OUR LADY OF FATIMA 

CATHOLIC CHURCH

He began by thanking the Cardinal Deacon for his kind words and opened his consideration on the mystery of Bethlehem, particularly the silence of the mystery, a silence that imposes on us the duty of contemplation. Christmas is a day of deep thought, a day of joy that encompasses the universe because God has become man.

With the approach of the year's end several great events have profoundly affected the life of the Church. First is the disappearance of our beloved Holy Father Pope John Paul II. No other pope had traveled and spoken to as many people as he. We recall the model of suffering that he was for all of us: Palm Sunday with the olive branch in his hand, Good Friday, the Crucifix in his hand, the silent Paschal blessing on Easter Sunday. With his words and deeds he gave a great thing - an important lesson on the mystery of suffering. Benedict XVI proceeded to meditate on the redemptive value of suffering: All suffering united to Christ is a source of merit, of redemption. Evil then is a source for blessing, but this does not mean that we are not to oppose evil.

The Pope moved on to discuss two more topics of interest to him: the World Youth Day and the Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist (both originating in John Paul II):

WYD: He referenced the more than one million young people who gathered to hear the Word of the Lord, to receive the Sacrament of Penance, to adore our Lord in the Eucharist, to receive Him in Holy Communion. The events are imprinted on his mind. The frontiers and language and cultural barriers came down - one common expression of the same Faith.

Synod of Bishops: The word "adoration" reminds him of the theme of the recent synod: the Eucharist. The Pope pointed out that in the wake of Vatican II a separation occurred in the minds of many between receiving Holy Communion (eating) and contemplating the Blessed Sacrament (adoration). This divorce in the Catholic conscience is alien to Catholic thought. He quotes St Augustine of Hippo: "nemo autem illam carnem manducat, nisi prius adoraverit;… peccemus non adorando" (Let no-one, however, eat this flesh, unless first he shall adore, we shall sin if we do not adore it).

The last event of the year: the celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the closing of Vatican II. It raises the question: "What has been the result of the Council ?" Nobody can deny that the Council has produced difficulties. He recalled St Basil the Great's references to the problems that followed the Council of Nicaea. Why the problems ? It is because of the interpretation of the Council. We need a just interpretation of the reforms. There has been a falsification: by excess and by defect. There is a rupture as though there were no continuity between the pre-conciliar and post-conciliar Church. The true way of representing the Council is by showing that it conforms with what went before.

He quotes Pope Paul VI in his speech closing the Council in which he references John XXIII's desire to "transmit the pure and integral doctrine (...) Our desire to guard this precious treasure (...) It is necessary that this doctrine which is certainly immutable, which should faithfully be respected, be deepened and presented in a way which corresponds to the exigencies of our time."

The Pope proceeded to delineate the break-up of society, the separation of man's thought from that of the Church. The growing divergence between God and man. He mentions Pius IX's opposition to the spirit of the modern age. He mentions the breakup of Catholic States during the two World Wars, the rise of the sciences, that they seem to have their own method in which God does not have access. Catholic social doctrine has been opposed by systems such as Marxism. Modernity has led to a religious tolerance which has itself become a religion.

The Pope moved on to the issue of religious liberty. It has led to a "canonization of relativism". If the Church asks the state to respect man's right to religion it is so he can find the truth. This is the truth for which the martyrs laid down their lives. The martyrs died for their faith in that God who was revealed in Jesus Christ, they died for liberty of conscience, for the liberty of the profession of their own faith, something achieved only with the grace of God through the liberty of conscience. A missionary Church has the duty of announcing her message to all peoples.

In redefining the relationship between the Church's faith and certain elements of modern thought an apparent discontinuity between the Church's nature and true identity has arisen. John Paul II himself as a Cardinal, preaching the spiritual exercises for Paul VI and the Cardinals stated: "It could not have been the intention of the Council to abolish that contradiction between the Gospel and the dangers and errors of man." The Pope went on to describe various ways how the Church throughout the ages has taken certain elements of the world (Aquinas referencing Aristotle) and purified them for her own ends. This is what "openness to the world" really means.

He discussed the events surrounding his own election - how he accepted in a spirit of faith the will of God and how he counts on the continued prayers of the Cardinals for his intentions.

The Pope concluded his address with a return to the Christmas theme entrusting ourselves to Mary to lead us to the Lord. He granted the Apostolic Blessing.

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