Spain revisited at audience

The need to maintain a "fruitful dialogue between faith and reason, between religion and politics, between economics and ethics" and the need to affirm that "everything that is done to support marriage and family, to help those most in need”, “ contributes to the improvement of society”.

On Wednesday Pope Benedict XVI told an estimated eight thousand pilgrims in the Paul VI audience hall that “no effort is in vain when it contributes to the advancement of the human being and his inviolable dignity”.

The Pope’s reflections were inspired by his recent two day pastoral trip to Spain, Saturday and Sunday last, which took him to the northern city of Santiago de Compstela, a centuries old destination for Europe’s pilgrims, and beneath the soaring pillars of light of Gaudi’s masterpiece – Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia.

“I came as a pilgrim among pilgrims in this Holy Year of Compostela, to venerate the Apostle Saint James the Greater. The traditional practice of embracing the image of the Saint symbolizes our embrace of the Gospel which he preached and the mission which we receive in Baptism to bear daily witness to Christ and to strengthen society by our fidelity to the wisdom and truth of the Gospel”.

Indeed, from the tomb of the Apostle, the Holy Father declared that "faith is the reference point for the Europe of today " and that faith "will allow for the construction of a Europe which, true to its indispensable Christian roots, is able to respond fully to its vocation and mission in the world. "

From the Way of St James, to the heart of Catalonian Christianity, the Pope said “On Sunday, in Barcelona, I dedicated the Church of the Sagrada Familia, the masterpiece of the great architect Antoni Gaudí. In this magnificent edifice Gaudí wished to celebrate the eternal source of all beauty, made flesh in Jesus Christ, who calls all humanity to become, in the Church, a temple in which God dwells”.

In comments in Italian Pope Benedict said that Gaudi invested his entire self in this mission, undertaking an intense practice of fasting, prayer and poverty to spiritually prepare to give expression to God. Dedicating the basilica he added, "I also remembered those who suffer, especially in these times of serious economic difficulties. I kept in mind at the same time, young people, who have accompanied me throughout the visit to Santiago and Barcelona with their enthusiasm and joy, that they may discover the beauty, value and the commitment of marriage, in which a man and a woman form a family, who generously welcome life from conception until its natural end. Everything that is done to support marriage and family, to help people in need, all that increases the greatness of man and his inviolable dignity, contributes to the improvement of society. No effort is in vain in this area".

He concluded by describing this short but intense papal voyage, his 18^th outside Italy, as "unforgettable”, which allowed him to "experience the love that the people of Spain have for the successor of Peter" who became a "pilgrim among pilgrims”. “Let us pray for all families, that they may fulfil their unique role in society, and for all the people of Spain and Europe, that they may always find in their Christian roots the inspiration to pursue, along the pathways of our time, the historic mission of the Continent in today’s world”. Listen to the full report by Emer McCarthy: