18-May-2005 -- Catholic World News Brief

POPE, AT AUDIENCE, RECALLS BIRTHDAY OF JOHN PAUL II

Vatican, May. 18 (CWNews.com) - At his public audience on May 18, Pope Benedict XVI paid homage to Pope John Paul II, noting that the day would have been his predecessor's 85th birthday. "We wish to give thanks to the Lord for the gift of this great Pope, and for everything he did and suffered," the Holy Father said.

Speaking to about 25,000 people who braved a driving rain in St. Peter's Square, the Pontiff continued the series of catechetical talks on the psalms which Pope John Paul had begun, speaking about Psalm 112, "Praise the name of the Lord." The reference to "the name of the Lord," the Pope remarked, "in biblical language indicates the person of God himself, his living and active presence in human history." All of history, "from the rising of the sun to its setting," is under his case, and "Lord stoops down attentively to us in our smallness and need."

This psalm, the Pope observed, contrasts the greatness of God-- incomparably superior to man-- with the Lord's willingness to be "very close to his creatures who are suffering." He said that the closing of the psalm prefigures the words of the Magnificat, in which the Virgin Mary praises the God who "contemplates the humility of his servant."

After this catechetical address, the Pope greeted the groups of pilgrims attending the audience, using 13 different languages. He devoted particular attention to a group from Russia, saying: "I give you and your beloved country a special apostolic blessing." The Russian group, led by Moscow Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, later announced that they had brought Pope Benedict an invitation to visit Russia.