BENEDICT PAYS TRIBUTE TO JOHN PAUL I
The film, produced by the Italian public television channel RAI, was viewed at the headquarters of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. Present for the occasion were the president of RAI, senator Claudio Petruccioli; the director, Giorgio Capitani; and Neri Marcore, the actor who plays the role of Albino Luciani, who became Pope John Paul I.
Mr. President of RAI
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We have just watched together this beautiful film, which covers the most significant stages of the life of my venerated predecessor, the Servant of God John Paul I. I feel the urgent necessity to express my sincere gratitude first of all to you, Mr. President, and then to the Administrative Council and director general of RAI for having offered me and my collaborators this pleasing opportunity.
I greet those responsible for "RAI Fiction" and those of the Leone Cinematografica society, who have conceived and produced this interesting film. I express special greetings and gratitude to the director, Giorgio Capitani, to the different actors, especially Neri Marcore, who has interpreted Albino Luciani.
I also greet all of you, who accepted the invitation to participate in this meeting, in which we have been able to relive evocative moments of the life of the Church in the past century.
Above all we have been able to recall the gentle figure full of meekness of a Pontiff strong in faith, firm in principles, but always ready to welcome and smile.
Faithful to tradition and open to renewal, the Servant of God Albino Luciani, as priest, bishop and Pope carried out a tireless pastoral activity, constantly stimulating the clergy and laity to pursue, in the different areas of the apostolate, the one and only ideal of holiness.
A teacher of truth and passionate catechist, he reminded all believers, with the fascinating simplicity that characterized him, of the commitment and joy of evangelization, underlining the beauty of Christian love, the only force able to defeat violence and to build a more fraternal humanity.
Finally, I gladly recall the devotion he felt for the Virgin. When he was patriarch of Venice he wrote: "It is impossible to conceive our life, the life of the Church, without the rosary, without the Marian feasts, without the Marian shrines and without the Virgin's images."
It is beautiful to accept your invitation and to find, as he did, in the fact of placing himself humbly in Mary's hands, the secret of daily serenity and concrete commitment to peace in the world.
Once again, thank you, dear friends, for your presence. With affection, I bless you all and your dear ones.
[Translation by ZENIT]
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