The violent episodes that have broken out in some countries and particularly in "India, Pakistan and Afghanistan" are being followed "with concern" by the Pope who, in an appeal said: "I pray for the victims and I ask that respect for religious freedom and the logic of reconciliation and peace prevail over hatred and violence”. Benedict XVI concluded his general audience today with this appeal, an audience that comes on the eve of his departure for Britain. An important and complex visit that continues until Sunday.
At today's audience at the Vatican, for the third time the Pope spoke of a woman from the Middle Ages, St. Clare of Assisi, "one of the most beloved saints". "Her testimony shows us how the whole Church is indebted to courageous and faith-filled women like her, capable of giving a decisive impetus for the renewal of the Church".
Clare, he said, born in 1193 to an aristocratic and rich family, gave up everything to adopt the way of life which Francis proposed, and at 18 years of age, in bold gesture, she chose to become a nun, personally received by the saint of Assisi.
"Especially at the beginning of her religious experience, Francis was not only a teacher but also a close friend." A friendship that has also occurred for other saints, "when two pure souls inflamed with love for God meet, they find in friendship a strong incentive to pursue the path of perfection. Friendship is one of most noble and high human sentiments that God's grace purifies and transforms. "
Resisting pressure from her family, Clare settled in the convent of San Damiano, where she lived for 40 years until her death in 1253.
Of her convent life, we have, found among other things the “admiring” description of a bishop, James of Vitry, who claims to have found "a large number of men and women of a certain social extraction who left everything for Christ, fleeing the world. They were called Friars Minor and Sisters Minor and are held in high regard by the Pope and the Cardinals ... women ... live together in different houses not far from the city. They receive nothing, but live from the work of their hands. And I am greatly distressed and troubled because they are honoured more than they would be, by clergy and laity. "
The bishop said Benedict had "grasped the radical nature of poverty associated with total trust in Divine Providence."
The Pope also stressed that St Clare "acted with great determination, obtaining the so-called priviluegim paupertatis," for which "they could not possess any material properties. An innovation to the law of that time."
"This shows that in the centuries of the Middle Ages, the role of women was not secondary, but significant" and Clare "is the first woman in the history of the Church who wrote a written rule subject to Papal approval, so that the charism of Francis be conserved in all communities of women religious that were already becoming numerous at the time and that wished to be inspired by the example of Francis and Clare ".
"Clare hide herself away, but her life was revealed to all. Clare was silent, but her fame cried out." "Saints are those - concluded the Pope - who change the world for the better, changing it in a sustainable manner, by infusing it with an energy that only love inspired by the Gospel can give. The saints are the great benefactors of humanity. "
SIC: AN/INT'L