Vatican City, May 23, 2008 / 08:51 am
The Holy Father sent a message on May 22 for the 97th "Deutscher Katholikentag," a celebration organized by the Catholic laity in Germany. This year’s event, held in the German city of Osnabruck, focused on the theme, “He brought me out into a broad place.”
In his message for the event attended by nearly 50,000 people, the Pope addressed this theme by writing that many people fear “that the faith may limit their lives, that they may be constrained in the web of the Church's commandments and teachings, and that they will no longer be free to move in the 'broad space' of modern life and thought."
However, "only when our lives have reached the heart of God will they have found that 'broad space' for which we were created. A life without God does not become freer and broader," he explained.
Benedict continued by explaining that our lives can become freer by opening our hearts to God. In doing so, “one does not need to seek happiness and success or give weight to the opinions of others." He is "free and generous, open to the call of God" and "can give all of himself faithfully because he knows - wherever he goes - that he is safe in God's hands."