Vatican City, Oct 23, 2005 / 22:00 pm
During a Mass yesterday which concluded the 11th General Synod of Bishops and the “Year of the Eucharist” instituted by John Paul II, Pope Benedict canonized 5 new saints and stressed the centrality of the Eucharist, saying it must be the driving force for the lives of all the faithful.
Speaking to a large crowd, the Holy Father said that "Contemplation of the Eucharist must encourage all members of the Church - and in the first place priests, ministers of the Eucharist - to revive their commitment to faithfulness.”
“In the mystery of the Eucharist, celebrated and adored,” he said, “lie the roots of celibacy which priests have received as a precious gift and a sign of total love towards God and towards others.”
But “for lay people too,” the Pope stressed, “Eucharistic spirituality must be the inner force for all their activities, and there can be no separation between faith and life in their mission of Christian animation of the world."