Pope Reflects on France Visit in General Audience

(17 Sept 08 - RV) Taking a break from his lessons on the life and legacy of St Paul, Pope Benedict XVI dedicated this week’s general audience to France.

The Holy Father returned to the Vatican Monday from his first Apostolic Voyage to France, a journey that included a whirlwind 24 hours in Paris and two days of pilgrimage to the Marian Shrine of Lourdes:

 “Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Our encounter today gives me the opportunity to retrace the steps of my recent Pastoral Visit to France. After a warm welcome in Paris, I met with men and women from the world of culture, with whom I reflected on the monastic ideal of seeking God—quaerere Deum—as the bedrock of European culture. I wished to emphasize that meditation on the Scriptures opens our minds and hearts to the Logos, God’s Creative Reason in the flesh. In the magnificent Cathedral of Notre-Dame, I gathered with bishops, priests, religious and seminarians, sharing with them the treasures of the Holy Spirit and the Cross. My brief stop at the Institut de France was followed by the joyful Eucharistic celebration on the Esplanade des Invalides”.

 
From Paris the Pope then made his way south to Lourdes on Saturday to join thousands of pilgrims in this Jubilee year commemorating the apparitions of Our Lady to Saint Bernadette:

 
“The Holy Mass near the Grotto of Massabielle providentially coincided with the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, the perennial sign of the “mystery of death and of glory”. The Cross demonstrates that God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son. It teaches us that there is no genuine love without suffering, and no gift of life without pain. Lourdes is thus a school of faith and hope because it is a school of charity and service. I am deeply grateful to God and to all who made this trip a blessed, memorable success. Thank you!” 
At the end of his Audience Pope Benedict also greeted pilgrims in French, German, Polish and of course English:
 “I happily greet the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Audience, including pilgrims from England, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, Australia, Burma, Japan, and the United States of America. God bless you all!”