Lisbon, Portugal, May 11, 2010 / 12:11 pm
During his apostolic visit to Portugal, the Holy Father presided over Mass in Lisbon's Palace Square on Tuesday evening. Despite negative media attention over sexual abuse that has dogged the Catholic Church in recent weeks, the Pope assured the crowd of 160,000 people that the “resurrection of Christ assures us that no adverse power will ever be able to destroy the Church.”
At the sun-filled open air Mass, a cheering throng welcomed Pope Benedict and the hundreds of clergy who led the procession to the altar. With Lisbon's Tagus River serving as a backdrop, local Cardinal Jose de la Cruz Policarpo presented the Holy Father with the gift of a crucifix featuring seafaring imagery and representing the identity of the country.
In his homily, the Pope centered his message on the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, where Christ told his disciples, “I am with you always to the close of the age.”
“These words of the risen Christ take on a particular significance in this city of Lisbon, the Pope noted, recalling that from the city “generations upon generations of Christians – bishops, priests, consecrated and lay persons, men and women, young and not so young – have journeyed forth in great numbers in obedience to the Lord’s call.”