Register Summary
More than 40,000 pilgrims attended
Pope Benedict XVI’s general audience in St. Peter’s
Square on Sept. 20. He dedicated his audience to commenting on his recent
apostolic trip to Bavaria.
The Holy Father said that his trip
was not simply “a return to the past, but also a providential opportunity to
look to the future with hope.” The motto of his visit, “Those who believe are
never alone,” he said “was meant to be an invitation to reflect on the fact
that every baptized person belongs to the one Church of Christ,
within which we are never alone, but in constant communion with God and with
all our brothers and sisters.”
During his address, Pope Benedict
XVI recalled the highlights of his trip, which included visits to Munich, where he was ordained a bishop, to Altötting, one of Germany’s
leading Marian shrines, to Regensburg,
where he taught for many years at the university, and to Freising,
where he was ordained a priest.
Recalling his visit to Regensburg, where he gave a lecture on faith
and reason, Pope Benedict XVI once again expressed his regret for the
misunderstandings that were stirred up among Muslims after he quoted the 14th-century
Byzantine Emperor Manuel II. “Unfortunately, this quotation has lent itself to
misunderstanding. To the attentive reader of my text, however, it is clear that
I did not wish in any way for the negative words that this medieval emperor
spoke in this dialogue to be my own and that its controversial content does not
express my personal conviction. My intention was very different,” he said. “I
wished to explain that not religion and violence, but religion and reason, go
together,” he explained. “I hope that during other moments of my visit — when,
for example, I emphasized in Munich the importance of respecting what is sacred
for others — that my deep respect for the great religions emerged in a clear
way, especially for Muslims, who ‘adore the one God’ and with whom we are
committed to ‘preserving as well as promoting together for the benefit of all
mankind social justice and moral welfare, as well as peace and freedom.’”
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today, I would like to recall some
moments of the pastoral trip that the Lord allowed me to make last week to Bavaria. In sharing with
you the emotions and feelings I experienced as I returned to those places that
I love dearly, I feel the need, first of all, to thank God for having made
possible this second visit to Germany — and, for the first time, to Bavaria, my
native land. Also, I am sincerely grateful to all those who worked with
dedication and patience — bishops, priests, pastoral workers, public
authorities, organizers, security forces and volunteers — so that each one of
the events would proceed in the best way possible. As I said upon my arrival at
the airport in Munich on Saturday, Sept. 9, the
purpose of the trip — as I remembered all those who contributed to my formation
— was to reaffirm and confirm, as the successor of the Apostle Peter, the close
bonds that unite the See of Rome with the Church in Germany. Therefore, my trip was not
simply a “return” to the past, but also a providential opportunity to look to
the future with hope. “Those who believe are never alone.” The motto of the
visit was meant to be an invitation to reflect on the fact that every baptized
person belongs to the one Church
of Christ, within which
we are never alone but in constant communion with God and with all our brothers
and sisters.
Munich
My first stop was in Munich, which is known as
“the metropolis with a heart” (Weltstadt mit Herz). The Marienplatz, Mary’s Square, is located in its historical
center, dominated by the Mariensäule, Mary’s Column,
at the top of which there is a gilded bronze statue of Mary. I wanted to begin
my visit to Bavaria
by paying homage to the Patroness of Bavaria, who holds a very special
significance for me. There, in that square and before that image of Mary, I was
welcomed as archbishop some 30 years ago and I began my mission as a bishop
with a prayer to Mary. And there I returned at the end of my mandate, before
leaving for Rome.
This time, I wanted to place
myself once again at the foot of the Mariensäule in
order to implore the Mother of God to bless and intercede not only for the city
of Munich and for Bavaria, but for the whole Church and the
entire world. The following day, Sunday, I celebrated the Eucharist on the
esplanade of Munich’s Neue
Messe (New
Trade Fair
Center), among the faithful
who had gathered in great numbers from different areas. Guided by the Gospel
passage of the day, I reminded everyone that we suffer, especially today, from
a certain “hardness of hearing” God. As Christians who live in a secularized
world, we have a duty to proclaim and give witness to all people the message of
hope that faith offers us: in Jesus, who was crucified, God, our merciful
Father, calls us to be his children and to overcome every form of hatred and
violence in order to contribute to the ultimate triumph of love.
“Make Us Strong in the Faith” was
the theme of my meeting on Sunday afternoon with some children who were making
their first Communion and their young families, along with the catechists and
all the other pastoral workers who are working together for evangelization in
the Diocese of Munich. We celebrated vespers together in its historic
cathedral, known as “Our Lady’s Cathedral,” where the relics of St. Benno, the patron of the city, are kept and where I was
ordained a bishop in 1977. I reminded both the children and the adults alike
that God is not distant from us somewhere in the universe beyond our reach. On
the contrary, he drew near to us in Jesus in order to establish a relationship
of friendship with each one of us. Thanks to the ongoing commitment of its
members, every Christian community, especially the parish, is called to be a
large family, able to advance in unity on the path of true life.
Monday, Sept. 11, was devoted for
the most part to a visit to Altötting, in the Diocese
of Passau. This small city is known as the “heart of Bavaria” (Herz Bayerns). It is there that
the “Black Virgin” is kept, which is venerated in the Gnadenkapelle (the Chapel of Graces) and is the focus for
numerous pilgrimages from Germany
and the nations of Central Europe. The
Capuchin monastery of St. Anne is nearby, where St. Konrad
Birndorfer lived, who was canonized by my venerated
predecessor, Pope Pius XI, in the year 1934.
