Pope on Pentecost: martyrs intercede for world peace!

Pope Benedict XVI on Pentecost Sunday entrusted the cause of peace in the world to the intercession of those who gave their lives for Christ in concentration camps.

The Holy Father was speaking to the faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square this Sunday morning, the feast of Pentecost, after the recitation of the Regina Caeli from the window of his study. The Pope especially recalled the witness borne by the young priest and martyr, Alois Andritzki, who was killed by the Nazis in 1943 in the Dachau concentration camp, and who is to be declared Blessed on Monday in Dresden, Germany.

“May the Holy Spirit inspire courageous resolutions for peace,” prayed Pope Benedict, “and support the work to continue, so that dialogue may prevail over arms and respect for human dignity over partisan interests.”

The Holy Father went on to pray that the Holy Spirit might, “heal hearts warped by selfishness and help the human family to rediscover its fundamental unity.”

On this Pentecost Sunday we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church. Let us pray that we may be confirmed in the grace of our Baptism and share ever more actively in the Church’s mission of proclaiming the Good News of our salvation in Jesus Christ.

The unity and universality of the Church were themes of the Holy Father’s homily at Pentecost Sunday Mass earlier in the morning, during which he said, “The Church is one, Catholic and Apostolic. This is its true nature and must be recognised as such.”

“[The Church] is holy,” he said, “not because of the capabilities of [the Church's] members, but because God Himself, with His Spirit, creates and sanctifies [the Church], always.”

The Pope particularly emphasized the work of, “[the] Spirit that created all things,” saying that this Spirit, “and the Holy Spirit Christ brought from the Father to the community of disciples, are one and the same.”

“Creation and redemption go together,” said Pope Benedict, “and they constitute, deep down, a single mystery of love and salvation.”

Listen to Chris Altieri's report: