Papal plea for end to violence
July 25, 2011
At his midday audience on Sunday, July 24, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his "profound sadness" at the news of a terrorist slaughter in Norway, prayed for the victims, and issued "my heartfelt appeal to abandon the ways of violence and to shun the logic of evil."
Earlier in his appearance, the Holy Father had spoken about the first Scripture reading from the Sunday liturgy, in which King Solomon asked God for the gift of "an understanding heart." In context, the Pope said, the "heart" refers to "the core of the individual: the seat of his intentions and judgments--in other words, his conscience." Thus Solomon was asking for the wisdom to discern good from evil.
"Each of us has a conscience, which makes us, in a certain sense, a king," the Pope continued. Each individual governs his own actions, following his own conscience. So each should pray to God for the "capacity to listen to the voice of truth, humbly to follow its guidance."
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Further information:
- Angelus: Moral Responsibility of Those in Government (VIS)
- Abandon Forever the Ways of Violence (VIS)
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