Pope remembers his trip to Germany during general audience

2011-09-28 Vatican Radio "The second stage of my visit was to Thuringia. Germany, and Thuringia in particular, is the land of the Protestant Reformation. So, from the beginning I was eager to give particular emphasis to ecumenism in the context of this trip, and I strongly desired an ecumenical moment in Erfurt, because in that city Martin Luther entered the Augustinian community and there he was ordained priest. So I was very pleased with the meeting with members of the Council of the Reformed Protestant Churches in Germany in the former Convent of the Augustinians: a cordial meeting that, in dialogue and prayer, led us more profoundly to Christ. Once again we have seen the importance of our common witness of faith in Jesus Christ in today's world, which often ignores God or has no interest in Him. Our common efforts in the path towards full unity are necessary, but we are always well aware that neither the faith or unity so longed for are a product of our own. A faith created by ourselves is of no value, and true unity is rather a gift from God, who prayed and prayed for the unity of his disciples. Only Christ can give us this unity, and we will be ever more united than the extent to which we return to Him and allow ourselves to be transformed by Him". Pope Benedict described the celebration of vespers at the Marian shrine of Etzelsbach as "particularly moving", a region that "always remained Catholic throughout the various vicissitudes of history" whose inhabitants "have courageously opposed the dictatorships of Nazism and communism." In Erfurt, recalling the patrons saints of Thuringia and "the shining example of the faithful who witnessed to the Gospel during the totalitarian regimes, I invited the faithful to be the saints of today, good witnesses of Christ, and to help build our society . In fact, there have always been saints and people imbued with the love of Christ to really transform the world". During the visit to Erfurt, Pope Benedict also had occasion to "meet some victims of sexual abuse by clergymen, whom I wanted to assure of my sorrow and my closeness to their suffering." Moving onto the Freiburg stage of his visit, the Pope recalled the "very festive reception" and the prayer vigil with thousands of young people. "I was happy to see that faith in my native German has a young face, it is alive and has a future". "I transmitted flame of the Paschal candle, symbol of light that is Christ, to the young people exhorting them: You are the light of the world. I repeated to them that the Pope is confident in the active collaboration of the youth; with the grace of Christ, they are able to bring the fire of God's love to the world. " Also in Freiburg, Pope Benedict met with the seminarians, "I wanted to show them the beauty and grandeur of their calling from the Lord" and with representatives of the Orthodox Churches "to whom we Catholics feel very close. In fact, it is from this broad commonality that the common task to be leaven for the renewal of our society is derived. " And finally in the great Sunday Mass at the Freiburg airport his thanks to volunteers from the charitable initiatives of the German Church. "I recalled that their valuable service will always be fruitful when it is born of an authentic faith and lives in union with the bishops and the Pope, in union with the Church. Finally, before my return, I talked to a thousand Catholics involved in the Church and in society, suggesting some reflections on the action of the Church in a secularized society, on the invitation to be free from material and political burdens to reflect God more transparently". http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-bened...