VATICAN - Papal Letter addressed to participants of the Seventh General Assembly of the Catholic Biblical Federation on the theme “The Word of God - Source of Reconciliation, Justice and Peace”

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “ The theme of your General Assembly draws attention to how God's word can restore humanity in reconciliation, justice and peace. This is the word of life that the Church has to offer to a broken world.” These words are part of a Papal Letter which the Holy Father Benedict XVI addressed to participants of the Seventh General Assembly of the Catholic Biblical Federation being held in Dar es Salaam 24 June to 3 July 2008, on the theme “The Word of God - Source of Reconciliation, Justice and Peace”
The Pope writes “ Christianity is the Religion of the Word of God, "not a written and mute word, but incarnate and living. It is only Christ, the eternal Word of the living God, who through the Holy Spirit, can open our minds to understand the Scriptures ”. He encourages the participants to “ not only to continue to make known the profound relevance of the Scriptures to the contemporary experience of Catholics and particularly to the younger generations, but also to lead them to interpret them from the central perspective of Christ and his Paschal mystery. The community of believers can be the leaven of reconciliation, but only if "she remains docile to the Spirit and bears witness to the Gospel, only if she carries the Cross like Jesus and with Jesus”.
After urging Christians to “ the openness of Mary who received the Word of God "in her heart and in her body and gave Life to the world"” the Holy Father concludes his Letter as follows “ May the peoples of Africa receive this Word as the life-giving source of reconciliation and justice, and especially of the true peace that comes only from the Risen Lord. Commending to the same Virgin Mary, the Seat of Wisdom, all those gathered for this General Assembly, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing. ”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 25/6/2008)