Scottish Catholic Observer

POPE Benedict XVI said last Sunday he hopes that the assassination of Pakistan’s sole Christian minister last week will spur efforts to safeguard religious freedom for all people.

Pope Benedict, who had met the minister at the Vatican last year, said he hoped that the ‘moving sacrifice of’ Shahbaz Bhatti would ‘wake up consciences to find the courage to work for religious freedom and equal dignity’ for all in Pakistan.

Appeal

The Pope also lamented the tense situation in several African and Asian countries, saying he was following events with apprehension. In particular the Holy Father appealed for the victims of the on going fighting in Libya between rebels and forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

The Pope said that his ‘heartfelt thoughts go out to Libya, where recent clashes have caused many deaths and a growing humanitarian crisis.’ He added that he was offering his prayers and his closeness to all the victims and to those who find themselves in situations of anguish, and he called for aid and help for the stricken populations.

Building lives

The Holy Father was speaking following the Angelus on Sunday in St Peter’s Square where he also underlined the need for people to build their lives, ‘not on sand but on a solid basis.’

Pope Benedict continued by saying that the sands of power, success and money, were not the way to find happiness or stability. “May we build up our future upon the solid foundation of the Gospel of Jesus, and find fulfilment and happiness and eternal salvation,” he said.

Before greeting pilgrims in various languages including English, the Holy Father urged people ‘to provide some space for the Word of God.’ “It is a precious form of help”, he said, “to protect yourself against the superficial activism that can satisfy your pride for a time, but which in the end leaves you empty and unsatisfied.”

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