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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

SÃO PAULO, Brazil, MAY 9, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is the Vatican translation of the words Benedict XVI pronounced from the balcony of the Monastery of St. Benedict to the crowds gathered below.

* * *

Dear Friends,

Your affectionate welcome is heart-warming for the Pope! Thank you for waiting here to greet me.

These days, for all of you and for the Church, will be full of emotion and joy.

The Church is in festal mode! In every corner of the world people are praying for the fruits of this journey, the first Pastoral Journey to Brazil and to Latin America that Providence has granted me to carry out as the Successor of Peter.

The canonization of Frei Galvão and the inauguration of the Fifth Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean will be milestones in the history of the Church. I am counting on you and on your prayers!

© Copyright 2007 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Code: ZE07050928

Date: 2007-05-09

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

"Peace to All of You Who Are in Christ"

SÃO PAULO, Brazil, MAY 9, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today upon arriving at the Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo. In the discourse he addresses Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

* * *

Mr President,
My Venerable Brothers in the College of Cardinals and in the Episcopate,
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ!

1. I am very pleased to begin my Pastoral Visit to Brazil and to express to Your Excellency, as Head of State and Supreme Representative of the great Brazilian Nation, my gratitude for the warm welcome offered to me. I willingly extend my thanks also to the members of the Government accompanying you, as well as to the civil and military dignitaries present, and to the authorities of the State of São Paulo. In the words of welcome which you addressed to me, Mr President, I hear an echo of the sentiments of affection and love that all the Brazilian people bear towards the Successor of the Apostle Peter.

I offer my fraternal greetings in the Lord to my dear Brother Bishops who have come to receive me in the name of the Church in Brazil. I also greet the priests, religious men and women, the seminarians and the lay people dedicated to the Church's task of evangelization and to authentic Christian living. Finally, I extend my warm greetings to all Brazilians without distinction, men and women, families, the old and the sick, young people and children. To all of you I say from my heart: thank you very much for your generous hospitality!

2. Brazil has a very special place in the Pope's heart, not only because it was born Christian and has today the largest number of Catholics, but above all because it is a nation endowed with a rich potential and an ecclesial presence that gives joy and hope to the whole Church. My visit, Mr President, has a scope that goes beyond national borders: I have come to preside at the opening Session of the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean at Aparecida. This country, in the providence and goodness of the Creator, will become the cradle of the ecclesial proposals that, with God's help, will give renewed vigour and missionary impetus to this Continent.

3. In this geographical area, Catholics are in the majority. This means that they must make a particular contribution to the common good of the nation. The word solidarity will acquire its full meaning when the living forces of society, each in its own sphere, commit themselves seriously to building a future of peace and hope for all.

The Catholic Church, as I stated in the Encyclical letter "Deus Caritas Est," "transformed by the Holy Spirit, is called to become a witness before the world of the love of the Father who wishes to make humanity a single family in his Son" (cf. No. 19). From here springs her deep commitment to the mission of evangelization at the service of the cause of peace and justice. Hence the decision to undertake an essentially missionary Conference reflects clearly the concern of the Bishops, as it does mine, to seek suitable ways by which in Jesus Christ "our peoples may have life", as the theme of the Conference reminds us. With these sentiments I raise my eyes beyond the frontiers of this country, and I extend my greetings to all the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean in the words of the Apostle: "Peace to all of you who are in Christ" (1 Peter 5:14).

4. Mr President, I am grateful to Divine Providence for this grace of visiting Brazil, a Nation with a great Catholic tradition. I have had occasion to point out the principal motive of my visit, which is concerned with Latin America and has a fundamentally religious significance.

I am happy to be able to spend some days among the Brazilian people. I am well aware that the soul of this people, as of all Latin America, safeguards values that are radically Christian, which will never be eradicated. I am certain that at Aparecida, during the Bishops' General Conference, this identity will be reinforced through the promotion of respect for life from the moment of conception until natural death as an integral requirement of human nature. It will also make the promotion of the human person the axis of solidarity, especially towards the poor and abandoned.

