Vatican City, Aug 29, 2007 / 07:48 am
The purpose of all learning and culture is the discernment of the supreme human good, and this supreme good is found in Christianity, Pope Benedict XVI said today under sunny skies in St. Peter’s Square.
To illustrate his point, the Holy Father dedicated the Wednesday Audience to St. Gregory of Nyssa, a 4th century Early Church Father. “Gregory’s outstanding education and intellectual gifts led him first to teaching. He then embraced the ascetic life, and eventually was ordained Bishop of Nyssa”, the Pope recalled.
The Pope also explained how, like the other Cappadocian [modern day Turkey] Fathers of that time, Gregory contributed greatly to defense of the faith in the period following the Council of Nicaea, and played a leading role at the Council of Constantinople, which defined the divinity of the Holy Spirit. His contribution to theology, he said, was “like a work of art”.
In many of his writings, St. Gregory emphasizes that “our creation in the image of God, our royal vocation as stewards of the created order, and our responsibility to cultivate our inner beauty, which is a participation in the uncreated beauty of the Creator,” said the Holy Father.