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Pope Benedict XVI's Apostolic Visit to Portugal

Benedict in Portugal: Dialogue with the world and MissionFriday May 14 2010
A priest uses his mobile phone to take pictures of Pope Benedict XVI as he arrives to celebrate a mass in Porto Friday, May 14 2010, closing his four-day visit to Portugal. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
The Pope’s trip Portugal exceeded expectations, the Vatican spokesman said, after the Papal visit had come to a close.
Fr Federico Lombardi said that the four day visit had been a truly joyful experience for the Pope. Record numbers of people came out to see Benedict XVI during his time in Portugal—with over half a million people attending his Mass at Fatima on Thursday.
The Holy Father’s closing words at the airport this evening echoed the themes of his visit, on one hand openness to dialogue with culture and society, while on the other presenting the Church as the fundaments upon which society is built.
Benedict XVI called on the people of Portugal—Catholic or not—to live in “increasing harmony with one another “ in order to address the challenges of the future “with shared responsibility".
He said “May this glorious nation continue to manifest greatness of spirit, a profound sense of God and an openness to solidarity, governed by principles and values imbued with Christian humanism. In Fatima I prayed for the whole world, asking that the future may see an increase in fraternity and solidarity, greater mutual respect and renewed trust and confidence in God, our heavenly Father.”
Earlier today, Pope Benedict addressed around 150,000 people at Oporto in Portugal’s second largest city, calling Catholics to be missionaries through their witness of Christ but also to be ready to dialogue with different cultures and religions.
He said: “We impose nothing, yet we propose ceaselessly, as Peter recommends in one of his Letters: ‘In your hearts, reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defence to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you’. And everyone, in the end, asks this of us, even those who seem not to. From personal and communal experience, we know well that it is Jesus whom everyone awaits..”
The anthropological, cultural, social and religious framework of humanity has changed in recent years, the Pope said. In this new context the Church faces new challenges, he said, and must be “ready to dialogue with different cultures and religions, in the search for ways of building, along with all people of good will, the peaceful coexistence of peoples”.
Benedict XVI said the field of mission had changed. It is no longer limited to geographical reality or to non-Christians, but to whole social and cultural groups and “above all human hearts which are the real goal of the missionary activity of the People of God”.
He said: “This is the mandate whose faithful fulfilment ‘must follow the road Christ himself walked, a way of poverty and obedience, of service and of self-sacrifice even unto death, a death from which he emerged victorious by his resurrection’ Yes! We are called to serve the humanity of our own time, trusting in Jesus alone, letting ourselves be enlightened by his word: ‘You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide’.
“How much time we have lost, how must work has been set back, on account of our lack of attention to this point! Everything is to be defined starting with Christ, as far as the origins and effectiveness of mission is concerned: we receive mission always from Christ, who has made known to us what he has heard from his Father, and we are appointed to mission through the Spirit, in the Church. Like the Church herself, which is the work of Christ and his Spirit, it is a question of renewing the face of the earth starting from God, God always and alone."
Meeting with the Bishops of Portugal in Fatima the night before Pope Benedict called on the Bishops and Catholics in positions of power and influence to bear witness to Christ.
He said that authentic witnesses to Jesus Christ were most needed in”those human situations where the silence of the faith is most widely and deeply felt: among politicians, intellectuals, communications professionals who profess and who promote a monocultural ideal, with disdain for the religious and contemplative dimension of life..
“In such circles are found some believers who are ashamed of their beliefs and who even give a helping hand to this type of secularism, which builds barriers before Christian inspiration.”
Benedict said that for many people Catholicism no longer acted as the common patrimony of society, that instead it threatened people or was obscured, a situation in which “only with great difficulty can the faith touch the hearts of people by means simple speeches or moral appeals, and even less by a general appeal to Christian values”.
While he said that the ”courageous and integral appeal to principles is essential and indispensable” he stressed that “simply proclaiming the message does not penetrate to the depths of people’s hearts, it does not touch their freedom, it does not change their lives".
“What attracts is, above all, the encounter with believing persons who, through their faith, draw others to the grace of Christ by bearing witness to him.”
