VATICAN CITY, JUL 7, 2007 (VIS) - The Holy Father has written a Letter to Cardinal Peter Erdo, archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, primate of Hungary and president of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE), for celebrations marking the eighth centenary of the birth of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, also called St. Elizabeth of Thuringia.
In the Letter, dated May 27, the Pope indicates that St. Elizabeth "knew how to combine the gifts of consummate wife and mother with the practice of evangelical virtues learnt at the school of St. Francis of Assisi."
St. Elizabeth, he continues, "provided a solid, visible and significant witness of Christ's charity. Countless people over the course of the centuries have followed her example, looking to her as a model of exemplary Christian virtues, radically applied in marriage, the family and even in widowhood. She has also inspired political figures, who have drawn from her the motivation to work towards reconciliation between peoples."
Benedict XVI expresses the hope that "profound knowledge of the personality and work of Elizabeth of Thuringia may be a help in rediscovering, with ever greater awareness, the Christian roots of Hungary and of Europe itself, encouraging leaders to develop harmonious and respectful dialogue between the Church and civil society in order to build a truly free and united world."
In closing his Letter, the Pope calls for the "international year" dedicated to the saint, which began in Rome on November 17 2006, "to be an occasion for Hungarians, Germans, and all Europeans ... to emphasize the Christian heritage they received from their forefathers, so as to continue to draw from those roots the energy necessary to achieve an abundant harvest in the new millennium that has just begun."
BXVI-LETTER/ST. ELIZABETH HUNGARY/ERDO VIS 20070709 (300)
In the Letter, dated May 27, the Pope indicates that St. Elizabeth "knew how to combine the gifts of consummate wife and mother with the practice of evangelical virtues learnt at the school of St. Francis of Assisi."
St. Elizabeth, he continues, "provided a solid, visible and significant witness of Christ's charity. Countless people over the course of the centuries have followed her example, looking to her as a model of exemplary Christian virtues, radically applied in marriage, the family and even in widowhood. She has also inspired political figures, who have drawn from her the motivation to work towards reconciliation between peoples."
Benedict XVI expresses the hope that "profound knowledge of the personality and work of Elizabeth of Thuringia may be a help in rediscovering, with ever greater awareness, the Christian roots of Hungary and of Europe itself, encouraging leaders to develop harmonious and respectful dialogue between the Church and civil society in order to build a truly free and united world."
In closing his Letter, the Pope calls for the "international year" dedicated to the saint, which began in Rome on November 17 2006, "to be an occasion for Hungarians, Germans, and all Europeans ... to emphasize the Christian heritage they received from their forefathers, so as to continue to draw from those roots the energy necessary to achieve an abundant harvest in the new millennium that has just begun."
BXVI-LETTER/ST. ELIZABETH HUNGARY/ERDO VIS 20070709 (300)
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