(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: