TEN CITY SQUARES FOR TEN COMMANDMENTS

Vatican City, 9 September 2012 (VIS) - "Ten City Squares for Ten Commandments" is the title of an initiative, which is being promoted by the Renewal in the Holy Spirit Association and was inaugurated this evening in Rome's Piazza del Popolo. The initiative involves a series of evangelisation meetings which will take place throughout the year in various Italian cities. The Pope sent participants a video message which was projected on giant screens set up in Piazza del Popolo.

"What significance do these Ten Words have for us in our current cultural context, in which secularism and relativism risk becoming the criteria for all choices, and in our society which seems to live as if God did not exist?", the Holy Father asked. "Our answer is that God gave us the Commandments to educate us in true freedom and authentic love, that we might be truly happy. They are a sign of love of God the Father, of his desire to teach us true discernment of good from evil, of truth from falsehood, of justice from injustice. They can be understood by everyone, precisely because they translate fundamental values into concrete norms and rules; and by practising them man is able to follow the path of true freedom, ... which leads to life and happiness.

"When he fails to do this", Benedict XVI added, "when in his life man ignores the Commandments, not only does he alienate himself from God and abandon the covenant with Him, but he also abandons life and lasting happiness. Man left to himself, indifferent to God, proud of his own absolute autonomy, ends up pursuing the idols of selfishness, power and domination, poisoning his relationship with himself and others, and following not the path of life but the path of death. The sad experience of history, especially last century, stands as a warning for all humankind. ... With His cross and resurrection Jesus brought the Commandments to fullness, radically overcoming selfishness, sin and death with the gift of Himself for love. Accepting the infinite love of God, having faith in Him and following the path He has laid down is the only thing that gives profound meaning to life and opens the way to a future of hope".