VATICAN CITY, 9 MAR 2009 (VIS) - Having met with civic leaders of the city of Rome, the Pope appeared at the loggia of Palazzo Senatorio to greet people gathered in the square below, including members of Roman volunteer organisations, immigrants and guests of local authority help-centres.
"Having lived in Rome for so many years", said the Holy Father, "I feel I have become a little Roman myself; yet it is as your bishop that I feel most Roman".
Referring then to the city's beauty, Benedict XVI expressed the view that "Rome is beautiful for its ancient remains, for its cultural institutions, for the monuments that tell its history, for the churches and their many artistic masterpieces. But Rome is beautiful above all for the generosity and sanctity of so many of its sons and daughters, who have left eloquent signs of their passion for the beauty of God, the beauty of love that never fades or grows old".
The Pope went on: "The Apostles Peter and Paul, and the ranks of martyrs of early Christendom, were witnesses to this beauty, as were the many men and women - Roman by birth or adoption - who over the centuries gave their lives in the service of young people, of the sick, the poor and all those in need". In this context he mentioned, among others, Deacon Lawrence, Santa Francesca Romana whose feast day falls today, and St. Philip Neri. "Their example", he said, "shows that when people encounter Christ, they do not close in on themselves but open up to the needs of others and, in all areas of society, place the common good before their own interests.
"We also have need of such men and women in our own time", he added, "because no small number of families, no small number of young people and adults, are living in precarious, even dramatic, situations; situations that can only be overcome by working together, as is clear of from the history of Rome, which has seen much more difficult moments than these. ... Apart from the necessary solidarity, and from due commitment on everyone's part, we can always rely upon the certain help of God, Who never abandons His children".
Having completed his address, the Holy Father bid farewell to the mayor then travelled by car to the nearby Via di Teatro Marcello, location of the convent of the Oblate Sisters of Santa Francesca Romana.
BXVI-VISIT/GREETINGS/ROME VIS 20090309 (410)
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