VATICAN CITY, OCT 1, 2005 (VIS) - Benedict XVI today received in audience representatives of the Society of St. Paul, a congregation founded in 1914 by the Italian Blessed Giacomo Alberione. The society's members, present in more than 30 countries, dedicate themselves to spreading the Christian message using modern communications technology. Among other publications, the Society of St. Paul owns the Italian weekly magazine "Famiglia Cristiana" and is responsible for the St. Paul Publishing House. It also has a number of bookshops, both in Italy and other countries.
The Pope began his brief address by thanking the Paulines for "the service they give to propagating the Gospel via the modern media of social communications, following the example and the teaching of the founder."
He went on: "Yours is an avant-garde apostolate in a vast and complex field, one that offers many opportunities, and at the same time entails no small number of problems; a multi-faceted activity that calls for preparation, specific competencies and constant aggiornamento, if we wish to respond effectively to the challenges of the modern world."
This must be accompanied, stressed the Holy Father, by "a firm personal adherence to the Divine Master," such as that of Blessed Giacomo Alberione who always asked his disciples "to cultivate a robust interior life, one rich in equilibrium and discernment," presenting the example of St. Paul who "knew how to adapt his announcement to the cultural context in which he found himself but, at the same time, did not fail to present with courage and frankness, the absolute novelty that is Christ." On this subject, Benedict XVI observed how the recent Pauline general chapter had again emphasized Don Alberione's exhortation to "be St. Paul today."
The Holy Father then recalled that "since Vatican Council II, there has been a growing awareness in the Church of the great value and importance that the communications media have in spreading the Gospel and in forming consciences."
He concluded: "I therefore call on you to renew that commitment, which is your own, to be an educational presence at the service of the Christian community, that it ... may be able to develop an ever more effective capacity to communicate, in the image of the Lord Jesus in Whom communication between God and humanity reached perfection."
AC/COMMUNICATION APOSTOLATE/PAULINES VIS 20051003 (390)
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