Pope's Sunday 'Angelus' on hope, AIDS sufferers, Crucifix

(November 30, 2009) The world today needs hope, whose foundation is Christ who offers mankind the stability of God. Pope Benedict XVI hit home this point on Sunday before reciting his traditional midday ‘Angelus’ prayer with a large crowd in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. Hope is needed not only by developing peoples but also by those economically developed, he said, adding, "we increasingly see that we are in the same boat and that we must all be saved together.” "Above all,” he said, “seeing so many false securities crumble, we realize that we need a trustworthy hope, and this is found only in Christ, who, as the Letter to the Hebrews says, 'is the same yesterday, today and always.'" The Pontiff explained that Christ "came in the past, he comes in the present and will come in the future. He embraces all the dimensions of time, because he died and rose, he is 'the Living One' and, sharing our human precariousness, remains forever and offers us God's very stability."
After praying the ‘Angelus, the Holy Father appealed for prayers and concrete action to comfort all those suffering from AIDS. Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s World AIDS Day, he said, "My thoughts and my prayers go to all persons affected by this sickness, in particular children, to the poorest and to those who are rejected." "The Church does not cease to combat AIDS, through her institutions and the personnel dedicated to it," the Holy Father noted. He exhorted “everyone to make their own contribution with prayer and care, so that those who are affected by the HIV virus will feel the presence of the Lord who gives support and hope.” He expressed hope that “by multiplying and coordinating efforts, this sickness will be halted and eradicated."
During his Sunday ‘Angelus’, Pope Benedict also praised demonstrators who are protesting a European court ruling that said crucifixes in public schools violate religious and educational freedoms. Several hundred people marched to St. Peter's Square on Sunday carrying crucifixes and banners reading “Leave us our crucifixes” and “Crucifixes are fine in classrooms.” Italy has objected to the EU ruling. Pope Benedict praised the demonstrators for having shown their “profound love for the crucifix, recognizing its religious, historic and cultural value.”
Listen to Pope Benedict's greeting to English-speaking pilgrims at Sunday’s ‘Angelus’:
I welcome all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present for the Angelus. On this First Sunday of Advent let us join with Mary in prayerful trust, watchful for the presence of Jesus in our world, mindful of our need to grow in compassion and mercy, and ready to embrace God’s will as a sign of hope. Upon you and your families I invoke God’s abundant blessings of joy and peace.