Hello All!
                This Area is READ ONLY.  Do not post to this area.
                The following press release is Copyrighted by the
                          Vatican Information Service.
                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                               VIS-Press releases

POPE SPEAKS OF SANCTITY, PRAYS FOR VICTIMS OF IRAQ ATTACK

VATICAN CITY, 1 NOV 2010 (VIS) - On today's Solemnity of All Saints, which
"invites us to raise our gaze to heaven and meditate on the fullness of divine
life which awaits us", the Holy Father prayed the Angelus with thousands of
faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square.

"Sanctity, impressing Christ into one's own self, is the goal of Christian
life", said Pope Benedict. "We have a foretaste of the gift and beauty of
sanctity each time we participate in the Eucharistic liturgy, in communion with
that 'immense multitude' of blessed spirits who are in heaven eternally
acclaiming the salvation of God and the Lamb. 'The lives of the saints are not
limited to their earthly biographies but also include their being and working
in God after death. In the saints one thing becomes clear: those who draw near
to God do not withdraw from men, but rather become truly close to them'.

"Consoled by this communion of the great family of saints", he
added, "tomorrow
we will commemorate All Souls Day. The liturgy of 2 November and the pious
practice of visiting cemeteries reminds us that Christian death is part of the
journey of assimilation to God, and will disappear when God becomes everything
in everyone. Separation from our earthly affections is certainly painful, but
we must nor fear it because, accompanied by the prayer of the Church, it cannot
break the profound bond that unites us in Christ".

Following the Marian prayer the Pope spoke of the attack on the Syro- Catholic
cathedral of Baghdad on 31 October which caused many injuries and deaths,
including two priests and a group of faithful attending Sunday Mass.

"I pray for the victims of this absurd violence, all the more ferocious because
it targeted defenceless people gathered in the house of God, which is a house
of love and reconciliation. I express my affectionate closeness to the
Christian community, which has been struck once again, and encourage pastors
and faithful to be strong and united in hope. In the face of such cruel
episodes of violence, which continue to afflict the people of the Middle East,
I would like to renew my heartfelt appeal for peace. Peace is a gift of God,
but also the result of the efforts of men and women of goodwill, of national
and international institutions. May everyone unite their efforts to put an end
to all violence".
ANG/VIS 20101103 (420)

SUMMARY

--- MPost/386 v1.21