(August 06, 2008):-Pope Benedict XVI urged China on Tuesday to open up to Christianity
as he visited the birthplace of a 19th century saint, who died as a missionary there.
“It is important for this great country to open itself to the Gospel” the Pope said,
speaking about China for the second time while on vacation in the Italian Alps. Earlier
on Sunday during his Angelus prayer, Pope Benedict had sent greetings to the Chinese
people before the Beijing Olympics, and said he hoped the Games would offer an example
of coexistence among people from different countries. On Tuesday, the pope flew by
helicopter to the remote hamlet of Oies, nestled in the Dolomite Alps in northeastern
Italy, from where 130 years ago, Joseph Frei-na-de-metz took off for China, where
he worked as a missionary until his death in 1908. The Pope visited the old farmhouse
with its typical wooden balconies, where Frei-na-de-metz grew up as one of 13 children.
The home features a small museum with pictures from the missionary's life in China,
including portraits of the saint depicting him with the pointed beard and round cap
typical of Chinese culture in his time. Frei-na-de-metz was proclaimed a saint by
late Pope John Paul II in 2003. Several thousand people walked through fields and
woods to reach the village and greet Pope Benedict, who is spending a two-week vacation
at a seminary in the nearby town of Bressanone. Addressing them in front of the house,
the Pontiff thanked them for their warm welcome. He noted the increasing importance
of China in the world and said that St. Frei-na-de-metz was a saint for today and
a sign for the future.