With the multitude of faithful
present for the holy Mass that was celebrated in the square in front of the
shrine, we reflected together on Mary’s role in the work of salvation in order
to learn from her the virtues of helpful kindness, humility and generous
acceptance of God’s will. Mary leads us to Jesus. This truth was made even more
visible at the end of the divine sacrifice, by the procession in which we went
with the statue of the Virgin Mary to the new Eucharistic Adoration Chapel (Anbetungskapelle) that was inaugurated for this occasion.
The day closed with solemn vespers to Mary in the Basilica of St. Anne of Altötting in the presence of the religious men and women
and seminarians of Bavaria,
along with members of the vocations office.
Three important meetings took
place the following day, Tuesday, in Regensburg,
a diocese established by St. Boniface in 739 with St. Wolfgang as its patron.
In the morning during holy Mass in Islinger Feld, we once again took up the theme of the pastoral
visit, “Those who believe are never alone,” and reflected on the content of the
symbol of faith. God, who is Father, wishes to gather together through Jesus
Christ all of mankind in one single family, the Church. For this reason, those
who believe are never alone; those who believe need not be afraid of ending up
in a dead end.
Later, in the afternoon, I went to
the cathedral of Regensburg, which is also known for its boys choir, the Domspatzen (Sparrows of the Cathedral), which takes pride
in its 1,000 years of activity and which was directed by my brother, Georg, for 30 years.
An ecumenical celebration of
vespers took place there, in which numerous representatives from different
churches and church communities in Bavaria
took part, along with members of the Ecumenical Commission of the German
Bishops’ Conference. It was a providential opportunity to pray together that
full unity among all Christ’s disciples will be hastened and to emphasize our
duty to proclaim our faith in Jesus Christ in a total and clear manner without
toning it down and, above all, by conducting ourselves with sincere love.
It was an especially beautiful
experience for me that day to give a lecture to a large audience of professors
and students at the University
of Regensburg, where I
taught as a professor for many years. With joy, I was able to have an encounter
once again with the university world, which was my spiritual home during a long
period of my life. As my topic, I chose the theme of the relationship between
faith and reason. In order to introduce the audience to the dramatic nature and
the timely importance of the subject, I quoted some words from a
Christian-Muslim dialogue of the 14th century, in which the Christian — the
Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologus — presented to
his Muslim interlocutor, in a way that we find incomprehensibly brusque, the
problem of the relationship between religion and violence. Unfortunately,
this quotation has lent itself to misunderstanding.
To the attentive reader of my
text, however, it is clear that I did not wish in any way for the negative
words that this medieval emperor spoke in this dialogue to be my own and that
its controversial content does not express my personal conviction. My intention
was very different. Based on what Manuel II said afterwards in a very positive
sense and with very beautiful words concerning the rationality that must guide
us in transmitting the faith, I wished to explain that not religion and
violence, but religion and reason, go together. The topic of my lecture —
responding to the mission of the university — was, then, the relationship
between faith and reason. I wished to call for a dialogue of the Christian
faith with the modern world and for a dialogue between all cultures and
religions.
I hope that during other moments
of my visit — when, for example, I emphasized in Munich the importance of respecting
what is sacred for others — that my deep respect for the great religions
emerged in a clear way, especially for Muslims, who “adore the one God” and
with whom we are committed to “preserving as well as promoting together for the
benefit of all mankind social justice and moral welfare, as well as peace and
freedom” (Nostra Aetate, No. 3). I trust, therefore,
that following the initial reactions, my words at the University of Regensburg
may constitute a stimulus and an encouragement towards a positive and also
self-critical dialogue both among religions and between modern reason and
Christian faith.
The following morning, Sept. 13,
in the Alte Kapelle (Old
Chapel) of Regensburg,
in which a miraculous image of Mary is kept that was painted, according to
local tradition, by Luke the Evangelist, I presided over a brief liturgy for
the blessing of the new organ. Drawing inspiration from the structure of this
musical instrument, which is made up of many pipes of different dimensions that
are all very well-harmonized among themselves, I reminded those present that
all the various ministries, gifts and charisms in the
Church community need to come together under the guidance of the Holy Spirit in
order to form a single harmony of praise to the Lord and of love for the
brethren.
My last stop, on Thursday, Sept.
14, was the city of Freising. I feel a special bond
with this city since I was ordained a priest in its cathedral, which is
dedicated to Mary Most Holy and St. Corbinian, who
evangelized Bavaria.
The last meeting in the program was held in the cathedral — a meeting with the
priests and permanent deacons. Reliving the excitement of my own priestly
ordination, I reminded those present of the need to collaborate with the Lord
to stir up new vocations to serve the “harvest,” which today is “plentiful,”
and I exhorted them to cultivate the interior life as a pastoral priority in
order not to lose contact with Christ, our source of joy amid the daily toil of
ministry.
During the farewell ceremony, when
once again I thanked all those who had cooperated in order to make my visit
possible, I again confirmed its main purpose: to put forth once again to my
fellow countrymen the eternal truths of the Gospel and to confirm believers as
they follow Christ, the Son of God who became man and who died and rose for us.
May Mary, the Mother of the Church, help us to open our hearts and minds to the
one who is “the Way, the Truth and the Life” (John 14:16). I have prayed for
this and it is for this that I invite you all, dear brothers and sisters, to
continue praying. I thank you for the love with which you support me in my
daily pastoral ministry. Thank you all.
(Register translation)
