Vatican City, Apr 15, 2010 / 08:52 am
That "Jesus Christ continues alive and truly present in the consecrated host and the chalice" is the central point of the Catholic faith, Pope Benedict said on Thursday. He also warned against focusing the Mass on things other than the person of Jesus, especially adopting rites from other religions.
Benedict XVI focused primarily on the importance of the presence of Christ in the Mass during his address to Brazilian bishops from the North II Region, which marked the conclusion of their "ad Limina" visit to the Holy See.
The Eucharist, said the Holy Father, is "the center and permanent source of the Petrine ministry, the heart of the Christian life, source and summit of the Church's mission of evangelization."
He told the bishops, "You can thus understand the concern of the Successor of Peter for all that can obfuscate this most essential point of the Catholic faith: that today, Jesus Christ continues alive and truly present in the consecrated host and the chalice."