October 09, 2013 - Pope Francis dedicated his general audience this week to the theme
of the universality of the Catholic Church. The weekly public meeting on Wednesdays
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. 9 was held in
the open, under a grey sky in Rome’s St. Peter’s Square. It began with aides reading
a passage from the Gospel of St. John 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 profess that the Church is “catholic”; in other
words, she is universal. We can understand this catholicity in three ways. First,
the Church is catholic because she proclaims the apostolic faith in its entirety;
she is the place where we meet Christ in his sacraments and receive the spiritual
gifts needed to grow in holiness together with our brothers and sisters. The Church
is also catholic because her communion embraces the whole human race, and she is sent
to bring to the entire world the joy of salvation and the truth of the Gospel. Finally,
the Church is catholic because she reconciles the wonderful diversity of God’s gifts
to build up his People in unity and harmony. Let us ask the Lord to make us more
catholic – to enable us, like a great family, to grow together in faith and love,
to draw others to Jesus in the communion of the Church, and to welcome the gifts and
contributions of everyone, in order to create a joyful symphony of praise to God for
his goodness, his grace, and his redemptive love.
Pope Francis then greeted
the English-speaking pilgrims in Italian. Listen: …
I cordially greet all the English-speaking pilgrims present at today’s Audience, including
those from England, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Ghana, Nigeria, Australia,
Indonesia, the Philippines, Canada and the United States. My particular greeting
goes to the new students of the Pontifical Beda College. Upon all of you, and your
families, I invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace! (BLESSING) (Source:
Vatican)