VATICAN (CWN) Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the political thought of St Augustine at his weekly public audience on February 20. The Holy Father had devoted two earlier audiences in January to St Augustine, before interrupting his series of talks on the Church Fathers for two weeks. On Ash Wednesday, February 6, the Pope spoke about the season of Lent; the following Wednesday, February 13, there was no general audience because the Pope was making his own lenten retreat.
Resuming his series, Pope Benedict said that St Augustine’s City of God, is “a decisive work for the development of Western political thought and for the history of Christian theology”. In it, the Pontiff said, the Bishop of Hippo offered an authentically Catholic approach to the distinction between Church and state.
“Even today,” the Pope observed, “this text is a source for defining the lay life and the Church’s jurisdiction, the true and great hope that gives us faith.” He suggested that the work deserves a fresh examination, since it provides answers to questions about the role of the Church in a secular society.
Speaking more broadly about St Augustine’s theological writing, the Pope observed that while he was a prodigious intellect, the saint “always gave preference to the spread of the Christian message to ordinary persons over learned theological works”. He concentrated his effort on the mission of informing the ordinary faithful and preserving the unity of Catholic doctrine.
St Augustine, the Pope said, was keenly aware that “only in the unity of the Church is it truly possible for us all to have a relationship with God and that peace in the world grows.” Because of the unusually large crowd in attendance, the papal audience was held in two stages. Pope Benedict first greeted a group in St Peter’s Basilica, then went to the Paul VI auditorium to speak to the 5000 people gathered there.
After his prepared remarks, as he greeted the various groups present at the audience, the Pope used sign language to welcome a group of deaf pilgrims from Warsaw, Poland.