New Pope – Eucharistic, Ecumenical and Marian

by Roger Oakland
www.understandthetimes.org

April 20 – Vatican City (AsiaNews) The message Pope Benedict XVI delivered this morning at 9 am to the cardinals with whom he co-celebrated his first mass in the Sistine Chapel is a true plan for action.

Speaking at the end of the service, the new Pontiff laid down the guidelines of his ministry: continuity with the magisterium of John Paul II, implementation of the Second Vatican Council, collegiality, special attention paid to the faith and the Eucharist, and support for priests and the young. Following is the English translation of a portion of Pope Benedict XVIs message which he delivered in Latin at the end of the mass:

The New Pope will emphasize the Eucharistic Jesus for the New Evangelization.

In a very significant way, my pontificate starts as the Church is living the special year dedicated to the Eucharist. How can I not see in this providential coincidence an element that must mark the ministry to which I have been called? The Eucharist, the heart of Christian life and the source of the evangelising mission of the Church, cannot but be the permanent centre and the source of the Petrine service entrusted to me.

The Eucharist makes the Risen Christ constantly present; Christ Who continues to give Himself to us, calling us to participate in the banquet of His Body and His Blood. From this full communion with Him comes every other element of the life of the Church, in the first place the communion among the faithful, the commitment to proclaim and give witness to the Gospel, the ardour of charity towards all, especially towards the poor and the smallest.

In this year, therefore, the Solemnity of Corpus Christ must be celebrated in a particularly special way. The Eucharist will be at the centre, in August, of World Youth Day in Cologne and, in October, of the ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops which will take place on the theme The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church. I ask everyone to intensify in coming months love and devotion to the Eucharistic Jesus and to express in a courageous and clear way the real presence of the Lord, above all through the solemnity and the correctness of the celebrations.

I ask this in a special way of priests, about whom I am thinking in this moment with great affection. The priestly ministry was born in the Cenacle, together with the Eucharist, as my venerated predecessor John Paul II underlined so many times. The priestly life must have in a special way a ‘Eucharistic form’, he wrote in his last Letter for Holy Thursday. The devout daily celebration of Holy Mass, the centre of the life and mission of every priest, contributes to this end.

The New Pope Will Be Ecumenical Calling for Unity of Christianity

Thus, in full awareness and at the beginning of his ministry in the Church of Rome that Peter bathed with his blood, the current Successor assumes as his primary commitment that of working tirelessly towards the reconstitution of the full and visible unity of all Christ’s followers. This is his ambition, this is his compelling duty. He is aware that to do so, expressions of good feelings are not enough. Concrete gestures are required to penetrate souls and move consciences, encouraging everyone to that interior conversion which is the basis for all progress on the road of ecumenism.

The current Successor of Peter feels himself to be personally implicated in this question and is disposed to do all in his power to promote the fundamental cause of ecumenism. In the wake of his predecessors, he is fully determined to cultivate any initiative that may seem appropriate to promote contact and agreement with representatives from the various Churches and ecclesial communities. Indeed, on this occasion too, he sends them his most cordial greetings in Christ, the one Lord of all.

The New Pope is a devoted follower of Mary.â He has placed the future of the Roman Catholic Church in the hands of Mary

Mane nobiscum, Domine! Stay with us Lord! This invocation, which forms the dominant theme of John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter for the Year of the Eucharist, is the prayer that comes spontaneously from my heart as I turn to begin the ministry to which Christ has called me. Like Peter, I too renew to Him my unconditional promise of faithfulness. He alone I intend to serve as I dedicate myself totally to the service of His Church.

In support of this promise, I invoke the maternal intercession of Mary Most Holy, in whose hands I place the present and the future of my person and of the Church. May the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the saints, also intercede. (emphasis added)

For the full article and transcript:
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=3093