October 02, 2013 - Pope Francis held his weekly general audience on Wednesday, where
he spoke about the Church as ‘holy’. The public meeting is an occasion for pilgrims
and tourists visiting Rome to be able see and hear the Pope, and also receive his
blessing. The general audience of Oct. 2 was held in the open, in Rome’s St. Peter’s
Square. It began with aides reading a passage from the Letter to the Ephesians in
several languages. Listen:
Basing
himself on the scripture passage, Pope Francis delivered his main discourse in Italian
- summaries of which were read out by aides in various languages, including in English.
But first, the aide greeted the Pope on behalf of the English-speaking pilgrims.
Listen:
Dear
Brothers and Sisters: In the Creed, we confess our faith that the Church is “holy”.
But how can we say that the Church is holy when she is all too evidently made up of
sinners? Saint Paul helps us to see things aright when he tells us that “Christ loved
the Church and gave himself up for her, to make her holy” (Eph 5:25-26). The Church
is inseparably one with Christ, and the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. It is
not ourselves, or our merits, which make the Church holy, but God himself, through
the infinite merits of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross. God calls all of us, as sinners,
to be redeemed, renewed and made holy in the communion of the Church. So the Church
constantly welcomes everyone, even the greatest sinners, to trust in God’s offer of
loving mercy, and to encounter Christ in the sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist.
Let us not be afraid to respond to Christ’s call, to trust in the working of the Holy
Spirit and to pray and strive for that holiness which brings true joy to our lives.
Pope
Francis then greeted the English-speaking groups in Italian. Listen: … I cordially
greet the members of the delegation from the International Centre for Interreligious
and Intercultural Dialogue in Vienna. I also welcome the Buddhist visitors from Japan,
including the delegations from the Tendai denomination and the Nakano Dharma Center
of Rissho Kosei-kai. Upon all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present
at today’s Audience, including those from Scotland, Benin, Australia, India, Japan,
Canada and the United States I invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace! (BLESSING)