Pope’s pre-Christmas address to Roman Curia

(December 22, 2008) Pope Benedict XVI on Friday looked back at major ecclesial events of the year saying the Church makes her presence felt in the world as a spiritual force that indicates the road to life. He was speaking to the prelates, religious and lay staff of the Roman Curia, on the occasion of the traditional meeting of the end of the year, before Christmas. Among several events of the year that the Pope spoke of, he particularly pointed to the World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia, in July, and the Synod of Bishops in October, and showed an inevitable link between their themes, namely, the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. In these two events he said the church truly experienced the Pentecost. The World Youth Day, far from being a rock festival with the Pope as the star, was above all a spiritual experience and journey. This was evident from the WYD cross making its pilgrimage through countries, the Way of the Cross itself at the meet, and the friendship and change of life and behaviour that the meet engendered in its wake. The Synod also had inspiring inputs and participation from the Jewish community and other Churches. Speaking about the Holy Spirit as creator, Pope Benedict called for ethically responsible behaviour from man in order to respect and protect creation. The Church must proclaim not only salvation but must also defend creation, which he said is “not simply our property which we can exploit according to our interests and desires.” In this context, man who is part of creation also needs to be protected from self destruction. The Pope hit out at the so-called ‘gender’ ideology, and said marriage between a man and a woman is the sacrament of creation that the Creator Himself has instituted.