Pope’s general audience of Oct. 31. Solidarity for victims of Hurricane Sandy

October 31, 2012 - Every week on Wednesday, the Pope holds a public meeting, called the general audience, where pilgrims and tourists who come to Rome have a chance of seeing and hearing him speak in several languages and receive his blessing. The general audience of the last day of October was under an overcast sky in St. Peter’s Square. It began with aides reading a passage from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians, in several languages. An aide greeted the Pope on behalf of the English speaking pilgrims. Pope Benedict then spoke in English.

Listen:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In our series of catecheses for the Year of Faith, we have seen that faith is something intensely personal: a gift of God which transforms and enriches our life. At the same time, the gift of faith is given in and through the community of the Church. In Baptism I receive and appropriate the faith of the Church; my personal faith finds expression in the recitation of the Creed and in the communal celebration of the sacraments. The new life I live in Christ through the gift of his Spirit is received and nourished within the Church’s communion. In this sense, the Church is our Mother. As Saint Cyprian says, “No one can have God as Father who does not have the Church as Mother”. Dwelling in the Church’s living Tradition, may we mature in the faith we have received and, by putting it into practice, become beacons of Christ’s light and peace in our world.
Conscious of the devastation caused by the hurricane which recently struck the East Coast of the United States of America, I offer my prayers for the victims and express my solidarity with all those engaged in the work of rebuilding. I now greet all the English-speaking pilgrims present at today’s Audience, including those from England, Ireland, Sweden, Malaysia, Canada and the United States. My greetings go in particular to the group of elders from Nigeria visiting Rome on pilgrimage, and to the members of the Vox Clara Committee. Upon all of you I cordially invoke God’s abundant blessings.