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FRANCE CALLED A HOPE FOR THE CHURCH
22-09-2008
Vatican Aide Evaluates Lourdes Trip
VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 21, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The eldest daughter of the Church is a source of hope, says a Vatican spokesman, who affirmed that particularly the youth of France give the Church reason to look forward to the future.
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, spoke of France and Benedict XVI's trip there last week on the most recent edition of Vatican Television's "Octava Dies."
"The Pope's trip to France was certainly blessed by largely positive results, as the majority of observers have recognized," he said. "The visit to Lourdes was expected to unfold in a serene atmosphere of intense spirituality but it was not necessarily foreseen that the Paris visit would be accompanied by such respectful attention from French society and that the local Church would succeed in demonstrating such vitality and significant participation. But this is what happened. This is no reason for triumphalism but it is a reason for confidence and hope."
"With his typical lucidity and coherence," Father Lombardi continued, "the Pope proposed his vision of the relationship between secularity and faith: Authentic secularity does not prescind from the spiritual dimension, but recognizes that this is the guarantee of our freedom and the autonomy of terrestrial realities."
The spokesman recalled how the Holy Father said that seeking God and being on the journey to God, "remains today, like yesterday, the master and fundamental way of every true culture."
"The fact that these claims can be made today," Father Lombardi said, "in places that are highly representative of European politics and culture, and that they are received with attention and appreciation rather than prejudicial opposition, encourages one to think that even in the changed historical situation, the Christian faith and the Catholic Church are called to make their most precious contribution -- we even say necessary -- to the building of the civilization of the new millennium."
"The Church in France -- and especially the young people who welcomed him with such enthusiasm -- is preparing this civilization," the Jesuit concluded. "It is also an encouragement for many other countries."
