SHARED ECUMENICAL TASK: BEARING WITNESS TO THE LIVING GOD

VATICAN CITY, 23 SEP 2011 (VIS) - At midday today Benedict XVI participated in an ecumenical celebration held at the church of the ancient Augustinian convent in Erfurt. During the ceremony, which was attended by some 300 people, Katrin G. Eickhardt, president of the Synod of the German Evangelical Church, pronounced a greeting, and Evangelical Bishop Friedrich Weber read out Martin Luther's German translation of Psalm 146. The Pope prayed for Christian unity and Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, read the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus from the Gospel of St. John. The Holy Father then pronounced a homily, extracts of which are given below.

"'I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through them'. According to the Gospel of John, Jesus spoke these words to the Father in the Upper Room. ... In the prayer of Jesus we find the very heart of our unity. We will become one if we allow ourselves to be drawn into this prayer".

"Did Jesus' prayer go unheard? The history of Christianity is in some sense the visible element of this drama in which Christ strives and suffers with us human beings. Ever anew He must endure the rejection of unity, yet ever anew unity takes place with Him and thus with the Triune God. ... For this reason, in an ecumenical gathering, we ought not only to regret our divisions and separations, but we should also give thanks to God for all the elements of unity which He has preserved for us and bestows on us ever anew. And this gratitude must be at the same time a resolve not to lose, at a time of temptations and perils, the unity thus bestowed.

"Our fundamental unity comes from the fact that we believe in God. ... And that we confess that He is the Triune God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The highest unity is not the solitude of a monad, but rather a unity born of love. We believe in God - the real God. We believe that God spoke to us and became one of us. To bear witness to this living God is our common task at the present time.

"A thirst for the infinite is indelibly present in human beings. Man was created to have a relationship with God; we need Him. Our primary ecumenical service at this hour must be to bear common witness to the presence of the living God and in this way to give the world the answer which it needs. Naturally, an absolutely central part of this fundamental witness to God is a witness to Jesus Christ, true man and true God, Who lived in our midst, suffered and died for us and, in His resurrection, flung open the gates of death. Dear friends, let us strengthen one another in this faith! This is a great ecumenical task which leads us into the heart of Jesus' prayer.

"The seriousness of our faith in God is shown by the way we live His word. In our own day, it is shown in a very practical way by our commitment ... to man. We live at a time of uncertainty about what it means to be human. Ethics are being replaced by a calculation of consequences. In the face of this, we as Christians must defend the inviolable dignity of human beings from conception to death - from issues of prenatal diagnosis to the question of euthanasia. ... Faith in God must take concrete form in a common defence of man. To this defence of man belong not only these fundamental criteria of what it means to be human, but above all and very specifically, love, as Jesus taught us in the account of the Final Judgement: God will judge us on how we respond to our neighbour, to the least of his brethren. Readiness to help, amid the needs of the present time and beyond our immediate circle, is an essential task of the Christian.

"This is true first and foremost in our personal lives as individuals. It also holds true in our community, as a people and a State in which we must all be responsible for one another. It holds true for our continent, in which we are called to European solidarity. Finally, it is true beyond all frontiers: today Christian love of neighbour also calls for commitment to justice throughout the world".

"Prior to the Pope's visit there was some talk of an 'ecumenical gift' which was expected from this visit. There is no need for me to specify the gifts mentioned in this context. Here I would only say that this reflects a political misreading of faith and of ecumenism. In general, when a head of State visits a friendly country, contacts between the various parties take place beforehand to arrange one or more agreements between the two States: by weighing respective benefits and drawbacks a compromise is reached which in the end appears beneficial for both parties, so that a treaty can then be signed. But the faith of Christians does not rest on such a weighing of benefits and drawbacks. A self-made faith is worthless. Faith is not something we work out intellectually or negotiate between us. It is the foundation for our lives. Unity grows not by the weighing of benefits and drawbacks but only by entering ever more deeply into the faith in our thoughts and in our lives.

"In the past fifty years, and especially after the visit of John Paul II some thirty years ago, we have drawn much closer together. ... To all those engaged in that process ... I wish to express my deep gratitude. ... Together we can only thank the Lord for the paths of unity on which He has led us, and unite ourselves in humble trust to this prayer: Grant that we may all be one, as you are one with the Father, so that the world may believe that He has sent you".

The meeting closed with all those present praying the Our Father together, after which Pastor Nikolaus Schneider pronounced a blessing after the manner of Aaron and the Pope gave his blessing in the Trinitarian form.
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POPE HIGHLIGHTS IMPORTANCE OF FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY

VATICAN CITY, 22 SEP 2011 (VIS) - At 8.15 a.m. today the Holy Father departed from Ciampino airport in Rome. Following a two-hour flight, his place landed at Berlin-Tegel airport, thus beginning the twenty-first international apostolic trip of his pontificate and his first State visit to Germany.

On arriving in Berlin the Holy Father was greeted by a twenty-one gun salute, as per the protocol for State visits, while Christian Wulff and Angela Merkel, respectively president and chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, waited on the runway to greet him. Also present were Archbishop Rainer Maria Woelki of Berlin, and Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg im Breisgau, president of the German Bishops' Conference.

From the airport the Pope travelled by car to Bellevue Castle, official residence of the president, where the welcome ceremony took place in the palace gardens.

"Even though this journey is an official visit which will reinforce the good relations existing between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Holy See, I have not come here primarily to pursue particular political or economic goals, as other statesmen rightly do, but rather to meet people and to speak about God", said the Pope in his address. "We are witnessing a growing indifference to religion in society, which considers the issue of truth as something of an obstacle in its decision-making, and instead gives priority to utilitarian considerations.

"All the same", he added, "a binding basis for our coexistence is needed; otherwise people live in a purely individualistic way. Religion is one of these foundations for a successful social life. 'Just as religion has need of freedom, so also freedom has need of religion'. These words of the great bishop and social reformer Wilhelm von Ketteler, the second centenary of whose birth is being celebrated this year, remain timely.

"Freedom requires a primordial link to a higher instance. The fact that there are values which are not absolutely open to manipulation is the true guarantee of our freedom", which "develops only in responsibility to a greater good. Such a good exists only for all of us together. ... In human coexistence, freedom is impossible without solidarity. ... This holds true not only in private matters but also for society as a whole. In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, society must give sufficient space for smaller structures to develop and, at the same time, must support them so that one day they will stand on their own".

The Holy Father went on: "Bellevue Castle, ... with its dramatic history (like many buildings of this city) is a testimony to the history of Germany. A clear look at the past, even at its dark pages, enables us to learn from it and to receive an impetus for the present. The Federal Republic of Germany has become what it is today thanks to the power of freedom shaped by responsibility before God and before one another. It needs this dynamism, which engages every human sector in order to continue developing now. It needs this in a world which requires a profound cultural renewal and the rediscovery of fundamental values upon which to build a better future".

Having completed his address the Pope held a private meeting with President Wulff and his family, after which he travelled to the headquarters of the German Episcopal Conference (DBK) where he was received by its president Archbishop Robert Zollitsch. He then held a private meeting which Chancellor Merkel in the DBK library, where they were later joined by her husband and members of her entourage. At the end of the meeting the Holy Father went by foot to the refectory of the nearby Catholic Academy where he had lunch.

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POPE IMPOSES THE PALLIUM ON CARDINAL SCOLA

VATICAN CITY, 21 SEP 2011 (VIS) - This morning in the Apostolic Palace of Castelgandolfo, Benedict XVI imposed the pallium on Cardinal Angelo Scola, archbishop of Milan, Italy. The pallium is an embroidered woollen band worn by metropolitan archbishops as a symbol of their authority and their communion with Rome. The ecclesiastical province of which Cardinal Scola is metropolitan archbishop includes the ten dioceses in the Italian region of Lombardy: Milan, Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Crema, Cremona, Lodi, Mantua, Pavia and Vigevano.
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 21 SEP 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Indianapolis, U.S.A., presented by Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein O.S.B., in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

- Appointed Bishop Leonardo Ulrich Steiner O.F.M., prelate of Sao Felix, Brazil and secretary general of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil, as auxiliary of Brasilia (area 5,814, population 2,196,000, Catholics 1,507,000, priests 294, permanent deacons 70, religious 652), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Forquilhinha, Brazil in 1950. He made his religious profession in the order of Friars Minor in 1976 and was ordained a priest in 1978. Following studies in Brazil and Rome he worked as a vice pastor and pastor, then as formator, master of novices and professor of philosophy. He was ordained a bishop in 2005.

- Appointed Bishop Giuseppe Versaldi of Alessandria, Italy, as president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, at the same time elevating him to the dignity of archbishop. He succeeds Cardinal Velasio De Paolis C.S., whose resignation from the same office the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Fr. Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda of the clergy of the diocese of Astorga, Spain, administrator general of the bishopric of Astorga, secretary of the diocesan council for economic affairs and pastor of thirteen parishes, as secretary of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See.

- Appointed Marco Buonocore, head archivist of the Vatican Apostolic Library, as president of the Pontifical Roman Academy of Archaeology.
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BEARING JOYFUL WITNESS TO THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL

VATICAN CITY, 20 SEP 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father has sent a message to British Catholics to mark the first anniversary of his apostolic trip to the United Kingdom. In the text, which bears the signature of Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B., the Pope expresses his gratitude for the "warm welcome" he received in Britain.

A Mass of thanksgiving was held last Sunday in London's Westminster Cathedral, attended by local bishops and seminarians, as well as by representatives from the Anglican Church and the government. In his message, the Holy Father expresses the hope that the celebration "may serve as a fresh exhortation to respond to the challenge launched one year ago: ... to bear joyful witness to the truth of the Gospel, which frees our minds and illuminates our efforts to live wisely and well in society".

The Pope likewise encourages seminarians "to keep their gaze on Jesus Christ" as they dedicate themselves completely to their intellectual and spiritual formation, and "to become heralds of the new evangelisation". In closing Benedict XVI entrusts the United Kingdom to the intercession of Cardinal Newman, whom he beatified during the course of his trip last year.
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