Pope begins French visit to celebrate 150^th anniversary of Lourdes apparitions

(September 12, 2008) Pope Benedict XVI began a 4-day pastoral visit to France on Friday urging its citizens to help create a healthy dialogue between the state and religion for the welfare of individuals and of society at large. Meeting President Nicolas Sarkozy in central Paris, the German-born pontiff praised France both for the deep Christian roots of its culture and the healthy relationship between the state and religion in the heavily secular nation. Church bells rang out across Paris to greet the pope as he arrived at the Palace after his arrival from Rome. On his first visit to France and his 10th trip outside Italy since the beginning of his pontificate in April 2005, Pope Benedict said the principal reason for his visit is to celebrate the 150^th anniversary of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes. Hence he was among them to join the pilgrims of Lourdes in celebrating their faith and love.
Sarkozy broke with protocol to greet Pope Benedict personally at Paris’ Orly airport, following which a formal welcome ceremony was held in the Elysee Palace, the French president’s residence in the capital. The Pope called for a serene and positive dialogue between the Church and state, commending what Sarkozy had in an earlier encounter described as ‘positive laicity’. While maintaining a healthy separation between politics and religion, the Pope said, one needs to be more aware of the ‘irreplaceable role of religion for the formation of consciences and the contribution it brings, among other things, to the creation of a basic ethical consensus within society... Pope Benedict expressed concern for young people saying in their quest for direction in life based on true principles, the Church as well as the state must offer them a sound educational environment and encourage them to respect and assist others. The Pope also expressed concern over the widening gap between the rich and the poor and called for the protection of the rights and dignity of the weak. He called for the eradication of injustice and the protection of the environment. He called on France that holds the current presidency of the European Union, to bear witness to human rights and to their promotion for the good of individuals and society. When Europeans see and experience personally that the inalienable rights of the human person from conception to natural death, such as the rights to free education, to family life, to work, and naturally those concerned with religion…. are promoted and respected, they will fully understand the greatness of the European Union, and will become its active builders.
Pope Benedict’s Sept 12-15 French visit is divided between Paris and Lourdes in the south, one of Christendom’s most popular Marian shrines. There, he will mark the 150^th anniversary of a series of apparitions of the Virgin Mary to a young French shepherd girl, Bernadette Soubirous. The Virgin who described herself as the Immaculate Conception is said to have appeared to her 18 times between February 11 and July 16, 1858. For the Catholic Church, the visions of Bernadette confirmed the Church’s dogma of the Immaculate Conception - proclaimed four years earlier by Pope Pius IX - which declared that Mary was conceived in her mother’s womb without any stain of original sin.