The Pope also spoke to social and pastoral workers during his visit.
He said: “I express my deep appreciation for all those social and pastoral initiatives aimed at combating the socio-economic and cultural mechanisms which lead to abortion, and are openly concerned to defend life and to promote the reconciliation and healing of those harmed by the tragedy of abortion. “Initiatives aimed at protecting the essential and primary values of life, beginning at conception, and of the family based on the indissoluble marriage between a man and a woman, help to respond to some of today’s most insidious and dangerous threats to the common good. Such initiatives represent, alongside numerous other forms of commitment, essential elements in the building of the civilization of love.”
Fatima: Cultivate the interior watchfulness of the heartThursday May 13 2010
By 8am this morning, the square in front of the sanctuary at Fatima was full to its 300,000 person capacity, one hour before the Mass began.
Pope Benedict XVI told the Portuguese faithful gathered at the shrine to cultivate the interior watchfulness of heart in order for God to allow God to be close.He spoke about the miracle that happened at Fatima 93 years ago, when the Virgin Mary appeared to the shepherd children, the Blessed Francisco and Jacinta and the Servant of God Lucia
He said: "Brothers and sisters, in listening to these innocent and profound mystical confidences of the shepherd children, one might look at them with a touch of envy for what they were able to see, or with the disappointed resignation of someone who was not so fortunate, yet still demands to see. To such persons, the Pope says, as does Jesus: 'Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?'."The Scriptures invite us to believe: 'Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe', but God, who is more deeply present to me than I am to myself – has the power to come to us, particularly through our inner senses, so that the soul can receive the gentle touch of a reality which is beyond the senses and which enables us to reach what is not accessible or visible to the senses.
"For this to happen, we must cultivate an interior watchfulness of the heart which, for most of the time, we do not possess on account of the powerful pressure exerted by outside realities and the images and concerns which fill our soul. Yes! God can come to us, and show himself to the eyes of our heart."
The Holy Father said that Fatima's prophetic vision had not come to an end: We would be mistaken to think that Fatima’s prophetic mission is complete.
He said: "Mankind has succeeded in unleashing a cycle of death and terror, but failed in bringing it to an end… In sacred Scripture we often find that God seeks righteous men and women in order to save the city of man and he does the same here, in Fatima, when Our Lady asks: "'Do you want to offer yourselves to God, to endure all the sufferings which he will send you, in an act of reparation for the sins by which he is offended and of supplication for the conversion of sinners?'"Yesterday, the Pope took part in a prayer vigil at Fatima, where he said: "The devotion and affection of all of you, the faithful who have come here from all around the world, is clear to me. I bring with me the worries and hopes of our times, the sufferings of our wounded humanity and the problems of the world, and I place them at the feet of Our Lady of Fatima:Virgin Mother of God and our own dear Mother, intercede for us before your Son, that the family of nations, both those called Christians and those who do not yet know the Saviour, may live in peace and harmony, in order that they come together as the one people of God, to the glory of the most holy and indivisible Trinity" He addressed priests and religious during vespers, urging them to be faithful to their vocation.
Dialogue between the Church and the WorldWednesday May 12 2010
Pope Benedict said that the Church helped "society to understand that the proclamation of truth is a service which she offers to society". Speaking to artists, scientists,and other authorities at the Cultural Center of Belem, today, Pope Benedict said that contemporary society was at risk of isolating itself form the past without attempting to trace a path for the future because of its emphasis on the present. Talking about Portugal's history of exploration and mission, Pope Benedict stressed the role of the Christian ideal of universality and fraternity that inspired it, aligning it with the influences of the Enlightment and Laicism. He said: "This tradition gave rise to what could be called a “wisdom”, that is to say, an understanding of life and history which included a corpus of ethical values and an “ideal” to be realized by Portugal, which has always sought to establish relations with the rest of the world."The Church appears as the champion of a healthy and lofty tradition, whose rich contribution she sets at the service of society. Society continues to respect and appreciate her service to the common good but distances itself from that “wisdom” which is part of her legacy.
