Violence and hatred always a defeat

“I continue to follow the dramatic events that the dear people of Ivory Coast and Libya are experiencing in these days with great concern. I also hope that Cardinal Turkson, whom I sent as my envoy to Ivory Coast to express my solidarity, will soon be able to enter the country. I pray for the victims and am close to all those who are suffering. Violence and hatred are always a defeat! For this I offer a new and urgent appeal to all involved to start the work of peace and dialogue and to avoid further bloodshed”.

This was the appeal that rung out Wednesday morning across St Peter’s Square at the end of the general audience. For the third time in as many weeks Pope Benedict XVI urged the international community to return to the path of dialogue and ensure the security and safety of the civilian populations of both countries.

Earlier in his series of lessons on the great ‘Doctors of the Church’, the Pope turned his attention to a 19^th French woman saint whom the world would come to know as ‘the little flower’:

“Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Our catechesis today deals with Saint Theresa of Lisieux, the young Carmelite nun whose teaching of the “little way” of holiness has been so influential in our time. Born and raised in a devout French family, Theresa received permission to enter the Carmel of Lisieux at the tender age of fifteen. Her name in religion – Sister Theresa of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face – expresses the heart of her spirituality, centred on the contemplation of God’s love revealed in the mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption. In imitation of Christ, Theresa sought to be little in all things and to seek the salvation of the world. Taken ill in her twenty-third year, she endured great physical suffering in union with the crucified Lord; she also experienced a painful testing of faith which she offered for the salvation of those who deny God. By striving to embody God’s love in the smallest things of life, Theresa found her vocation to be “love in the heart of the Church”. May her example and prayers help us to follow “the little way of trust and love” in spiritual childhood, abandoning ourselves completely to the love of God and the good of souls”.

And finally the Holy Father greeted the pilgrims present in St Peter’s Square including those from English speaking countries: “I offer a warm greeting to the members of the Conference on Parkinson’s Disease sponsored by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. I also greet the group from the NATO Defense College, with prayerful good wishes for their important work in the service of peace. I also welcome the priests of the Institute for Continuing Theological Education of the North American College. To the choirs I express my gratitude for their praise of God in song. Upon all the English-speaking pilgrims present at today’s Audience, especially those from the Channel Islands, England, Scotland, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, South Korea and the United States, I cordially invoke the Lord’s blessings of joy and peace”.Listen to full report: