Message From Pope Benedict XVI:
Benedict XVI to Youth:
See Love in the Cross
In Address to European and Asian Students
VATICAN CITY, MARCH 11, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The mystery of God's love is most fully revealed in the cross, Benedict XVI told university students from 12 cities in Europe and Asia with the help of a satellite linkup.
The Holy Father made these comments Saturday to thousands of students gathered for a prayer meeting in Paul VI Hall on the theme "Intellectual Charity, Path for New Cooperation between Europe and Asia." The event was held as part of the 5th European Day for Universities.
Via satellite, the Vatican Television Center connected those gathered in Rome with young people in Bologna, Italy; Calcutta, India; Coimbra, Portugal; Krakow, Poland; Hong Kong; Manchester, England; Manila, the Philippines; Prague, the Czech Republic; Tirana, Albania; Turin, Italy; and Islamabad, Pakistan.
Benedict XVI said in the message: "Intellectual charity can unite the existential journey of young people who, despite their living at great distances from one another, are able to feel united by their interior search and testimony."
Putting his papers aside, the Pope added: "I should write a new chapter of my encyclical 'Deus Caritas Est,' on intellectual charity!"
Interrupted on numerous occasions by applause, the Bishop of Rome greeted the young people in various languages.
At the end, the Holy Father gave the young people this advice: "Students, and with greater reason Christian professors, interpret all reality in the light of the mystery of the love of God, which has its highest and fulfilled revelation on the cross."
"Dear young people," added Benedict XVI, "I again entrust to you the cross of Christ: Receive it, embrace it and follow it. It is the tree of life!"
The Holy Father then gave to some of the young people copies of the apostolic exhortations "Ecclesia in Europa" and "Ecclesia in Asia" in which John Paul II gathered the conclusions of the Synods of Bishops of those two continents.
After the meeting, the young people present in the Paul VI Hall carried a cross in pilgrimage to LUMSA University, near the Vatican.
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