MEETING WITH VOLUNTEER ASSOCIATIONS
ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Wiener Konzerthaus, Vienna
Sunday, 9 September 2007
Mr President,
Archbishop Kothgasser,
Dear Volunteers and Honorary Members
of the different Charitable Agencies in Austria,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
and above all: Dear young friends,
I have looked forward with particular joy to this meeting, which takes place near the end of my visit to Austria. And naturally […]

Says State and Politics Cannot Replace It
Benedict XVI says that human societies need volunteers.
The Pope said this Sunday, as he closed his seventh international pastoral trip, in a meeting with Austrian volunteers in the Konzerthaus, Vienna’s renowned concert hall.
The Holy Father delivered a discourse after an address from Austrian President Heinz Fischer.
“Love of neighbor is […]

Report Shows Big Downside to Family Disintegration
By Father John Flynn, L.C.
Marriage continues to decline in the United States, bringing with it numerous adverse consequences for individuals, and society in general. This is one of the main conclusions of a recent study.
The National Marriage Report released its annual publication “The State of Our Unions: The Social […]

New Film Initiative Aims to Promote True Humanism
Benedict XVI is inviting filmmakers to develop quality cinema that favors universal values, dialogue between peoples and promotes a culture of peace.
The Pope offered his support for a filmmaking initiative launched at the international symposium, “Filming the Ineffable 2007,” in a message sent to Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, […]

The state-approved church of China has a new bishop who has received Vatican approval. A notice was read at all Sunday Masses that Father Paolo Xiao Zejiang’s ordination as the new coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Guizhou, southern China, has Holy See approval, AsiaNews reported.  He was ordained Saturday in the Guiyang Cathedral in […]

Here is a Vatican translation of the address Benedict XVI gave Sunday when he visited Heiligenkreuz Abbey.
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APOSTOLIC VISIT TO AUSTRIA
Address of the Holy Father
Visit to Heiligenkreuz Abbey
Sunday, 9 September 2007
Most Reverend Father Abbot,
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate,
Dear Cistercian Monks of Heiligenkreuz,
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Consecrated Life,
Distinguished Guests and Friends of the Monastery […]

This German prince lived during the last part of the twelfth and first part of the thirteenth centuries. He married St. Elizabeth of Hungary when he was twenty-one and she was just fourteen. The marriage had been arranged by their parents. This was the custom. But they both loved God, and he gave them great […]