” “"Only through the Church can one reach Jesus". It was stated by Benedict XVI during the traditional Wednesday audience, held outdoors in Saint Peter’s Square, despite an incessant rain that, during the catechesis about the figure of the apostle Paul, made the Pope exclaim "let’s hope the Lord will be propitious and make this rain stop". At the beginning, "the meeting between Paul and the Church said the Pontiff as he recalled the persecution perpetrated by Paul himself was counterproductive; by persecuting the Church, Paul was persecuting Christ. It is Jesus Himself who works through Paul, who, once converted to Christ, was converted to the Church", giving it a "surprising definition", that is, "The Church, the body of Christ". As he commented this definition, the Pope explained that "advocating the need for unity does not mean advocating the fact that Christian life should be levelled and standardised according to one single working method". "Do not extinguish therefore the numberless charismatic manifestations of the Spirit. May everything says the apostle be done for edification and for building the ecclesial fabric, without seams and without rips. What is at stake is a relation of communion which is both vertical, between Jesus and the congregation, and horizontal, among all those who distinguish themselves in the world for invoking the name of our Lord Jesus Christ". "One can easily see he concluded how desirable it is that what Saint Paul wished for may come true”.” “
