Vatican City, Feb 20, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Saturday morning, the Vatican household concluded the annual Lenten spiritual excercises preached by Bishop Renato Corti of Novara, Italy.
Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano presided at Mass and adoration of the Eucharist, concluding the exercises, which took place this past week.
Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, read a message from the Pope following Mass, which was addressed to Bishop Corti. The Holy Father thanked him for the reflections he had proposed over these days, focused on the theme: "The Church at the service of the new and eternal covenant."
Pope John Paul II wrote that the theme, "in making reference to the Blood that flowed from the wounds of the Crucified Christ, especially from the wound in his side, evoke the significance of the Eucharistic Sacrament.’