ANGELUS OF 11/9/08
Here is a full translation of the Holy Father's words at the noontime Angelus today.
Dear brothers and sisters!
The liturgy today celebrates the dedication of the Lateran Basilica, called the "the mother and chief of all the churches of the Urbe (city) and the Orbe (world)".
Indeed, this Basilica was the first church built after the edict of Emperor Constantine in 313 which granted Christians the freedom to practise their religion. The emperor himself gave Pope Melchiades a property of the Lateran family, where he had constructed the Basilica, the Baptistery and the Patriarchy, that is, the residence of the Bishop of Rome, where the Popes lived until the Avignon exile.
The dedication of the Basilica was celebrated by Pope Sylvester around 324, and the temple was named for the Most Holy Redeemer. The titles of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, from which the church gets its familiar name, were added only after the 6th century.
This feast at first was of interest only to the city of Rome, but since 1565, it has been extended to all the Churches following the Roman rite. In honoring the sacred edifice, it is intended to express love and veneration for the Roman Church which, as St. Ignatius of Antioch said, 'presides in charity' over the entire Catholic communion (To the Romans, 1,1).
The Word of God on this solemnity recalls an essential truth: that the temple of bricks is a symbol of the living Church, the Christian community, which, already in their letters, the Apostles Peter and Paul understood as a 'spiritual edifice', constructed by God with the 'living stones' that Christians are, on the one foundation of Jesus Christ, compared in turn to the 'cornerstone' (cfr 1 Cor 3,9-11.16-17; 1 Pt 2,4-8, Eph 2,20-22).
"Brothers, you are God's building", St. Paul writes, and adds: "The temple of God, which you are, is holy" (1 Cor 3,9c.17).
The beauty and harmony of churches, destined to render praise to God, invites even us humans, with our limitations and sins, to convert ourselves in order to form a 'cosmos', a well-ordered construction, in close communion with Jesus, who is the true Saint of Saints.
This culminates in the Eucharistic liturgy, during which the 'ekklesia' - the community of baptized persons - are gathered to listen to the Word of God and to nourish themselves with the Body and Blood of Christ.
Around this double meal, the Church of living stones is edified in truth and charity, and becomes interiorly shaped by the Holy Spirit, becoming transformed into one that receives, conforming itself ever closer to its Lord Jesus Christ. The Church itself, if it lives in sincere and fraternal unity, thus becomes a spiritual sacrifice that is pleasing to God.
Dear friends, today's feast celebrates a mystery that is always actual: namely, that God wishes to build in the world a spiritual temple, a community that adores him in spirit and in truth (cfr Jn 4,23-24).
But this occasion also reminds us of the importance of the material edifices in which communities gather to celebrate the praises of God. Every community therefore has the duty to take good care of their own sacred edifices, which constitute a precious religious and historical patrimony.
Let us now invoke the intercession of the Most Blessed Mary so that she may aid us to become, like herself, the 'house of God', a living temple of his love.
After the Angelus, he had these special messages:
Today is the 70th anniversary of the tragic event
[Kristallnacht - the night of glass-smashing] which took place on the night of November 9-10, 1938, when Nazi fury against the Jews was unleashed in Germany.
Businesses, offices, houses and synagogues were attacked and destroyed, and many persons were killed, opening the way to the systematic and violent persecution of German Jews which ended in the Shoah (Holocaust).
Even today I feel pain over what happened on that tragic occasion, the memory of which should serve to ensure that similar horrors are never repeated again, and that we should commit ourselves, at all levels, against every form of anti-Semitism and discrimination, educating above all the young generations in respect and reciprocal acceptance.
I invite you to pray for the victims then and to join me in showing profound solidarity with the Jewish world.
Disquieting news continue to come from the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Bloody armed encounters and systematic atrocities have resulted and continue to result in numerous victims among innocent civilians.
Destruction, sacking and violence of every kind have forced tens of thousands of persons to abandon even the little that they have in order to survive. It is estimated that there are now more than a million and a half refugees.
To all and to each of them, I wish to express my particular closeness, as I encourage and bless all those who are doing their best to relieve their sufferings, among which I must mention in particular, the pastors of the local Churches.
To the families who have lost loved ones, I extend my condolence and assure them of my prayers for the departed. Finally, I renew my fervent appeal so that everyone may work together to restore peace in that land that has been tormented for so long, with respect for the law and, above all, for the dignity of every human being.
Italy today marks Thanksgiving Day which this year is on the theme, "I was hungry and you fed me'. I join my voice to that of the Italian bishops who, with those words of Jesus, call attention to the serious and complex problem of hunger today, made more tragic by the rise in the cost of some basic foods.
The Church, even as it re-proposes the fundamental ethical principle that the goods of the earth have a universal destination, puts this into practice, following the example of Jesus, with multiple initiatives of material sharing.
I pray for the rural world, especially the small cultivators in the developing countries. I encourage and bless all who are committed to the task of seeing to it that no one lacks healthy and adequate alimentation. Whoever helps the poor helps Christ himself.
In his message to the French-speaking faithful, he said:
Let us pray to God, in these days that commemorate the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War, for peace in the world and for all those who work for justice and brotherhood among men.
To German-speaking pilgrim,s he repeated his remembrance of Kristallnacht, adding:
In memory of the victims, let us pray to the Lord for his assistance, so that we can work together in building a society in which men of different religions and races can live together in peace and justice.