Rome, Italy, Sep 22, 2008 / 08:28 am
Meeting with participants of the International Congress of the Benedictine Federation on Saturday, the Holy Father encouraged the group to announce “the primacy of God without compromise” and to continue evangelizing the youth by showing them the richness of the liturgy, of meditation and lectio divina.
The congress, which is held every four years in Rome, gives Benedictine abbots and superiors the opportunity to discuss how their charism applies to the current social and cultural context and how “to respond to the ever-new challenges this raises for bearing witness to the Gospel.”
Addressing the Benedictine Federation, the Holy Father reminded them that “in a sacrilegious world, and in a time marked by a worrying culture of emptiness and of 'non sense,' you are called to announce the primacy of God without compromise, and to propose new paths of evangelization.”
This must be done, the Pontiff continued, by reaching out to the young people. The youth in our world need to be prepared to face "the many demands of society with constant reference to the evangelical message, which is always current, inexhaustible and enlivening,” the Pope exclaimed. “Dedicate yourselves, then, with renewed apostolic ardor to the young, who are the future of the Church and of humanity.