VATICAN CITY, FEB 25, 2001 (VIS) - Upon his return from a pastoral visit to the Roman parish of the Nativity of Mary, Pope John Paul appeared at his study window at noon today to recite the angelus with the faithful who were in St. Peter's Square for this traditional Sunday appointment.
In reflections preceding the angelus, the Pope remarked that "the recent consistory for the creation of 44 new cardinals ... will surely have a memorable place in the annals of the Church." He said he wished "to pause and reflect again on this event and its meaning" for the entire Church.
"A breath of renewed hope has touched the Christian people. ... The Church is looking to the future, and wishes 'to put out into the deep', animated by the spiritual dynamism sparked within her by the Jubilee experience. This dynamism can only consolidate and enrich the elements which belong, so to speak, to the genetic code of the ecclesial community: oneness, holiness, catholicity and apostolicity. The increase in the College of Cardinals, while showing the unity of the ecclesial Body around the Successor of Peter, also underlines the catholic dimension, mirrored in the fact that the cardinals come from every part of the world."
"We might ask ourselves: How can the Church remain faithful to her vocation at a time when the dominant culture seems often to go against the demanding logic of the Gospel? An answer to this question, in symbolic terms, comes from the red color of a cardinal's apparel. As is well known, this color recalls the blood of martyrs, witnesses of Christ up to the supreme sacrifice. Cardinals must make visible with their lives a love of Christ which does not stop in the face of any sacrifice."
The necessary conditions to meet this commitment, concluded John Paul II, are listening to the Word of Christ, prayer and inner contact with the Lord.
Following the angelus prayer, the Pope greeted pilgrims present in several languages.
ANG;NEW CARDINALS;...;...;VIS;20010226;Word: 330;
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