Christ is “our peace”, recalls Pope in general audience

Rome, 17 (NE - eclesiales.org) In yesterday's general audience, which took place in St. Peter's Square, the Pope spoke about Psalm 45, "God, our refuge and strength." This Psalm, said the Holy Father, "celebrates the holy city of Jerusalem, 'a sacred place where the Most High dwells,' but above all it expresses total faith in God Who 'is our refuge and strength, and Who is always near us in our suffering.' The psalm evokes the most tremendous trials in order to affirm with greater force the victorious intervention of God who provides total security."

"The first part of the hymn," he said, "focuses on the symbol of water and presents a double, contrasting meaning. On the one hand, there are tempestuous waters, which in biblical language are a symbol of disaster, chaos and evil. ... On the other hand, the waters which satisfy thirst ... are a sign of the life that prospers in the holy city, of its spiritual fecundity and of its regenerating strength. Therefore, despite the circumstances of history which make peoples sigh and kingdoms shake, the faithful find the peace and serenity that come from communion with God in Zion ."

Pope John Paul II indicated that the second part of the Psalm refers to "a world transformed. The Lord intervenes with great strength from his throne in Zion against wars and establishes the peace that everyone hopes for. ... The prophet Isaiah praised the end of the arms race and the transformation of the instruments of war into means of development for the people: 'They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

"With this psalm," he concluded, "Christian tradition exalts Christ, 'our peace' and our deliverer from evil, through His death and resurrection."

Pope hopes Africa may reach peace and stability

Rome, 17 (NE - eclesiales.org) Pope John Paul II expressed his hope that the African continent may reach peace and stability, as he welcomed the participants in the 12th meeting of the Post-synodal council of the Special Assembly for Africa of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, which took place in 1994 in the Vatican.

"This continent" the Holy Father stated, "seems to know neither truces nor peace. To international conflicts must be added the hotspots of fighting that sow terror and devastation among the populations, so very anxious to live in a serenity that is finally re-discovered." He spoke of the other "scourges that afflict Africa and Africans": poverty, great problems in the health and educations sectors, AIDS, insecurity due to conflicts and widespread corruption.

The Pope underscored that all of society, and especially the Church, must act cohesively to overcome these problems. He said the Universal Church has many times reminded world leaders of "the five priorities to give Africans what has been taken from them, often violently: respect for life and for religious diversity, the eradication of poverty, an end to arms trafficking, an end to conflicts and concrete action with a view to development motivated by solidarity."

"Has the moment not come," asked the Pope in concluding, "to deepen this African synod experience? The exceptional growth of the Church in Africa, the rapid exchange of pastors, the new challenges that the continent must face, demand answers" that can only be found in putting into act "Ecclesia in Africa."

Pope to preside Corpus Christi celebrations next Thursday

Rome , 4 (NE - eclesiales.org) Pope John Paul II will preside next Thursday June 10, solemnity of Corpus Christi , at Mass in the square in front of St. John Lateran Basilica. According to the Holy See Press office, after the celebration there will be a Eucharistic Procession to St. Mary Major Basilica on Via Merulana, a broad street which links the two basilicas. Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar of Rome , will be the principal celebrant at Mass. Concelebrants will include the vice-gerent, auxiliary bishops and newly ordained priests of the diocese of Rome .

There is hope in suffering, recalls Pope in catechesis

Rome, 4 (NE - eclesiales.org) Psalm 40, "The prayer of a sick man," was the theme of the Pope's catechesis last Wednesday at the weekly general audience, held in St. Peter's Square in the presence of 13,000 faithful. The Pope stated that Jesus quotes this Psalm on Holy Thursday in the Cenacle to show his deep sadness at the moment of betrayal by Judas: "He who breaks bread with me has raised his heel against me." These words, he said, express "the supplication of a man who is sick and abandoned by his friends."

"A sick man starts his talk asking pardon of God, according to the traditional Old Testament concept that for every pain there was a corresponding fault. ... Even if this is a vision overcome by Christ, the final Revealer, suffering in itself can conceal a secret value and become a path to purification, to inner freedom, to enrichment of the soul. It invites us to overcome superficiality, vanity, egoism and sin, and to trust God and His saving will more intensely."

The Holy Father remarked that "when evil-doers enter the scene, coming to a sick person not to comfort them but rather to attack them," the sick man who prays feels indifference and hardness, even on the part of his friends who are transformed into hostile and hateful figures."

"The sense of bitterness is deep when the one who strikes us is 'a friend' whom we trusted, called literally in Hebrew 'a man of peace'. ... In our prayer echoes the voice of a crowd of persons who are forgotten and humiliated in their infirmity and weakness, also by those who should have supported them."

In conclusion, the Pope said that "the prayer of Psalm 40 does not end, however, on this dark background. The one who prays is certain that God will appear on his horizon, revealing, once again, His love. He will give His support and take the sick person in His arms. ... The Psalm, marked by pain, ends on a note of light and hope."

Slovenia : conference to discuss relations between science and faith

Rome, 4 (NE - eclesiales.org) Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, inaugurated yesterday an interdisciplinary conference on science and faith organized jointly by the same council and the Slovenian Academy of Science and Art. The theme of the meeting, which is being held in Ljubljana , Slovenia , is "Ethical Responsibility in the World." It takes place twenty years after another conference organized by the Slovenian Academy of Science in Ljubljana which was then known as the Secretariat for non-believers.

The meeting will be divided into four sections: science, faith and society, which analyzes the role that science and faith exercise in social life; science and values, the value of science, which considers the ethical implications of the scientific research especially in the biomedical field; the connection between knowledge and ethics and the interdisciplinary character and the new horizons of activity.

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