"This 'conflict' between tradition and the present finds expression in the crisis of truth, yet only truth can provide direction and trace the path of a fulfilled existence both for individuals and for a people. Indeed, a people no longer conscious of its own truth ends up by being lost in the maze of time and history, deprived of clearly defined values and lacking great and clearly formulated goals."
John Allen Jr offers an interesting analysis over on his blog at the National Catholic Reporter, where he says Benedict XVI is having an "affirmative orthodoxy" tour de force.
At Mass in the Terreiro do Paco, yesterday, over 100,000 people came to hear the Pope, who called on the Portuguese to take their religious and cultural identity into Europe.
He said: "In times past, your departure in search of other peoples neither impeded nor severed your bonds with what you were and what you believed. On the contrary, with Christian wisdom you succeeded in transplanting experiences and characteristic elements, opening yourselves up to the contribution of others so as to be yourselves, through an apparent weakness which is actually strength."
Benedict XVI also said that the Church must not take for granted that faith is present, but instead should strive to make each Christian man and woman a saint.
He said: " Often we are anxiously preoccupied with the social, cultural and political consequences of the faith, taking for granted that faith is present, which unfortunately is less and less realistic. Perhaps we have placed an excessive trust in ecclesial structures and programmes, in the distribution of powers and functions; but what will happen if salt loses its flavour?"
To avoid this, he said, it was "necessary to proclaim anew with vigour and joy the event of the death and resurrection of Christ, the heart of Christianity, the fulcrum and mainstay of our faith".
He reminded the Portuguese faithful that Christ's resurrection was an assurance that no adverse power would be able to destroy the Church. With this assurance, he said, faith was well founded, "but this faith needs to come alive in each one of us.
The Pope said: " A vast effort at every level is required if every Christian is to be transformed into a witness capable of rendering account to all and at all times of the hope that inspires him only Christ can fully satisfy the profound longings of every human heart and give answers to its most pressing questions concerning suffering, injustice and evil, concerning death and the life hereafter.
On Plane to Portugal, Benedict addresses abuse crisisTuesday May 11 2010
Pope Benedict XVI said the Church's worst suffering was caused by sins inside the Church. Asked on the plane to Portugal whether the message of Fatima was presaging the current abuse crisis, Benedict XVI said: “Today we can discover in this message that attacks on the pope and the church come not only from the outside, but the suffering of the church comes from inside the church, from sins that exist inside the church. “This we have always known, but today we see it in a really terrifying way. The biggest weight on the church doesn’t come from the enemies outside but is born from sin inside the church. “And so the church has a profound need to relearn penance, to accept purification, to learn on the one hand forgiveness but also the necessity of justice. And forgiveness does not substitute justice."There are more details on the Papal journal on the Catholic New Service blog.Once in Lisbon, Pope Benedict told the Portuguese to embrace the nucleus of their faith in the face of secularism.
He said: “The presence of secularism is something normal, but a separation of cult from life, a separation of secularism from cult and faith, is anomalous and must be overcome. The great challenge is for the two to meet and to discover their true identity … this, as I said, is a mission for Europe and a human necessity in our time.” John Allen reports on the speech, here
Portugal prepares to welcome Pope Benedict XVIMonday May 10 2010
Airports in Lisbon have opened specially for Pope Benedict XVI despite the cloud of volcanic ash that has been plagueing European airspace. The Pontiff's four day visit to Portugal begins tomorrow
Pope Benedict is due to hold open air masses which are expected to be well attended in both the Portugese capital of Lisbon and the city of Porto. He is scheduled to visit the Marian shrine of Fatima in order to celebrate the day in 1917 when the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the three shepherd children.
Vatican watcher John Allen Jr reckons that the Pope has chosen his trips in ascending order of difficulty, with Malta ranking as the easiest. Portugal's economic situation has been dire, and Benedict XVI, he says, is likely to address questions of economy and secularisation.
Meanwhile over at the French Catholic paper La Croix, there's an article (in French) which argues that the Pope will find a country where the Church's influence is on the wane.

source The CatholicHerald-Britain`s leading catholic newspaper