Pope Benedict XVI tells Italian bishops to promote and defend a culture of life and
legality
(08 Feb. 07) : Addressing the Bishops from Italy’s Lombardy region, who are currently
in the course of their ‘ad limina visit’, Pope Benedict told them and the faithful
from Lombardy in St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday that the Church has an important
role she must continue to play in Lombard society. The role is to announce and bear
witness to the Gospel in all areas, especially where there exist the negative traits
of hedonistic consumer culture, of secularism and individualism, where old and new
forms of poverty appear with worrying signs of youth alienation and phenomena of violence
and criminality. The Pontiff told them to defend and promote the culture of human
life and legality and also gain an ever better understanding of the figure of Jesus,
so that our knowledge of him is not just second hand but comes through prayer, liturgy
and love for others. In conclusion, Pope Benedict encouraged the bishops to guide
the dynamic people of Lombardy, so that, guided by the Holy Spirit, they give evangelical
witness and become living signs of supernatural hope, relying in all situations on
never-failing divine assistance.