Pope in America: 'Christ our Hope'.

The purpose of the Pope's coming to the United States was not to sort out particular problems troubling the American Church. Rather, he came to America to confirm

"you, my brothers and sisters, in the faith of the Apostles (cf. Lk 22:32). I have come to proclaim anew, as Peter proclaimed on the day of Pentecost, that Jesus Christ is Lord and Messiah, risen from the dead, seated in glory at the right hand of the Father, and established as judge of the living and the dead (cf. Acts 2:14ff.). I have come to repeat the Apostle's urgent call to conversion and forgiveness of sins, and to implore from the Lord a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church in this country. As we heard throughout this Easter season, the Church was born of the Spirit's gift of repentence and faith in the risen Lord. In every age she is impelled by the same spirit to bring to men and reconciliation with God in Christ." (Homily, Washington's Stadium, April 17, 2008).

As the text indicates, Benedict went to the very heart of our duty, that is, to embrace Jesus Christ and thereby preserve the foundation of our society. Without faith in His Church He founded and the graces that come through that Church, not only is no progress possible, but society reverts to darkness.

Hence the duty to an "unceasing missionary outreach as the Spirit spurs believers to proclaim 'the great works of God' and to invite all people to enter the community of those saved by the blood of Christ and granted new life in his Spirit.

"The world needs this witness!" the Pope exclaimed. " Who can deny that the present moment is a crossroads, not only for the Church in America but also for society as a whole? It is a time of great promise, as we see the human family in many ways drawing closer together and becoming ever more interdependent. Yet at the same time we see clear signs of a disturbing breakdown in the very foundations of society: signs of alienation, anger and polarization on the part of many of our contemporaries; increased violence; a weakening of the moral sense; a coarsening of social relations; and a growing forgetfulness of God. The Church, too, sees signs of immense promise in her many strong parishes and vital movements, in the enthusiasm for the faith shown by so many young people, in the number of those who each year embrace the Catholic faith, and in a greater interest in prayer and catechesis. At the same time, she senses, often painfully, the presence of division and polarization in her midst, as well as the troubling realization that many of the baptized, rather than acting as a spiritual leaven in the world, are inclined to embrace attitudes contrary to the truth of the Gospel." (Ibid).

When Benedict therefore spoke about the human person, secularism, freedom, the family, truth, education and human rights--all topics that have pre-occupied him over the last number of years--he framed them in the light of Jesus Christ, and the proclamation after the resurrection: "there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

At the White House, the Pope noted that "freedom is both a gift and a summons to personal responsibility ... The preservation of freedom calls for the cultivation of virtue, self discipline, sacrifice for the common good and a sense of responsibility toward the less fortunate."

At the Catholic University of America, he added: "freedom is not an opting out. It is an opting in." Opting into what? Into the search for truth. Christians believe that truth exists, because they believe God is Truth. Faith is essential to society and democracy. The Church, he said, believes that faith "sheds new light on all things."

Speaking to bishops, Benedict called upon them to resist secularism which can "easily influence faith" and behaviour. "Is it consistent for practising Catholics to ignore or exploit the poor ..., to promote sexual behaviour contrary to Catholic moral teaching, to adopt positions that contradict the right to life of every human being from conception to Natural death? Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted. Only when their faith permeates every aspect of their lives do Christians become truly open to the transforming power of the Gospel."

Nothing is more needed in the Church than that.

Father Alphonse De Valk, C.S.B.

EDITOR