The Church seeks only to stress the moral values present in each situation and to form the conscience of the citizens so that they may make informed and free decisions. She will not fail to insist on the need to take action to ensure that the family, the basic cell of society, is strengthened, and likewise young people, whose formation is a decisive factor for the future of any nation. Last but not least, she will defend and promote the values present at every level of society, especially among indigenous peoples.

5. With these good wishes and with renewed gratitude for the warm reception that I have received as the Successor of Peter, I invoke the maternal protection of "Nossa Senhora da Conceição Aparecida," remembered also as "Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe," Patroness of all America, so that she may protect and inspire those who govern in their difficult task as promoters of the common good, and renew the bonds of Christian fellowship for the good of all the people. May God bless Latin America! God bless Brazil! Thank you!

[Translation distributed by the Latin American bishops' council]

© Copyright 2007 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Code: ZE07050909

Date: 2007-05-09

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Says World Needs His Example of Humility

FAMAGUSTA, Cyprus, MAY 9, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The faith of St. Francis has drawn a Muslim historian to Italy, furthering her studies of the medieval Franciscan Order.

Neslihan Senocak, an assistant professor of history, at the Eastern Mediterranean University in north Cyprus, received a scholarship from the Vatican's Nostra Aetate Foundation to pursue her studies at the Pontifical Antonianum University.

Senocak was awarded her doctorate in history from Bilkent University, Turkey, in 2002, with her dissertation focusing on the relationship of medieval Franciscans to the intellectual world.

Speaking with ZENIT, Senocak explained why St. Francis says something to her as a Muslim historian: "My interest in St. Francis is within the context of my interest in the history of the medieval Franciscan Order, whose many members could not stay away from learning and scholarship despite Francis' initial emphasis on simplicity and humility.

"I was attracted to the history of the Franciscan Order because it is the story of individual devotion, determination and piety transformed in a gigantic international movement with thousands of followers."

Senocak continued: "St. Francis is an extremely important figure in the medieval history and literature, but he is also a 'classic,' in the sense that his story has and will always have an appeal to people of whatever period and region.

"I personally admire St. Francis, and his principles, and believe that anyone of whichever religion can find a wealth of insight about how to attain virtue in Francis' life and sayings.

"His emphasis on humility as the primary virtue, one that unlocks all other doors of virtue, deserves serious attention in a world where we are constantly taught self-confidence and pride."

She added: "Francis was right. So many actions what the seculars would consider immoral, and the religious would consider sin, are rooted in having an inflated opinion of one's self."

Christian-Muslim dialogue

Senocak was awarded a scholarship that sponsors non-Christians studying Christian subjects. She said that "such scholarships are central to the foundation of a dialogue, since it is impossible for any two communities to establish a bond if they do not know each other and, even worse, if they have negative prejudices about each other."

Senocak explained: "If there is to be a dialogue between a Christian and a Muslim, I do not see why it should differ from any other kind of dialogue or friendship with establish in our lives." 

Code: ZE07050922

Date: 2007-05-09

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Sister Maria Rosa Pellesi Beatified in Rimini

RIMINI, Italy, MAY 9, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Suffering from tuberculosis, Sister Maria Rosa of Jesus asked God for the ability to sing of his mercy and to be heard.

Sister Maria Rosa was beatified April 29 in Rimini. Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Saints' Causes and Benedict XVI's delegate for the occasion, presided over the rite.

Cardinal Saraiva Martins reflected in his homily on the invitation of Sister Maria Rosa to hope and "to not let ourselves be tied down by our limitations."

Like her, we must pray that Jesus uses each one of us "to build upon the wreckage" of human weakness, [to be] that "masterpiece that" God "has had in his mind for all eternity," exhorted the cardinal.

Her life

Born Bruna Pellesi on Nov. 10, 1917, near Modena in northern Italy, she was the youngest of nine children. Her parents were farmers with a strong Catholic faith.

The postulator of her cause of beatification, Father Florio Tessari, in an interview with Vatican Radio, said, "When she was a young girl she was vivacious and loved to dress well."

"She was one of the most beautiful girls in town," he added, and she "was filled with a desire to love and be loved."

When she was 17, she dated a young man but "left him because her heart was beating for another. Christ became her only love," Father Tessari explained.

Bruna Pellesi entered the convent of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Christ when she was 23, making her final profession two years later, taking the name of Sister Maria Rosa of Jesus.

At the age of 26 she was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was hospitalized by the sickness for 27 years.

Her treatment included extracting liquid from her lungs five times a day. The postulator said she never complained.

Father Tessari recalled that when Sister Maria Rosa was near death, in 1972, she said in a whisper: "I say this now, all that matters is loving the Lord. I am happy because I die in love and I am happy because I love everyone."

Code: ZE07050425

Date: 2007-05-09

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Calls For a "Culture of Welcome"

ARMAGH, Northern Ireland, MAY 9, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The Irish must cultivate a culture of welcome to honor the dignity and gifts of immigrants, says the auxiliary bishop of Armagh.

Bishop Gerard Clifford made these comments in a homily on Irish immigration during the annual Mass at Arbour Hill cemetery for those who died in 1916 for Irish independence.

Bishop Clifford said, "Ninety-one years later we look back at the ideals of those men and women who fought for Irish freedom, the sacrifices they made, their hopes for the future, the legacy that they have left to us and we ask some pertinent questions about the society of our time and how it measures up to those ideals."

Decades ago, "housing in certain areas was among the worst in Europe, unemployment was high and emigration to England and the United States was the only alternative to destitution for many people," the bishop explained.

He continued: "Ireland has, for generations, been familiar with the whole concept of emigration. Gaelic literature is full of stories of Irish emigrants heading out into an uncertain future."

Different picture

Bishop Clifford said: "Ireland of 2007 presents a very different picture. We currently have a confident economy, low unemployment and a good standard of living for many. Today we have a mainly confident and educated people.

"Indeed, Ireland, as we well know, has had an unprecedented influx of people to our country. There are some 420,000 new migrants to Ireland at present making up 10% of our total population.

"In the Church we all have an indispensable part to play in that welcome."

The bishop recalled the words of Benedict XVI in October, during the Irish bishops' five-yearly visit to Rome: "After centuries of emigration, which involved the pain of separation for so many families, you're experiencing for the first time, a wave of immigration. Traditional Irish hospitality is finding unexpected new outlets."

Bishop Clifford said that, along with many state provided services, "the bishops' commission for emigrants and migrants, together with numerous voluntary groups within the various Churches and communities, are making their own distinctive contribution."

He added: "I believe that Ireland is making its own distinct efforts to address this new situation. At many levels across the country there are positive efforts to cultivate a culture of welcome.

"There are still bridges to cross. We are challenged to raise people's sights to what is ultimately fulfilling, recognizing the giftedness and uniqueness of everyone."

Code: ZE07050912

Date: 2007-05-09

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

SÃO PAULO, Brazil, MAY 9, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Brazil's first native-born saint will be canonized in his home country by Benedict XVI.

Canonizations normally take place in Rome, but the Holy Father will make an exception Friday and canonize Blessed Antonio Santa'Ana Galvão in São Paulo.

News of the canonization was received with great joy in Brazil, reported Archbishop Odilo Scherer of São Paulo, president of the country's episcopal conference.

Father Galvão, who was born in 1739, "wanted to be Jesuit but ended up a Franciscan," explained the archbishop.

He continued: "In São Paulo, he was devoted to the prayer, intense work, preaching, and charity. He was a true 'man of God' endeavoring to help people to be closer to God.

"Always welcoming people, he gave special attention to the poor, the sick and the afflicted."

Father Galvão founded Santa Clara's convent, in Sorocaba, at a time Marquês de Pombal's law imposed enormous restrictions on the Church and its building initiatives.

Father Galvão "helped to build Luz Monastery in São Paulo, where still today the nuns of the religious congregation he founded live," remarked Archbishop Scherer.

Father Galvão died in 1822, the year of the independence of Brazil. His grave, a place of devotion, is at the Luz Monastery, in São Paulo.

Code: ZE07050921

Date: 2007-05-09