TO BENEDICTINES: YOU GIVE VALUABLE SERVICE TO THE GOSPEL

VATICAN CITY, SEP 8, 2000 (VIS) - This morning, the Pope received 275 Benedictine abbots and abbesses, who are presently holding a congress in Rome.

After recalling that Western monasticism "has formed generations of men and women called to leave the world in order to dedicate themselves entirely to God," the Pope said: "With the force of this mission, the Benedictine Order has never ceased to contribute to the Church's apostolic activity. ... The witnesses of this are the young people and adults, the Christians and non-Christians, the believers and non-believers who find a point of reference in you and in your monasteries."

In some places, the Pope went on, "the witness of some members of the Benedictine order has been crowned by martyrdom. Nonetheless, you continue to remain in those lands, without fear of dangers or difficulties. In your significant ecumenical activity and your patient inter-religious dialogue, you give valuable service to the Gospel. You bear witness that God is enough."

During the congress, said the Holy Father, "as leaders of the order, you aim to consider the role of abbot of the community," as well as "the monastery's 'mission' in the modern world."

In the face of the loss of "a sense of life and death, I would like to recall the primacy of interior life - well aware that it is of this that you are the masters. More than ever, man today, in order not to lose himself, needs to rediscover God and to rediscover himself in God. This is only possible when the heart listens to the Lord in silence and prolonged contemplation."

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