Pope Benedict XVI and members of the Roman Curia spend 4th full day of Spiritual Exercises
(02 March 2007) : In a weeklong Spiritual Exercises being attended by Pope Benedict
XVI and members of the Roman Curia, this year’s retreat preacher Cardinal Giacomo
Biffi, retired archbishop of Bologna, said on the 4th day Thursday that
the holiness of the Church is eternal despite the weaknesses and sins of some of its
faithful. He further underlined the necessity of a transcendent ecclesiology guided
by the idea of eternal happiness and the elevation of the soul in Christian contemplation.
"One of the inalienable goals of the pastoral commitment is that of helping the people
of God -- the little ones, as we should all be -- the joy and pride of being part
of the Church," said Cardinal Biffi. This is one of the urgent necessities of
this moment, as it was at the beginning of Christianity. The preacher added that the
members of the Church walk through history "shining with innumerable heroic testimonies,
with their clear and valiant teachings, with their impressive examples of charity
and with their exceptional manifestations of beauty. In the design of divine wisdom
and in his salvific plan, God knows the mystery of the historical reality of human
guilt. The Cardinal added that the Church remembers the redemption of "Christ, beginning
and center of the designs of the Father, who carries in his crucified and resurrected
flesh the imprints of a tough fight" between good and evil. The retreat ends this
Saturday. The Holy Father suspended his usual meetings, including the general audience,
in these days.