Pope: Seeing with Mary's eyes helps people and cultures walk in peace
Pope Leo concludes the 26th International
Mariological Marian Congress with a speech in the Paul Audience VI
Hall, stressing that the Virgin Mary continues to open doors, build
bridges, tear down walls, and help humanity live in harmony amid
diversity.
By Daniele Piccini
"Contemplating the mystery of God and of history through the inner
gaze of Mary shields us from the distortions of propaganda, ideology,
and toxic information—none of which can ever offer a word that is both
unarmed and disarming. Mary's gaze opens us instead to divine grace, the
only true path to enable people, nations, and cultures to walk together
in peace."
By highlighting how listening to the Word of God opens the Church to
synodality, Pope Leo XIV summarized in his closing address the key
themes and outcomes of the 26th International Mariological Marian
Congress. The event, held in Rome at the Antonianum Auditorium from
September 3rd to 6th, was organized by the Pontifical International
Marian Academy.
Over four days, approximately 600 mariology scholars from across the
globe explored the Congress’s theme: "Jubilee and Synodality: A Church
with a Marian Face and Practice."
In the
Paul VI Audience Hall, the Pope greets the participants of the
International Mariological Marian Congress (@Vatican Media)
Two Biblical categories
The
Pope pointed out that the title of the Congress itself reflects two
“biblical categories”—jubilee and synodality—which powerfully express
the vocation and mission of the Mother of the Lord. In her, he said, “we
can read the vocation of the Church itself.” Mary thus stands as a
model for the Church. “The Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church,” the Pope
said, “teaches us how to be the holy people of God.”
From this
model, he added, arises the significance of the Pontifical Academy
itself, which “rightly reminds us that the Church always has a Marian
face and a Marian way of acting.”
A “Jubilee Woman”
Mary,
explained Pope Leo, is a “jubilee woman” because she always begins anew
from listening to the Word of God. She does so with the attitude
described by St. Augustine in Book X of the Confessions—not by expecting
a desired answer, but by choosing to desire what she hears from God.
Like Mary, the Church must never grow weary of engaging in dialogue with
God or of asking difficult, even unsettling questions—as Mary did at
the Annunciation: “How will this come about?”
A “Synodal Woman”
Mary
is also, the Pope said, a “synodal woman”, because she is “fully and
maternally involved in the action of the Holy Spirit.” The Spirit always
calls those who were once divided—whether by mutual distrust or even
outright hostility—to walk together as brothers and sisters. Mary is the
“perfect collaborator of the Holy Spirit,” he continued. She never
ceases to open doors, build bridges, tear down walls, and help humanity
live in peace and harmony amid diversity.
A Church with the face of Mary
From
these two attributes—jubilee and synodality—flows the mission of a
Church with a Marian heart. Such a Church, the Pope said, “continually
deepens its understanding of the hierarchy of truths of the faith,
integrating reason and emotion, body and soul, the universal and the
local, the individual and the community, humanity and the cosmos.”
A Marian piety and practice, the Pope emphasized, brings the Church’s
charitable mission into concrete reality (@Vatican Media)
A Marian piety and practice, he emphasized, brings the Church’s
charitable mission into concrete reality: taking seriously all aspects
of human life, especially those of the poor and the marginalized.
Mary: A path for cultural dialogue
Before leading the assembly in the Ave Maria, the Pope thanked
the Pontifical Academy for its valuable ecclesial service—presenting
the image and message of the Mother of Jesus as a path of encounter and
dialogue among cultures.
Thank you for reading our article. You can keep up-to-date by subscribing to our daily newsletter. Just click here
John 8:12 “I am the lights of the world, whoever follows me will have the light of life” 1John 4:8 "God is Love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him."
No comments:
Post a Comment