(Vatican Radio) Pope Benedict on Saturday received participants who have been attending
the XXIII International Mariological Congress here in Rome. For the last number of
days they have been exploring the theme " Mariology since the Second Vatican Council:
Reception, Assessment and Prospects”.
Giving a warm welcome to the participants
gathered at the Papal Summer residence at Castelgandolfo, Pope Benedict reminded them,
that Blessed John XXIII proclaimed that the Second Vatican Council would open on Oct.
11, the same day as when, in 431, the Council of Ephesus proclaimed Mary as the Mother
of God.
The Pope also drew the attention of those present to the fact that
on October 11th this year, what he called an “extraordinary event” will
occur, that being the opening of the Year of Faith and he went on to describe Mary
herself as an exemplary example of Faith.
September 8th marks the
feast of the Birth of Mary, a date which the Holy Father said has been presented as
a precious item in the extraordinary mosaic that is the divine plan of salvation of
mankind.
Looking back to his own participation as a young theologian at the
Second Vatican Council, Pope Benedict said he “was able to see the various ways of
dealing with issues about the shape and role of the Blessed Virgin Mary in salvation
history.”
The Holy Father said the Council offered a chance to enrich the Constitution
of the Church with a specific chapter on the Mother of God in which the figure of
Mary appears “in all her beauty and uniqueness tightly inserted in the fundamental
mysteries of the Christian faith.”
The Pope underlined that the Mother of God
must continue to be studied as a way of deepening ones faith.
We must look
on Mary, said Pope Benedict as a beacon of light and as a model of Christian maturity
from whom we can draw an enthusiasm and joy to live with ever greater commitment and
consistency our vocation as children of God, and brothers and sisters in Christ.”
Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s report