Pope Benedict XVI Blog

Church is missionary by nature and her primary task is evangelization, says Pope

Pope Benedict foresees missionary expansion

Vatican, Apr. 26 (CWNews.com) - On a Monday-night visit to the Roman basilica of St. Paul-outside-the-Walls, Pope Benedict XVI pronounced that "Christ's missionary mandate is more imperative than ever" for the Church in the early 21st century.

Citing the words of Pope John Paul II (bio - news), who referred to the 20th century as "a time of martyrdom" for the Church, the Pope reasoned: "If, then, the blood of martyrs is the seed of new Christians, at the beginning of the 3rd millennium we may expect a new flowering of the Church, especially where she suffered most for the faith and the witness of the Gospel."

The Holy Father said that his trip to the basilica was a "long-awaited pilgrimage," which he made not only for himself but for the universal Church, to honor the Apostle to the Gentiles. This was, he explained, a pilgrimage intended "revitalize in faith" the missionary witness of the Church.

"The Church is missionary by nature, her primary task is evangelization," Pope Benedict said. Now, in preparation for his own task of leading the missionary effort, he came to the tomb of St. Paul, who preached the Gospel to the gentiles and bore witness to Christ to the point of martyrdom. After praying at the tomb, Pope Benedict read (in Latin) passages from the Letter to the Romans, commenting that it was the most important of St. Paul's epistles, from the doctrinal perspective.

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posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 9:52 AM