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When Pope Benedict speaks, people listen.
Pope: Leo the Great Defended the
Primacy of Rome
Knew Its Role in Maintaining Church Unity
VATICAN CITY, MARCH 5, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Leo the Great promoted the primacy
of Rome because he knew its necessary role in maintaining the unity of the
Churches, says Benedict XVI.
The Pope said this today during the weekly general audience in Paul VI Hall,
in which he dedicated his reflection to the figure of St. Leo the Great,
whom Benedict XVI called "one of the greatest Pontiffs ever to have graced
the See of Rome."
"He is also the first pope of whom we have evidence of his preaching to the
people who crowded around him during celebrations," said the Holy Father.
Benedict XVI continued: "It is natural to think of him in the context of the
general Wednesday audiences; an appointment that has become in the last
decades, a normal and expected way of meeting with the faithful and with
many other visitors from all over the world."
St. Leo the Great was elected Pope in the year 440. His pontificate lasted
more than two decades and included "difficult times" during which "repeated
barbarian invasions, the progressive weakening of imperial power in the West
and a lengthy social crisis forced the Bishop of Rome [...]to assume a role
in the civil and political happenings of the time," said Benedict XVI.
For example, in 452, Leo the Great met with Attila the Hun in Mantua to
dissuade him from continuing the invasion that had devastated parts of
northern Italy. In 455 he similarly sought to dissuade the Geiseric Vandals
and, though he did not prevent them from invading and sacking Rome, he did
convince them not to raze the city and to respect the basilicas of St.
Peter's, St. John Lateran and St. Paul's Outside the Walls, where part of
the population had taken refuge.
Communion
In his numerous sermons and letters, St. Leo "appears in all his greatness,
at the service of the truth within charity, through an indefatigable
exercise of the word that reveals him both a theologian and a shepherd.
[...] Constantly aware of his believers and of the people of Rome, but also
of the communion between the various Churches and their needs, was a
supporter and an untiring promoter of the Roman primacy."
The Holy Father explained how during
Leo's pontificate the Council of Chalcedon took place, "the most important
assembly ever to be celebrated in the history of the Church," which
"affirmed the union in the one Person, without confusion and without
separation, of the two natures, human and divine".
"It is evident," Benedict XVI went on, "that the Pope felt the urgent
responsibility of Peter's Successor, whose role is unique in the Church,
because 'only to one Apostle was entrusted what was communicated to all the
apostles.'"
The Pontiff said Leo the Great "managed to exercise such responsibilities,
in the West like in the East, by intervening in various circumstances with
prudence, determination and lucidity through his texts and his bound
manuscripts. In so doing he demonstrated the importance of the Roman primacy
then, as much as today, in order to effectively serve the communion that is
a feature of the one and only Church of Christ
"Conscious of the historical significance of the times in which he was
living and of the change that was taking place -- in a time of deep crisis
-- from pagan to Christian Rome, through preaching and pastoral care, Leo
the Great was able to stay close to the people and the faithful."
Benedict XVI Urges Salesians to Study
Founder
Says They Will Offer Aid in Overcoming Educational Emergency
VATICAN CITY, MARCH 3, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is encouraging the
Salesians to know and study the spirit of their founder, making their own
the apostolic passion that characterized him.The Pope made this appeal in a
March 1 message, made public today, to the rector major of the Salesians,
Father Pascual Chávez Villanueva and the participants in the 26th general
chapter of the congregation which begins today in Rome.
The Holy Father wrote that the theme chosen for this general chapter -- "Da
mihi animas, cetera tolle" (Give me souls, take away all else) -- expresses
"that same program of spiritual and apostolic life that Don Bosco made his
own."
"It is vitally important for the Salesians to draw continual inspiration
from Don Bosco, to know him, study him, love him, imitate him, invoke him
and make their own that apostolic passion which flows from the heart of
Christ," he added.
The theme to be studied over coming days "expresses in synthesis the
mysticism and asceticism of Salesians" Benedict XVI wrote, indicating that
"it is necessary to overcome the dispersive effects of activism and to
cultivate the unity of spiritual life by acquiring a profound mysticism and
a solid asceticism. This nourishes apostolic commitment and is a guarantee
of effectiveness in pastoral activity.
"It is in this that each Salesian's path to sanctity must consist, and on
this that the formation of new vocations to Salesian consecrated life must
concentrate."
Priority frontier
The Pope affirmed that "evangelization must be the principal and priority
frontier" in the Salesian mission. "In pluri-religious settings and in
secularized ones, it is necessary to find new ways to make the figure of
Jesus known, especially to the young, so they may become aware of his
perennial attraction.
"It is important to help young people to turn their interior resources to
account as dynamism and positive desire; to bring them into contact with
ideas rich in humanity and evangelical values; to encourage them to become
active members of society through work and participation in the common
good."
Benedict XVI thanked the congregation "for the research and educational
activities of the Pontifical Salesian University."
Going on to refer to the "educational emergency" that exists in many parts
of the world, he wrote: "The Church needs the contribution of scholars to
study the methodology of educational and formative processes, the
evangelization of the young and their moral education, together finding
answers to the challenges of post-modernity and inter-culturality, and of
social communications, while at the same time seeking to come to the aid of
families."
In this context, the Pope affirmed that "education is one of the key points
of the modern anthropological problem, to the solution of which I am sure
that the Pontifical Salesian University will not fail to make a precious
contribution."
At the end of the Message, Benedict XV recalled that 2015 will mark the
bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco, and expressed his hope that the
anniversary may stimulate Salesians "to be ever more 'credible signs of
God's love for the young,' and to ensure that the young truly do become the
hope of the Church and society."
