Just a few moment ago, 7:45 am, Saturday, March 25, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI held a public audience in St. Peter's Square with more than one hundred thousand faithful of the Communion and Liberation Movement. After riding through the square and part way down the Via Della Conciliazzione, His Holiness returned to his chair in the "sanctuary," as it was called, of the square where he welcomed words of greetings from the current director of the movement.

The Holy Father then delivered his remarks welcoming the members of the movement and recalling the wonder of the founder, Don Giussani. The Pope noted that the movement teaches that it is a joy to be a Christian. The founder worked hard to reawaken in young people that Christ is the way toward all of the desires in the human heart. He recalled how Don Giussani was captured,

"no," he said, he was "wounded" by the desire to have within his own being all of the beauty that he found in Christ. He recalled Don Giussani's many meetings with Pope John Paul II, again noting that the C&L movement is a communitarian experience of faith, not a mandate from the hierarchy of the Church. It is from the Holy Spirit. It is an opportunity, he said, to have a deep and full experience of Christian faith.

The Pope recalled a recent meeting with the clergy of Rome when he reminded them of the words of St. Paul in his first letter to the Thessalonians: we should not snuff out new charism even if they might be, at first, uncomfortable. If they are truly of the Spirit they will constitute upbuilding elements of the Church today and tomorrow.

Thanks to my digital camera and cable station EWTN, these pictures and some of these thoughts from Pope Benedict are so quickly available. The full text of Benedict's words will be posted at the Vatican link on this blog. After clicking on to the Vatican link, highlight and click on BENEDICT XVI just beneath the Holy Father's picture. It will open up many of the places where his words appear. For this speech, click on to Audiences.