Pope Francis emphasizes: the Church is a mother

September 03, 2014

Pope Francis devoted his September 3 general audience to the maternity of the Church.

“She is a true mother who gives us life in Christ and, in the communion of the Holy Spirit, brings us into a common life with our brothers and sisters,” he told the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

The “highest and most beautiful model” of the Church’s motherhood, he continued, is the Blessed Virgin Mary. “The birth of Jesus in the womb of Mary, in fact, is a prelude to the birth of every Christian in the womb of the Church … We are not orphans! The Church is mother, Mary is mother.”

After giving birth to Christians in baptism, the Church offers her children the “spiritual nourishment” of the Word of God and the sacraments. The Church, Pope Francis added, knows that she must protect her children from Satan and from spiritual dangers: “resist with the advice of the mother Church, resist with the help of mother Church, who as a good mother always accompanies her children in difficult moments.”

“Dear friends, this is the Church, this is the Church that we all love, this is the Church that I love: a mother who has at heart the welfare of her own children and who is capable of giving her life for them,” the Pope added.

 

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Further information:

• L’Udienza Generale (Holy See Press Office)
• Pope Francis: the Church is our mother, we are not orphans (Vatican Radio)