Pope's appeal for Clementina Cantoni

To more than 50,000 people present at the recital of the Angelus, the Pope speaks of the movement of the Spirit in the Church and expresses hope that sport may encourage brotherhood among peoples.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Benedict XVI has "added his voice" to those of the Presidents of the Italian Republic and Afghanistan and of the Italian and Afghan peoples to call for the liberation of Clementina Cantoni, an Italian volunteer who was kidnapped in Afghanistan. Before reciting the Angelus with at least 50,000 people present in St Peter's Square, the Pope said that the "painful experience our sister is living is a stimulus to seek peaceful and fraternal understanding among individuals and nations".

The Pope touched upon other themes, among them the movement of the Spirit in the Church and the value of sport in encouraging brotherhood, and he shared a reflection about the suffering country of Bolivia.

As he looked out of his study window, the first issue approached by Benedict XVI was the barely concluded ceremony in St Peter's Basilica, in which 21 new priests were ordained for the Diocese of Rome. "It is an event which marks a moment of significant growth for our Community," he explained. "The Community receives life from the ordained ministers, especially through the service of the Word of God and the Sacraments. This, then, is a feast day for the Church of Rome. And for the new priests, this is their Pentecost in a special way: I greet them and pray that the Holy Spirit may accompany them always in their ministry. The happy coincidence between Pentecost and priestly ordinations moves me to emphasise the indissoluble link which exists in the Church between the Spirit and the institution. I already touched upon this last Saturday, when taking possession of the Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, in St John Lateran. The Cathedral and the Spirit are in reality intimately united, just as the charisma and the ordained minister are. Without the Holy Spirit, the Church would be reduced to a merely human organisation, weighed down by its own structures. But, in his turn, in God's plans, the Spirit regularly makes use of human mediations to work in history. It is because of this that Christ, who set up his Church on the foundation of the Apostles closely gathered around Peter, also enriched it with the gift of his Spirit, so that through the centuries, the Spirit may comfort the Church (cfr Jn 14,16) and guide it to the entire truth (cfr Jn 16,13). May the ecclesial Community remain always open and meek in the face of the movement of the Holy Spirit to be a credible sign among men, and an effective instrument of God's work!"

Finally, Benedict XVI took his queue from today's celebration in Italy of the "Day of sport for all", saying the event was constituted to "keep alive authentic values of sports activity". This year, the event underlines the link between sport and nature in keeping with the theme chosen by UNESCO for today's World Environment Day. "I hope that sport practised in a healthy and harmonious way at all levels will encourage brotherhood and solidarity among people and respect for and development of the natural environment," he said.

• VATICAN
• AFHANISTAN
• POPE
• BENEDICT
• XVI
• APPEAL
• CLEMENTINA
• CANTONI
• KIDNAPPING
• SPORT
• BTROTHERHOOD