Pope Benedict: proclaiming Jesus Christ is the task of the Church

Vatican City, May 22, 2011 (CNA/EWTN News).-

Proclaiming Jesus Christ as “the way, the truth and the life” is the main task of the Church, Pope Benedict said in his Sunday Regina Coeli remarks.

“The New Testament put an end to invisibility of the Father. God showed his face, as confirmed by the response of Jesus to the Apostle Philip, ‘Whoever has seen me has seen the Father’,” the Pope told the faithful in St. Peter’s Square on May 22.

For Christians, he explained, “the way to the Father is to be guided by Jesus, by his word of truth, and in accepting the gift of his life.”

Pope Benedict suggested the way of Jesus Christ is to be found in “following him every day, in simple actions that make up our day.”

He then quoted his own words from the second volume of his book Jesus of Nazareth:

“That's the mystery of God: to act in the quietest way. He only builds slowly in the great story of mankind’s history. He becomes a man, but in order to be ignored by his contemporaries and influential forces in history ... He continually knocks in the quietest way on the doors of our hearts, and if we open ourselves to him, he slowly makes us able to ‘see’.”

Pope Benedict drew upon the gospel reading for today, the fifth Sunday of Easter, in which Jesus Christ tells his disciples “Have faith in God, believe also in me.” The Pope pointed out that this belief is a single act of faith, and not two separate actions.

He cited the counsel of the 13th-century Italian theologian St. Bonaventure, who said “Open your eyes, therefore, tend the spiritual ears, open your lips and you have your heart, that you can in all creatures see, hear, praise, love, worship, glorify, honor your God.”

Pope Benedict concluded by calling upon the Virgin Mary to “always help the pastors and those in the various ministries announced the good news of salvation, so that the Word of God will spread and multiply the number of disciples.”

He then led pilgrims in the singing of the Regina Coeli.

Pope asks Christians to pray for Church in China

Vatican City, May 18, 2011

(CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI has urged Catholics around the world to join him next week in praying for the Church in China.

“All Catholics throughout the world have a duty to pray for the Church in China: those members of the Faithful have a right to our prayers, they need our prayers,” the Pope said May 18.

Speaking at the end of his weekly audience, the Pope reminded pilgrims that May 24 is a global day of prayer for the Church in China. The date marks the feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians, who is venerated at the Shrine of Sheshan in Shanghai. The Pope established the custom of praying for China on this day back in 2007.

“By our prayers we can obtain for the Church in China that it remain one, holy and Catholic, faithful and steadfast in doctrine and in ecclesial discipline.”

China has an estimated 8 to 12 million Catholics. They are divided, though, between the state-sanctioned church that sometimes names bishops without the Vatican’s approval and an underground church wary of government ties.

“Chinese Catholics, as they have said many times, want unity with the universal Church, with the Supreme Pastor, with the Successor of Peter,” said the Pope. He added that prayer from others around the world was key to making that happen.

“We can help them to find the path to keep their faith alive, to keep their hope strong, to keep their love for all people ardent, and to maintain in its integrity the ecclesiology that we have received from the Lord and the Apostles.”

Pope Benedict finished his remarks by asking Mary “to enlighten those who are in doubt, to call back the straying, to console the afflicted, and to strengthen those who are ensnared by the allure of opportunism.”