Pope Calls Priests to Bring God’s Mercy to the World
(30 Jun 10 – RV) On Wednesday Pope Benedict XVI dedicated his audience to the figure
of an nineteenth century Italian Priest devoted to bringing God’s mercy to those on
the margins of the Church and society, St Joseph Cafasso.
“In these
days we celebrate the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the death of a great
model of priestly holiness and apostolic zeal, Saint Joseph Cafasso, a priest of Turin,
Italy, in the nineteenth century”.
Joseph Cafasso was born in 1811 in the same
Northern Italian town as St. John Bosco. At the age of 22 he was ordained a priest
and went to work at the boarding school of St Francis of Assisi in Turin. There he
remained for his entire life, becoming a spiritual father to many priests who devoted
themselves to improving the spiritual and social conditions of the people of their
time, priests such as St John Bosco.
The Holy father said :“Saint Joseph devoted
his entire ministry to the formation of priests, spiritual direction and service to
the poor, especially prisoners condemned to death”.
In Italian, the Pope added
“St Joseph paid attention to the humble and in particular to prisoners who in nineteenth
century Turin lived in inhumane and dehumanizing situations”. “He was a good shepherd,
understanding and compassionate." "The inmates were captivated, his presence consoled
them, touching hardened hearts”. "The condemned to death were subject to a special
human and spiritual treatment." He accompanied 57 of them "with deep love and respect
until the end of their earthly existence".
In greetings at the end of his audience,
Pope Benedict welcomed the 12 Archbishops from English speaking countries who received
the Pallium from him on Tuesday. Calling each man by name, he also greeted the large
groups of faithful who accompanied their pastors to Rome, some from as far afield
as Lesotho and Zimbabwe in Africa, from Korea and the Philippines, from England and
the USA.
To them, their families and their churches at home he said: “Dear
Brothers, I ask the Lord to strengthen all of you in your witness to the apostolic
faith and in generous service to the flocks entrusted to your care”.
And
taking his leave of the 25 thousand people who packed St Peter’s square despite the
midday heat he had a special word of thanks to a group of pilgrims from Schola Cantorum
of Saint Peter’s Cathedral, Belfast, “for their praise of God in song”.