Catholic World News News Feature
Papal audience focus on St. Gregory of Nyssa August 29, 2007
At his weekly public audience on August 29, Pope Benedict XVI continued his series of talks on the early teachers of the Church, turning his focus to St. Gregory of Nyssa.
St. Gregory was the "younger brother and spiritual heir of St. Basil," observed the Pope, who had devoted a Wednesday audience talk in July to St. Basil. St. Gregory, he continued, played key roles in the councils of Nicea and Constantinople.
"For Gregory," the Pontiff told the crowd in St. Peter's Square, "the purpose of all learning and culture is the discernment of the supreme human good, the truth that enables us to find authentic and lasting fulfillment." The writings of the 4th-century bishop highlight the glory of creation, the Pope said, but his deeper message involves "our responsibility to cultivate our inner beauty, which is a participation in the uncreated beauty of the Creator."
Pope Benedict arrived at the Vatican late Wednesday morning after a helicopter ride from Castel Gandolfo; he returned his his summer residence after the midday audience.
