According to the testimonies of the ancient Church, added the Pope, "the apostolicity of the ecclesial communion lies in the faithfulness to faith and the practice of the Apostles, which guarantee the historical and spiritual bond between the Church and Christ". In other words, "what the Apostles represent in the relationship between Jesus and the Church of the origins is likewise represented by the ministerial succession in the relationship between the Church of the origins and the current Church. It is not a simple material link; it is instead the historical tool that the Spirit uses to make Jesus present, the Head of its people, through those who are ordained to the ministry through the laying of the hands and the prayers of the Bishops". "Through the apostolic succession he went on it is then Christ who reaches us: in the word of the Apostles and their successors, it is Him who speaks to us; through their hands, it is Him who acts in the sacraments; in their glance, it is His glance that envelops us and makes us feel loved, welcomed into God’s heart". The Pope ended by greeting the pilgrims in different languages, warning in Italian, especially the young, "to follow Mary’s example, always confiding in her motherly intercession so that she may help you bring a ray of peace where there is worry and loneliness". To the newly-wed couples that he greets every Wednesday, he suggested they should feel in family life "the joy that springs out of mutual faithfulness".
