” “An invitation "to suppress every division and to work to prepare a path for Christ" and "to be yeast of evangelical hope in the American society" was made today by Benedict XVI, during the Mass at the National Stadium in Washington. The Pope reminded the believers which were present that the current times "are times of promise, since we notice the human family getting closer in several ways, becoming more and more interdependent. However, we also see signs of a worrisome collapse of the foundations of society: alienation, rage and contraposition in lots of our contemporaries, violence, weakening of the moral sense, social relationships becoming vulgar, and forgetting of God". As for the Church, on the one hand, it sees "signs of immense promise" such as "strong parishes, lively movements, the enthusiasm of the young, the number of those who embrace the Catholic faith every year, and more and more growing interest in prayer and catechesis", but on the other hand, the Church perceives "in an often painful way, the presence of division and polarization inside it, and it also disquietingly found out that lots of baptised tended to embrace attitudes contrary to the Gospel". Therefore, here is the prayer for "the Church in America to be renewed and supported in its mission to preach the Gospel in a world which is feeling nostalgia for genuine liberty". (To be continued)
