VATICAN CITY, OCT. 7, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI affirmed that evangelization is the most profound way Christians can promote peace.
The Pope explained this before reciting the Angelus with the thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square. The Holy Father observed that traditionally the Church dedicates the month of October to the missions and missionaries. World Mission Day is celebrated this year on Oct. 21.
"In any case, we know that peace spreads where men and institutions are open to the Gospel," the Pontiff said, speaking from the window of his study.
"The month of October helps us to recall this fundamental truth through a mobilization that seeks to promote an authentic missionary drive in each community, and to support the work of priests, religious and laypeople who work on the Church’s mission frontiers."
This year Benedict XVI has dedicated his message for World Mission Day to the theme "All the Churches for all the World."
The Pontiff said: "The proclamation of the Gospel remains the primary service that the Church owes to humanity, to offer the salvation of Christ to the man of our time, who is in many ways humiliated and oppressed, and to orientate in a Christian way cultural, social, and ethical transformations that are unfolding in the world."
The Pope recalled that 150 years ago five priests and a layman of the Institute of Don Mazza in Verona departed for Africa, for present-day Sudan.
He noted that among this group was St. Daniel Comboni, future bishop of central Africa and patron of the people of that region, whose liturgical memorial is Oct. 10.
Comboni founded two missionary organizations that have come to be known as the Comboni Missionaries and the Comboni Missionary Sisters. They are also called the Verona Fathers and Sisters.
He was canonized by Pope John Paul II on Oct. 5, 2003.
Benedict XVI concluded, "We entrust all missionaries to the intercession of these pioneers of the Gospel and to the many other canonized and beatified missionaries, and especially to the maternal protection of the Queen of the Holy Rosary."
ZE07100709 - 2007-10-07