” “"Jesus calls His disciples and collaborators from the most diverse social and religious classes, with no exceptions. He is interested in people, not in social categories or labels". This was said today by Benedict XVI during the audience, held in front of a Saint Peter’s Square filled up with devotees, about 50 thousand of them. "The nice thing stated the Pope who focussed his catechesis on the figures of the apostles Simon the Canaanite and Judas Thaddeus is that, in the group of His followers, all of them, although different, coexisted, overcoming the imaginable difficulties: Jesus Himself was the reason for their cohesion, in whom all of them found themselves united". This, according to the Pontiff, "is clearly a lesson for us, often prone to highlighting the differences and maybe the contrasts, forgetting that in Jesus Christ we are given the strength to settle our conflicts".” “
