Pope Speaks about U.S. Visit During Audience

(30 Apr 08 - RV) The Pope’s engagements begun early on Wednesday with the blessing of a new statue of Saint John Leonardi founder of the order of the Clerks Regular of the Mother of God of Lucca who was proclaimed “patron of pharmacists” in 2006 by Pope Benedict himself. The blessing was a prelude to 400^th anniversary of his death in 1609.
Following the blessing the Holy Father arrived into St Peter’s Square for the Wednesday audience in the familiar white pope mobile waving to the cheering crowds who had gathered to see him.

It was the Pope’s first general audience since returning from a recent Apostolic Journey to the United States and he took the opportunity to speak about the visit, which was inspired by the theme “Christ our Hope”.

He explained what the purpose of the visit was and thanked all those who had made it a success.

 I am most grateful to all who helped in any way to make the Journey a success. My visit was meant to encourage the Catholic community in America, especially our young people, to bear consistent witness to the faith, and to carry on the Church’s mission, especially with regard to education and concern for the poor. American society traditionally values religious freedom and the need for faith to play its part in building a sound civic life.

The Pope then went on to discussed the various phases of his journey from the importance of his address to the United Nations in New York to his moving visit to Ground Zero.


In my meetings with President Bush, and with Christian leaders and representatives of other religions, I reaffirmed the Church’s commitment to cooperation in the service of understanding, peace and spiritual values. My address to the United Nations stressed the importance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which grounds respect for human dignity in a universally valid ethical order.
In a particular way, my visit to Ground Zero, charged with sober silence and prayer, was a moving testimony to the hope which is stronger than evil and death. I ask all of you to join me in praying that this Visit will bear abundant spiritual fruit for the growth of the faith in America and for the unity and peace of the whole human family.

In Italian the Holy Father also spoke of the American Churches commitment to “healing the wound’s suffered by the victims of clerical sexual abuse and noted the significance of his meeting with abuse victims and his meeting in the Synagogue in New York with Israeli representatives.

Concluding his audience the Holy Father greeted all the English speaking pilgrims from countries including Ireland, England and South Africa, he also welcomed the participants in the third Christian-Buddhist Symposium, who have meeting in Castel Gandolfo over the past few days.

Following the audience the Pope Benedict was on the move again to the nearby Paul the VI hall where he received participants of a meeting promoted by the Pontifical Council for Interfaith Dialogue and the Islamic Cultures and Relations Organisation of Tehran in Iran. The 3 day event which concluded on Wednesday “was entitled “belief and reason in Christianity and in Islam”, one of the central themes in dialogue between the Holy See and Islamic institutions in countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.