"The way of Christ is open for all, but it requires conversion," says Pope Benedict
An ancient mosaic of St. Hilary of Poitiers
Vatican City, Oct 10, 2007 / 08:42 am (CNA).- During his Wednesday audience in St. Peter’s Square, the Holy Father held up St. Hilary of Poitiers as someone who battled against the Arian heresy that Jesus is not divine. Through his teaching, Hilary shows us that “the path to Christ is open to everyone ... although it always requires individual conversion."
After a long journey towards the faith, by seeking truth, Hilary (born in 310) was baptized in 345 and elected bishop of Poitiers in 353. His first work, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, is the oldest surviving Latin commentary on that Gospel.
Hilary had many great qualities, among which the Holy Father noted: his “spirit of conciliation that seeks to understand those who have not already arrived and helps them, with great theological knowledge, to reach the full faith in the true divinity of Jesus Christ.”
Along with this, Hilary had another ‘great gift’: “to join strength in the faith and meekness in his relations with others.”
Hilary was exiled to Phrygia in Turkey in 356, by Arian bishops at the so called “synod of false apostles” by order of the emperor Constantius who had aligned himself with the decisions at the synod. Following the emperor's death in 361 Hilary returned to Poitiers where he remained until his own demise six years later.
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posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 4:25 PM
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