YOUNG PEOPLE MUST FEEL LOVED BY THE CHURCH

VATICAN CITY, MAY 31, 2005 (VIS) - Yesterday morning, the Pope received participants in the 54th general assembly of the Italian Episcopal Conference.

  In his address, which was made public yesterday afternoon, Benedict XVI stressed Italy's "deep and living" relationship with the Christian faith, even though, as in the rest of Europe, there exists a "culture based on purely functional rationality, a culture that contradicts and tends to exclude Christianity and, in general, the religious and moral traditions of humanity."

  Nonetheless, he went on, in Italy the supremacy of such culture "is by no means total, nor does it go unquestioned. In fact, even among those who do not share our faith, or at least do not practice it, there are people who realize  how such a form of culture in fact constitutes a deadly mutilation of man and his reason."

  The Holy Father pointed out that Italy today still has "a dense network of parishes" characterized by their vitality "despite great changes in society and culture." On this matter, he stressed the importance of "strengthening communion between parish structures and the various 'charismatic' groups that have emerged over the last few decades and have a strong presence in Italy, in order for the mission to reach all areas of life."

  Speaking about the family, "a crucial question that calls for all our pastoral attention," the Pope indicated that in Italy too the family "is exposed ... to many risks and threats, of which we are all aware. In addition to the fragility and internal instability of many marriages, there is a tendency in culture and society to question the unique character and mission of the family based on marriage."

  Going on to mention the forthcoming Italian referendum on fertility treatment, due to be held on June 12 and 13, Benedict XVI thanked bishops for their "commitment" to "illuminating and motivating the choice of Catholics and of all citizens. ... Precisely in its clarity and firmness, your commitment is a sign of the solicitude of pastors for all human beings, who can never be reduced to a means but are always an end, as our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us in His Gospel, and as human reason itself tells us. ... We are not working for Catholic interests but for the human being, God's creature."

  After recalling that in August he will participate in World Youth Day, due to be held in the German city of Cologne, the Pope recognized that young people run the risk of being "tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine. Therefore, they need to be helped to grow and mature in the faith: this is the first service they must receive from the Church, especially from us as bishops and from our priests."

  "Many of them," he went on, "are not able to understand and accept all the Church's teaching immediately, but precisely for this reason it is important to reawaken within them the intention to believe with the Church, the belief that this Church, animated and guided by the Spirit, is the true subject of the faith." In order to reach this objective, Benedict XVI explained that young people "must feel loved by the Church, in particular by us, bishops and priests."

  In this way, he concluded, "they will experience in the Church the friendship and love the Lord holds for them, they will understand that in Christ truth coincides with love, and in their turn they will learn to love the Lord, and to have faith in His body which is the Church. This is the central point of the great challenge of transmitting the faith to the young generations."
AC/.../ITALIAN EPISCOPAL CONFERENCE                VIS 20050531 (620)