: about 50 in a crowd of more than 100,000 according to reports.
During his homily in Glasgow, which introduced me to the wonderfully named Saints Ninian and Mungo, he focused on the recovery of Christian identity in Europe, urging the faithful as follows:
The evangelization of culture is all the more important in our times, when a “dictatorship of relativism” threatens to obscure the unchanging truth about man’s nature, his destiny and his ultimate good. There are some who now seek to exclude religious belief from public discourse, to privatize it or even to paint it as a threat to equality and liberty. Yet religion is in fact a guarantee of authentic liberty and respect, leading us to look upon every person as a brother or sister. For this reason I appeal in particular to you, the lay faithful, in accordance with your baptismal calling and mission, not only to be examples of faith in public, but also to put the case for the promotion of faith’s wisdom and vision in the public forum. Society today needs clear voices which propose our right to live, not in a jungle of self-destructive and arbitrary freedoms, but in a society which works for the true welfare of its citizens and offers them guidance and protection in the face of their weakness and fragility. Do not be afraid to take up this service to your brothers and sisters, and to the future of your beloved nation.
I loved this line from his traditional in-flight press conference:
a Church that seeks to be particularly attractive is already on the wrong path
You can find fun pictures (like the pope draped in his new tartan), live streaming and full coverage of the trip here. Fr. Tim Finigan is blogging about the visit from in-country, and you can find on-going news and commentary at the National Catholic Register and here.
Update: finally found a text for the entire mid-flight press conference, so here’s that second quotation in context—it’s even better.
Q. ...Can anything be done to make the Church as an institution, more credible and attractive to everyone?
A. – I would say that a Church that seeks to be particularly attractive is already on the wrong path, because the Church does not work for her own ends, she does not work to increase numbers and thus power. The Church is at the service of another: she serves, not for herself, not to be a strong body, rather she serves to make the proclamation of Jesus Christ accessible, the great truths and great forces of love, reconciling love that appeared in this figure and that always comes from the presence of Jesus Christ….
The whole press conference is terrific.
Print Blog
Email a FriendPost a Comment
By submitting this form, you give Faith And Family Magazine permission to publish this comment. Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.
