At Wednesday's general audience, Pope appeals for peace in Ivory Coast
(March 30, 2011) 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. The general audience of March
30th was held in the open, in St. Peter’s Square. A scripture passage was read in
several languages. An aide greeted the Pope on behalf of the English-speaking pilgrims,
and presented the various groups to him. Pope Benedict then delivered a discourse
in English.
Listen: Dear Brothers and Sisters, Our catechesis today deals with Saint
Alphonsus Liguori, an outstanding eighteenth-century preacher, scholar and Doctor
of the Church. Alphonsus left a brilliant career as a lawyer to become a priest,
and greatly contributed to the renewal of the Church in his native Naples. He began
as a missionary among the urban poor, gathering small groups for prayer and instruction
in the faith. Broadening his pastoral outreach, he founded the Congregation of the
Most Holy Redeemer – the Redemptorists – as a group of itinerant missionaries. Alphonsus’
pastoral zeal also found expression in his moral teaching, which emphasized divine
mercy and the relationship between God’s law and our deepest human needs and aspirations.
His many spiritual writings, marked by a deep Christological and Marian piety, stressed
the practice of prayer, especially before the Blessed Sacrament. May this great Doctor
of the Church, venerated also as the patron of moral theologians, help us to respond
ever more fully to God’s call to grow in holiness, and inspire in priests, religious
and laity a firm commitment to the new evangelization. I greet all the English-speaking
pilgrims present at today’s Audience, especially those from England, Norway, Japan,
the Philippines and the United States. To the choirs I express my gratitude for their
praise of God in song. Upon all of you I cordially invoke the Lord’s blessings of
joy and peace.
Earlier, speaking in French, Pope Benedict made a heartfelt
appeal for peace in the West African nation of Ivory Coast, where people are “traumatized
by painful internal strife and serious social and political tensions.” A violent
dispute over last November's presidential election that U.N.-certified results showed
Alasan Uatara (Alassane Ouattara) won, but which incumbent Loran Gbagbo (Laurent
Gbagbo) refuses to concede, has reignited the civil war it was meant to end. The
Holy Father said he was sending Ghanian Cardinal Peter Kodwo Turkson, President of
the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace to Ivory Coast to express his
and the universal Church’s solidarity with the suffering people and to promote reconciliation
and peace. The Pope called for an urgent restoration of respect and peaceful coexistence
through constructive dialogue for the common good. Wednesday’s general audience
concluded with the Pope’s blessing. Listen: