Pope visits Sulmona, prays “Angelus”

(July 5, 2010) Though we live in a time of "great comfort and possibility," we must keep our minds and hearts free, so as to find generosity to share with our neighbours, Pope Benedict urged on Sunday. The Pope made the invitation before praying the midday Angelus with the faithful in Sulmona, Italy. On Sunday the Holy Father made a day-long trip to central Italy’s Abruzzi region which was devastated by an earthquake in 2009. The visit to Sulmona was on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the birth of St. Pietro da Morrone, who later became pope under the name of Celestine V. Pope Celestine later resigned the papacy saying he was not up to the task. Pope Benedict recited the ‘Angelus’ at the end of a Mass in Sulmona’s Garibaldi Square, saying, “In Mary, Virgin of silence and listening, St. Peter del Morrone found the perfect model of obedience to the divine will, in a simple and humble life, committed to seeking out the essential, always able to thank the Lord, recognizing everything as a gift of his goodness." "We too, who live in a time of great comfort and possibility, are called to appreciate a sober way of life, to keep our minds and hearts more free to be able to share our goods with our brothers," he said. The Pontiff concluded with a prayer that the Church of today might "bear credible witness to the Gospel" thanks to Mary's help, she who "animated the first community of Jesus’ disciples with her maternal presence." Earlier during the homily at Mass, the Pope noted that Pietro da Morrone’s holiness “did not disappear from the public eye, and has never gone out of fashion”. In particular, he said, “Saint Pietro Celestine, even though he led a hermit’s life, did not ‘turn inward’ but was moved by a passion to bring the good news of the Gospel to his fellow men”.
The Pope’s one-day visit to Sulmona ended with a meeting with a group of young people in the city’s cathedral. The Pope warned that among the shadows that “obscure the horizon” of young people there are not only economic difficulties but also the threat of the “consumer culture” that creates “false values.” He explained that “the current consumerist culture” tends to “flatten man to the present, to make him lose the sense of the past, of history; but in this way it also deprives him of the capacity to understand himself, to perceive problems and to build tomorrow.” “So, dear young people, I would like to tell you: the Christian is one who has a good memory, who loves history and seeks to know it,” the Pope said.