ASCENSION: CHRIST REMAINS PRESENT IN HUMAN HISTORY

VATICAN CITY, 16 MAY 2010 (VIS) - At midday today the Holy Father appeared at the window of his study to pray the Regina Coeli with faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.

  Today, the Pope explained, Italy and other countries are celebrating Jesus' Ascension to heaven forty days after Easter. He also pointed out that today is the World Day of Social Communications which has as its theme this year: "The priest and pastoral ministry in a digital world: new media at the service of the Word".

  "The liturgy recounts the episode of the last separation of the Lord Jesus from His disciples", said the Pope. "But this is not an abandonment, because He remains with them always in a new form. ... The Lord draws the gaze of the Apostles towards heaven showing them the path of goodness to be followed during their earthly life.

  "And yet He remains in the fabric of human history. He is close to each of us and guides our Christian journey. He is companion to those persecuted for their faith, He is in the heart of the marginalised, He is present in those whose right to life is denied. We can listen to, see and touch the Lord Jesus in the Church, especially through the word and sacramental gestures of her pastors".

  In this context, the Pope particularly exhorted young people receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation to "remain faithful the Word of God and the doctrine they have learned", and he invited them "assiduously to go to Confession and take the Eucharist, aware of having been chosen and created to bear witness to Truth".

  The Holy Father also renewed his call to priests to ensure that their "lives and activity are distinguished by a determined witness to the Gospel, and that they may know how to used the communications media to make the life of the Church known and help the men and women of today discover the face of Christ".

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POPE THANKS CHURCH AND ITALIAN PEOPLE FOR THEIR SUPPORT

VATICAN CITY, 16 MAY 2010 (VIS) - After praying the Regina Coeli today, the Pope thanked the 200,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square and Via della Conciliazione for their "presence and trust".

  "Today", he said, "my first greetings go out to the lay faithful who have come here from all over Italy, and to Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco who has accompanied them as president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, A heartfelt thank-you, dear brothers and sisters, for your warm and abundant presence.

  "Responding to the invitation of the National Consultative Council of Lay Associations", he told them, "you have enthusiastically joined this beautiful and spontaneous demonstration of faith and solidarity, which also includes a large group of parliamentarians and local administrators. To all of you I wish to express my most heartfelt recognition. I likewise greet the thousands of immigrants connected with us from the square of St. John Lateran where they are gathered with Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar general of Rome, for the 'Feast of Peoples'.

  "Dear friends", he added, "today you are expressing the Church's and the Italian people's great affection and profound closeness to the Pope and to your priests who daily take care of you so that, committed to spiritual and moral renewal, we may better serve the Church, the People of God and everyone who turns to us with trust".

  The Holy Father continued his remarks: "The real enemy to be feared and fought is sin, spiritual evil, which at times, unfortunately, also infects members of the Church. We live in the world, the Lord says, but we are not of the world, although we must guard ourselves from its temptations, Yet we must fear sin and so be strongly rooted in God, firm in goodness, love and service. This is what the Church, her ministers and the faithful have done and continue to do ... for the spiritual and material good of people all over the world. And this is what you especially seek to do in parishes, associations and movements: serve God and man in the name of Christ".

  The Pope concluded: "Let us trustingly continue this journey together, and may the trials, which the Lord allows, encourage us to greater resolve and coherence. It is a beautiful thing to see the multitudes in St. Peter's Square, just as it was moving for me to see the immense multitudes at Fatima, who, at the school of Mary, prayed for the conversion of hearts. Today I renew that appeal, comforted by your numerous presence. Thank you".

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, 17 MAY 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

 - Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, archbishop of Genoa, Italy, and president of the Italian Episcopal Conference.

 - Cardinal Peter Erdo, archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, Hungary, president of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE), accompanied by Cardinal Josip Bozanic, archbishop of Zagreb, Croatia, and Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, archbishop of Bordeaux, France, vice-presidents.
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 17 MAY 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, as his special envoy to celebrations marking the fourth centenary of the archdiocese of Arequipa, Peru, due to take place from 14 to 18 July.
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PORTUGAL: RENEWED SPIRITUAL AND APOSTOLIC ARDOUR

VATICAN CITY, 14 MAY 2010 (VIS) - At 1.30 p.m. today, the Pope arrived at the international airport of the city of Porto for the departure ceremony at the end of his apostolic trip to Portugal. Following a greeting by Anibal Cavaco Silva, president of the Republic of Portugal, the Holy Father pronounced his address.

He began by expressing his "sincere gratitude" to the president, bishops, government and all the civil and military authorities "who have done their utmost with visible dedication throughout the entire journey. I offer you all good wishes. The communications media have enabled me to reach out to many people who were unable to see me in person. To them too I am most grateful", he said.

"To all the Portuguese, whether Catholic or not, to the men and women who live here, whether born here or elsewhere, I extend my greetings at this moment of leave-taking. May you live in increasing harmony with one another, a prerequisite for genuine cohesion and the only way to address the challenges before you with shared responsibility. May this glorious nation continue to manifest greatness of spirit, a profound sense of God and an openness to solidarity, governed by principles and values imbued with Christian humanism. In Fatima I prayed for the whole world, asking that the future may see an increase in fraternity and solidarity, greater mutual respect and renewed trust and confidence in God, our heavenly Father.

"It has been a joy for me to witness the faith and devotion of the Portuguese ecclesial community", the Holy Father added. "I was able to see the enthusiasm of the children and young people, the faithfulness of the priests, deacons and religious, the pastoral dedication of the bishops, the desire to search for truth and evident beauty in the world of culture, the resourcefulness of the social pastoral workers, the vibrancy of faith among the lay faithful in the dioceses that I visited. I hope that my visit may become an incentive for renewed spiritual and apostolic ardour. May the Gospel be accepted in its entirety and witnessed with passion by every disciple of Christ, so that it may show itself to be a leaven of authentic renewal for the whole of society".

The departure ceremony over, the Pope boarded his plane for the return journey to Rome, where he is due to arrive at Ciampino airport at 6 p.m. From there he will travel to the Vatican by helicopter.
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