Pope Benedict: Australian pilgrims at home in Rome
This Wednesday Pope Benedict XVI blessed and officially inaugurated the first ever
Australian pilgrims centre in Rome, ‘Domus Australia’. A stone’s throw from Rome’s
central train station, the centre complete with chapel, hostel and conference hall
saw a disused Marist house converted into a state of the art pilgrim’s home.
The
Pope travelled south of the Tiber shortly before sundown on Wednesday and was greeted
at the door of the Domus Australia by the nation’s leading prelate, Sydney Archbishop
Cardinal George Pell and among others, the Australian Ambassador to the Holy See Tim
Fischer.
“Many generations of pilgrims have made their way to Rome from all
over the Christian world” Pope Benedict said in his greeting. “In so doing, they strengthen
the roots of their faith; and roots, as we know, are the source of life-giving sustenance.
In that sense, pilgrims to Rome should always feel at home here, and the Domus Australia
will play an important part in creating a home for Australian pilgrims in the city
of the Apostles”.
Yet, he said pilgrim roots are only a part of the story
and quoting his compatriot Goethe the Pope said there are two things that children
should receive from their parents: roots and wings. From our holy Mother, the Church,
we too receive both roots and wings: the faith of the Apostles, handed down from generation
to generation, and the grace of the Holy Spirit, conveyed above all through the sacraments
of the Church.
Pilgrims to this city return to their homelands renewed and
strengthened in their faith, and borne aloft by the Holy Spirit in the journey onward
and upward to their heavenly home”.
The Pope concluded: “My prayer today
is that the pilgrims who pass through this house will indeed return to their homes
with firmer faith, more joyful hope and more ardent love for the Lord, ready to commit
themselves with fresh zeal to the task of bearing witness to Christ in the world in
which they live and work. And I pray too that their visit to the See of Peter will
deepen their love for the universal Church and unite them more closely with Peter’s
Successor, charged with feeding and gathering into one the Lord’s flock from every
corner of the world”.
Below the full text of Pope Benedict XVI’s greetings
at Domus Australia
Dear Brother Bishops, Your Excellencies, Distinguished
Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am very pleased to be with you for these celebrations
to mark the opening of the Domus Australia, the Australian Pilgrimage Centre in Rome.
On this occasion, I recall with particular gratitude the warmth of the hospitality
that was extended to me when I visited your country for World Youth Day in 2008, and
now I have the opportunity to reciprocate by welcoming all of you to Rome. I
thank Cardinal Pell for inviting me to join you this evening, and for his kind words.
I also thank Saint Mary’s Cathedral Choir for their praise of God in song. In addition
to greeting my brother Bishops, here for their Ad Limina visit, I would like to greet
His Excellency Timothy Fischer, Australian Ambassador to the Holy See, and the other
Ambassadors present. I am pleased to salute the Rector of the Domus, Father Anthony
Denton, and Mr Gabriel Griffa and his staff. I am also happy to greet all the people
of Australia and to acknowledge the support and assistance of so many of them for
this project which, along with your new Embassy, has brought a little corner of Australia
to the ancient city of Rome. May the Domus now be blessed by the passage of many
pilgrims! Almost exactly one year ago, the first Australian saint, Mary MacKillop,
was raised to the altars, and I join all of you in giving thanks to God for the many
blessings he has already poured out upon the Church in your land through her example.
I pray that Saint Mary will continue to inspire many Australians to follow in her
footsteps by living lives of holiness, in the service of God and neighbour. The
Lord sent his Apostles out into the whole world, to proclaim the Gospel to all creation
(cf. Mk 16:15). This evening’s event speaks eloquently of the fruits of the Church’s
missionary endeavours, by which the Gospel has spread to the very furthest regions
of the world, has taken root there and has given birth to a living and thriving Christian
community. Like all Christian communities, the Church in Australia is conscious of
being on a journey whose ultimate destination lies beyond this world: as Saint Paul
expressed it, “our commonwealth is in heaven” (Phil 3:20). Our earthly lives are
spent journeying towards that ultimate goal, where “no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor
2:9). Here on earth, the Church’s long tradition of pilgrimage to holy places serves
to remind us that we are heavenward bound, it refocuses our minds on the call to holiness,
it draws us ever closer to the Lord and strengthens us with spiritual food for the
journey. Many generations of pilgrims have made their way to Rome from all over
the Christian world, in order to venerate the tombs of the holy Apostles Peter and
Paul, and thereby to deepen their communion in the one Church of Christ, founded on
the Apostles. In so doing, they strengthen the roots of their faith; and roots, as
we know, are the source of life-giving sustenance. In that sense, pilgrims to Rome
should always feel at home here, and the Domus Australia will play an important part
in creating a home for Australian pilgrims in the city of the Apostles. Yet roots
are only a part of the story. According to a saying attributed to a great poet from
my own country, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, there are two things that children should
receive from their parents: roots and wings. From our holy Mother, the Church, we
too receive both roots and wings: the faith of the Apostles, handed down from generation
to generation, and the grace of the Holy Spirit, conveyed above all through the sacraments
of the Church. Pilgrims to this city return to their homelands renewed and strengthened
in their faith, and borne aloft by the Holy Spirit in the journey onward and upward
to their heavenly home. My prayer today is that the pilgrims who pass through this
house will indeed return to their homes with firmer faith, more joyful hope and more
ardent love for the Lord, ready to commit themselves with fresh zeal to the task of
bearing witness to Christ in the world in which they live and work. And I pray too
that their visit to the See of Peter will deepen their love for the universal Church
and unite them more closely with Peter’s Successor, charged with feeding and gathering
into one the Lord’s flock from every corner of the world. Commending all of them,
and all of you, to the intercession of Our Lady, Help of Christians and Saint Mary
MacKillop, I gladly impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of the joys that await
us in our eternal home.