TRADITION IS THE HISTORY OF THE SPIRIT ACTING IN THE CHURCH

VATICAN CITY, MAY 3, 2006 (VIS) - Pope Benedict XVI dedicated the catechesis of this Wednesday's general audience to the Apostolic Tradition, a theme of "great relevance in the life of the Church". The audience in St. Peter's Square numbered 52,000 people.

  "The Vatican Council affirms that the Tradition is 'apostolic', above all in its origins", explained the pope, "God ... willed to reveal it so that the salvation of souls may be integrally transmitted to all generations ... For this, Christ, in Whom the will of God is completed, sent the apostles to preach ... the Gospel as a source of all truth and moral law".

  The apostles, "heads of an eschatological Israel were twelve, as were the tribes of the chosen people", and this number "not only expresses the continuation of the holy race, the twelve tribes of Israel, but also the universal destiny of its ministry".

  "The community, born from the pronouncement of the Gospel by those who were first with the Lord ... can rely on the leadership of the twelve, as did those who little by little united themselves with the successors in the ministry of the Word and service toward the community. Nevertheless, one feels compelled to transmit to others the 'Good News' of the Lord's presence".

  "The Tradition", continued the Holy Father, "is the living Gospel pronounced in its integrity by the apostles ... through their work the faith was communicated to others and has arrived to us, until the end of the world. The Tradition is ... the history of the Spirit, working in the life of the Church through the apostles and their successors, in faithful continuity with the original experience".

  Citing the Gospel of St. Matthew, Pope Benedict XVI explained that the apostolic mandate "implies a pastoral service ('make disciples of all nations'), a liturgical service ('baptizing them'), and a prophetic service ("teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you') guaranteeing closeness to the Lord until the end of the ages ('I am with you always until the end of time')".

  "Thanks to the apostolic ministry," he concluded, "Christ Himself comes to one who is called to the faith, overcoming the distance of the ages and offering Himself, living and working, today in the Church and the world".
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