Pope's general audience on Nov. 10

(November 10, 2010) Every week on Wednesday, the Pope holds a public meeting, called the general audience, during which pilgrims and tourists who come to Rome have a chance of seeing and hearing him speak in several languages. Due to a large number of pilgrims, the general audience of Nov. 10 was held in two places. Inside St. Peter’s Basilica he first met pilgrims from Carpineto Romano, Italy, and the national pilgrimage group from the Czech Republic. After that, in the Vatican’s Paul VI audience hall he met the rest. This week, Pope Benedict reviewed his visit to Santiago de Compostela and Barcelona in Spain, last weekend.

Listen:
Dear Brothers and Sisters this past weekend I made an Apostolic Journey to Santiago de Compostela and Barcelona, two great cities of Spain and Europe. I came as a pilgrim among pilgrims in this Holy Year of Compostela, to venerate the Apostle Saint James the Greater. The traditional practice of embracing the image of the Saint symbolizes our embrace of the Gospel which he preached and the mission which we receive in Baptism to bear daily witness to Christ and to strengthen society by our fidelity to the wisdom and truth of the Gospel. On Sunday, in Barcelona, I dedicated the Church of the Sagrada Familia, the masterpiece of the great architect Antoni Gaudí. In this magnificent edifice Gaudí wished to celebrate the eternal source of all beauty, made flesh in Jesus Christ, who calls all humanity to become, in the Church, a temple in which God dwells. Let us pray for all families, that they may fulfil their unique role in society, and for all the people of Spain and Europe, that they may always find in their Christian roots the inspiration to pursue, along the pathways of our time, the historic mission of the Continent in today’s world.
I offer a warm welcome to all the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Audience, especially those from England, Denmark, Sweden, Japan and the United States of America. Upon you and your families I invoke Almighty God’s blessings of joy and peace.

Pope Benedict also spoke in several other languages before concluding Wednesday’s audience with his blessing.
Listen: