Pave Benedikt er nå i Østerrike på tredje dagen og nå (søndag formiddag) skal han feire messe i Stefansdomen i Wien. På denne adressen kan man lese om mye av det han har gjort og bl.a. se bilder av en stor utendørs messe i Mariazell i går – i pøsende regnvær. (Det er første gang jeg ser bilder av biskoper med (plast)regnbeskyttelse over sine liturgiske klær.) Det andre bildet viser paven i bønn foran den berømte mariastatuen i Mariazell.
Jeg tar likevel bare med det paven sa under vesperen lørdag, retta til prester og ordensfolk. Der snakka han om the three “evangelical counsels” of poverty, chastity and obedience.
“Jesus is concretely present to us only in his Body, the Church,” the pope said, paraphrasing the early 20th century theologian Romano Guardini. “As a result, obedience to God’s will, obedience to Jesus Christ, must be, really and practically, humble obedience to the church.”
Benedict argued that this obedience does not restrict human liberty, but allows people “to discover their deepest identity and interior freedom.” It’s an especially important bit of testimony, he said, in a world that craves “self-realization” and “self-determination.”
Benedict said that the promise of poverty taken by men and women consecrated to God’s service implies a special closeness to the poor of the world. “For all Christians, but especially for priests and religious, both as individuals and in community, the issue of poverty and the poor must be the object of a constant and serious examination of conscience,” he said.
In a departure from his prepared text, the pope added that this is a special challenge for priests and religious because, by the standards of the truly poor, they live a relatively comfortable life.
Turning to chastity, Benedict offered a strong defense of priestly celibacy as a way of putting oneself “completely and unreservedly at the service of God’s Kingdom.” Celibacy does not mean being “aloof from interpersonal relationships,” the pope said, but rather the capacity to “open up a space” for God’s presence in a me-first world.
“Dear priests and religious, you have an important contribution to make: amid so much greed, possessiveness, consumerism and the cult of the individual, we strive to show selfless love for men and women,” he said. (Fra John Allen.)