AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, SEP 5, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father received in audience today Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar general for the diocese of Rome and president of the Italian Episcopal Conference.

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AUDIENCE: GOD SHOWS HIS KINGSHIP TO ALL PEOPLES

VATICAN CITY, SEP 5, 2001 (VIS) - In today's general audience, held in St. Peter's Square, John Paul II spoke on "Psalm 46: The Lord, King of the Universe." This Psalm, he said, "is a hymn to the Lord, sovereign of the universe and history."

"We are, therefore," the Pope explained, "in the spiritual heart of the praise of Israel, which rises to heaven from the temple, the place in which the infinite and eternal God reveals Himself and meets His people."

The Holy Father affirmed that Israel, "the people of divine election, 'the favored', ... feels itself, therefore, to be the object of God's particular love, which is shown in the victory given over its enemies."

"To the chosen people which descends from (Abraham), is entrusted the mission to bring together to the Lord all peoples and all cultures, because He is the God of all humanity. From the east to the west they will gather in Zion to meet this king of peace and love, of unity and brotherhood. ... The eyes of all will be fixed upon the new Jerusalem where the Lord 'ascends' to reveal Himself in the glory of His divinity."

John Paul II concluded the catechesis emphasizing that "in Christ, therefore, the kingship of God, sung by our Psalm, is realized on the earth in the relation of all peoples."

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