Taking the anniversary of the canonisation of St Charles Borromeo as his starting point, Benedict XVI says that the saint was a “splendid example of what it means to work for the reform of the Church,” which must “start with the life of its Pastors. Our globalised society is threatened by the “domination of economic and financial groups that dictate, and plan to continue dictating, the political agenda at the expense of the universal common good.”

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – “Even in our times, the Church community has to endure trials and suffering,” which “shows the need for purification and reform,” Benedict XVI wrote in a message released on the occasion of the 400th anniversary (1 November) canonisation of St Charles Borromeo, a saint who is a model for today. In another message, the Pope said, “It is necessary to prepare members of the laity who can devote themselves to the common good, especially in the most complex situations like the world of politics”.

“The age in which Charles Borromeo lived was a sensitive one for Christianity,” said the message, which was released today and addressed to the Archbishop of Milan, Card Dionigi Tettamanzi. “At the time, the then Archbishop of Milan was a splendid example of what it means to work for the reform of the Church. There was a lot of disarray to correct, errors to mend, structures to change, and yet Saint Charles worked for a deep reform of the Church, starting with his own life. In fact, it is in his life that he carried out the first and most radical renewal.” He relinquished “a life of wealth and comfort” in order to “heed the Lord’s calling, which led him to consecrate his life to the service of his flock.”

“He was aware that a serious and credible reform had to start with the Pastors so that it would have good and lasting effects for the whole People of God. In doing so, he was able to draw from traditional but always living sources for the Catholic Church’s holiness, namely the Eucharist whose centrality he recognised and offered again as the worshipable presence of the Lord Jesus and his Sacrifice of Love for our salvation; the frequent participation in the Sacraments in which we can received faithfully Christ’s own action of salvation and purification of the Church; the Word of God to be meditated, read and interpreted from within the Tradition; and the love for and devotion to the Supreme Pontiff in the willing and filial obedience to his indications as guarantee of true and full ecclesial communion.”

Saint Charles’ example should “lead us to start always from a serious commitment to personal and communal conversion in order to transform hearts, in the firm belief of the power of prayer and penance, especially that of the sacred ministries, presbyters and deacons so that they can turn their life into a courageous journey of holiness, without fearing the thrill that comes from the trusting love for Christ for whom Bishop Charles was willing to forget himself and give up everything.”

In another message, addressed to Card Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council on justice and Peace, on the occasion of its plenary assembly, Benedict XVI wrote, “The upcoming anniversary of the Blessed John Paul XXIII’s Encyclical Mater et Magistra spurs us to look closely at social, sectoral, and national imbalances, at those between resources and poor people, between technology and ethics. In the current context of globalisation, such imbalances have not disappeared. Actors and the depth of the problems may have changed; however, the action of governments, often geared towards balances of power rather than solidarity, leaves space for renewed inequalities, and for the danger of domination by economic and financial groups that dictate, and plan to continue dictating, the political agenda at the expense of the universal common good.”

In light of an ever-interconnecting social crisis, “educating members of the Catholic laity about the social doctrine of the Church appears particularly urgent. Lay Catholics have an immediate duty to work for a just social order. As free and responsible citizens, they must give social life the right configuration, fully respecting the legitimate autonomy of secular institutions.”

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