Monday September 20, 2010
Pope Urges British Bishops: ‘Present the Gospel in its Fullness’
By Thaddeus M. Baklinski
ROME, September 20, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On the final day of his visit to the UK, Pope Benedict XVI met with the bishops of England, Scotland and Wales in the chapel of Birmingham’s Oscott College. The pope urged the bishops to present the gospel “in it’s fullness,” and not shy away from “including those elements” that oppose the modern world and are not politically correct.
“As you proclaim the coming of the Kingdom, with its promise of hope for the poor and the needy, the sick and the elderly, the unborn and the neglected, be sure to present in its fullness the life-giving message of the Gospel, including those elements which call into question the widespread assumptions of today’s culture,” the Holy Father said.
The pope recalled the focus on “the urgent need to proclaim the Gospel afresh in a highly secularized environment” of the recent ad limina visits of the UK episcopal conferences to Rome, and remarked that his present journey though the UK revealed “how deep a thirst there is among the British people for the Good News of Jesus Christ.”
During his address to the bishops of the UK the Pope also spoke on clerical sex abuse, saying “the shameful abuse of children and young people by priests and religious … seriously undermines the moral credibility of Church leaders.”
“I know that you have taken serious steps to remedy this situation, to ensure that children are effectively protected from harm and to deal properly and transparently with allegations as they arise,” the pope said, adding that “if we are to be effective Christian leaders, we must live lives of the utmost integrity, humility and holiness.”