Vatican City, 4 APR 2008 (VIS) - Today in the Vatican, Benedict XVI received 150 members of the Papal Foundation, an organization based in the United States that was created to provide the Holy See with a stable source of income, which each year presents the Pope with a check that represents the accrued interest of investments.
The Holy Father expressed his gratitude to this institution, headed by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, for the "generous support the Papal Foundation offers through aid projects and scholarships which assist me in carrying out my Apostolic Ministry to the universal Church".
The Pope then recalled the story of the disciples at Emmaus and emphasized that their encounter with the Risen Lord "turned their sorrow into joy, their disappointment into hope". "Their testimony of faith instils in us the firm conviction that Christ lives in our midst, bestowing the gifts that empower us to be messengers of hope in the world today".
"The very source of the Church's service of love, as she strives to alleviate the suffering of the poor and weak, can be found in her unwavering faith that the Lord has definitively conquered sin and death; and that in serving her brothers and sisters, she serves the Lord himself until he comes again in glory".
During the course of the audience, the members of the foundation also presented the Holy Father with a first edition of the "Saint John's Bible", the hand-written and illuminated Bible commissioned by St. John's Benedictine Abbey in Minnesota (USA) from the artist Donald Jackson.
Since its foundation in 1990, the Papal Foundation has delivered over 41 million dollars to the Pope.
AC/PAPAL FOUNDATION/… VIS 20080404 (290)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment