Papal recap

The recent Apostolic Journey to the United States of America and the United Nations Organization will remain “firmly etched in my spirit,” said Pope Benedict XVI at his General Audience yesterday in St. Peter’s Square.

Recalling the many events on American soil, His Holiness invited the faithful “to unite yourselves with me in thanksgiving for the encouraging results of this apostolic trip and in the supplication to God, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, that it produces abundant fruits for the Church in the United States and in all parts of the world.”

While making no mention of the coincidence of his 81st birthday with the visit, Pope Benedict XVI recalled his third anniversary as Supreme Pontiff: “I will never forget the warmth with which they congratulated me for the third anniversary of my election to the See of Peter. It was a moving moment, in which I experienced in a tangible way all of the support of the Church for my ministry.”

The purpose of this Apostolic Journey to this “society marked by many contradictions” was to “confirm the Catholics in their faith, to renew and increase fraternity with all Christians, and to announce to everyone the message of ‘Christ Our Hope.’”

Pope Benedict XVI especially recalled his meeting with young people and seminarians in which he proposed to them the example and witness of some of the Saints who have come from the Americas. “In seeing the darkness that today threatens their lives,” he said, “youth can find in the saints the light that dissipates it: the light of Christ, hope for all men.”

Photo: Giampiero Sposito/Reuters