Pope Speaks to Journalists en Route to Malta

(17 Apr 10 - RV) Below we publish a transcript of Pope Benedict XVI's words to journalists accompanying him on route to Malta:
 
Fr. Federico Lombardi 

Dear friends, His Holiness is among us once again for the first of those five trips that are already planned for this year. We are very pleased to have him with us at the beginning of this trip so that we may also give him our best wishes for the two anniversaries, his birthday yesterday and the anniversary of the coming Monday. The Holy Father has received the questions that some of you submitted and which to some extent express the expectations that we all have at the beginning of this trip and therefore he will give some reflections, make some considerations on the basis of our questions. We will not follow the usual formula of question and answer, we will let the Holy Father, for his part, give us a brief speech. Thank you Your Holiness and bon voyage

Pope Benedict XVI


Dear friends, good evening! Let us hope we have a good journey, without this dark cloud that is hanging over part of Europe.

So why this trip to Malta? The reasons are manifold.


The first is St. Paul. The Pauline Year of the universal Church is over, but Malta is celebrating 1950 years since the shipwreck and this is my opportunity to once again bring to light the great figure of the Apostle to the Gentiles, with his important message even [for] today. I think we can summarize the essence of his journey with the words with which he himself summarised it at the end of the letter to the Galatians: Faith working through love.

These are the important things today: faith, the relationship with God, which then turns into love. I also think the memory of the shipwreck says something to us. For Malta, the opportunity to have the faith was born with the shipwreck. We can also think about how the shipwrecks of life can be part of God’s project for us, and be useful for a new beginning in our life.


The second reason: I am glad to live in the midst of lively church, which the Church in Malta is. Even today it is fruitful in vocations, full of faith in the midst of our time, responding to the challenges of our time. I know that Malta loves Christ and loves his Church which is his body and knows that, even if this body is wounded by our sins, God loves this church and its gospel is the true force that purifies and heals.


Third point: Malta is the point where thewaves of refugees arrive from Africa and knock at Europe’s door. This is a great problem of our time, and, of course, can not be resolved by the island of Malta. We must all respond to this challenge, work so that everyone can, live a dignified life in their homeland and on the other hand do everything possible so that these refugees find here, where they arrive, that they find a decent living space. A response to a great challenge of our time: Malta reminds us of these problems and also reminds us that their faith is the force that gives charity, and thus also the imagination to respond well to these challenges. Thank you