VATICAN - “Those who eat the Bread of Christ cannot remain indifferent before those who, even in our days, lack daily bread,” the Pope said in the Angelus, while he also expressed his continued support for the Chinese people suffering the aftermath of the earthquake.

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “The solemnity of Corpus Domini is celebrated in Italy and in various countries today. It was observed in the Vatican and in other countries Thursday. It is the feast of the Eucharist, the wondrous gift of Christ, who in the Last Supper wanted to leave us a memorial of his Passover, the sacrament of his Body and his Blood, pledge of his immense love for us.” With these words, the Holy Father Benedict XVI addressed the pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter’s Square on Sunday, May 25, for the recitation of the Angelus.
“The Creator and Lord of all things,” the Holy Father said, “became ‘a grain of wheat’ to be sown in our earth, in the furrow of our history; he became bread to be broken, shared, eaten; he became our food to give us life, his own divine life.” Benedict XVI then described the link between the Eucharist and the commitment to solidarity, saying, “the Eucharist is the school of charity and solidarity. Those who eat the Bread of Christ cannot remain indifferent before those who, even in our days, lack daily bread. Many parents are barely able to provide for themselves and their children. It is a grave and growing problem that the international community finds hard to solve. The Church does not only pray ‘give us this day our daily bread,’ but, following the Lord's example, works in every way ‘to multiply the five loaves and two fish’ with countless humanitarian efforts and sharing so that no one remains without the necessities of life.”
At the close of his address, the Pope expressed his hope that the feast of Corpus Domini “be an occasion to grow in this concrete attention to our brothers, especially the poor,” through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, as “from her, the Son of God took his flesh and blood.” He also invited all faithful to join in the celebration of the close of the month of Mary, which will take place on Saturday, May 31, at 8:00pm in Saint Peter’s Square.
After the Angelus, the Holy Father offered a special greeting to the Chinese-speaking pilgrims present in Rome for the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China and to all those Chinese suffering from the results of the aftershocks that have occurred in recent days. These were the Pope’s comments: “With joy, I greet the Chinese-speaking pilgrims who have come to Rome from all over Italy on the occasion of the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China. I entrust to God's mercy all of your countrymen who died in the earthquake that recently struck a vast area of your homeland. I renew my personal nearness to those who are experiencing hours of anxiety and tribulation. Thanks to the fraternal solidarity of all, the populations of these zones can soon return to the normality of daily life. Together with you I ask Mary, Help of Christians, Our Lady of Sheshan, to support ‘the efforts of those who, among their daily toil, continue to believe, to hope, to love so that they never fear to speak of Jesus to the world and of the world to Jesus,’ ever remaining ‘credible witnesses’ of his love and ‘keeping themselves united with the rock of Peter on which the Church is built.’” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 26/5/2008; righe 40, parole 555)