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Skriven 2007-02-06 06:58:42 av Marc Lewis (1:396/45)
Ärende: Vatican Information Service (Press Release)
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                               VIS-Press releases

TO SECULAR INSTITUTES: ANNOUNCE THE BEAUTY OF GOD

VATICAN CITY, FEB 3, 2007 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican, the Pope
received a large group of representatives from secular institutes in various
countries, who are in Rome for the occasion of an international symposium being
held to mark the anniversary of the Apostolic Constitution "Provida Mater
Ecclesia."

Recalling that six decades have passed since February 2 1947, when Pope Pius
XII promulgated the Apostolic Constitution, Benedict XVI said: "That juridical
act was not an end but the starting point of a process that aimed to define a
new form of consecration: that of lay faithful and diocesan priests, called to
live with evangelical radicalism the secular state in which, by virtue of their
life condition or pastoral ministry, they are immersed."

The Holy Father went on to enumerate the characteristics of the secular
mission: "bearing witness to human virtues, ... an 'honorable conduct of life'
as mentioned by Peter in his first Letter, ... and commitment to building a
society that recognizes in all its various aspects the dignity of human beings
and the values essential for their full realization, from politics to
economics, from education to commitment to public health, from providing
services to scientific research."

"All the circumstances in which man lives and dies," the Pope told his
audience, "are an opportunity for you to bear witness to the salvific work of
God. This is your mission."

The Holy Father told the members of the secular institutes that "the secular
nature of your consecration highlights, on the one hand, the means you use to
put it into practice, ... and on the other, the way in which it develops:
through a profound relationship with the signs of the times, which you are
called to discern, individually and as a group, in the light of the Gospel."

"The place of your apostolate is, then, the entire human sphere, not only in
the Christian community, ... but also and above all in the civil community with
which you relate in the search for the common good and in dialogue with
everyone, called to bear witness to Christian anthropology, which proposes
meaning to a society disoriented and confused by the multi-cultural and multi-
religious atmosphere that characterizes it."

Benedict XVI concluded with an exhortation to announce "the beauty of God and
of His Creation. Following the example of Christ, remain obedient to love and
be men and women of humbleness and mercy, capable of following the paths of the
world doing only good. ... The Church also needs you to give completeness to
her mission. Be seed of sanctity ... in the furrow of history."
AC/.../SECULAR INSTITUTESVIS 070205 (450)

SUMMARY

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