VATICAN - Pope, at the Regina Caeli: “it is the merciful love of God that solidly unites the Church, today as yesterday, and that makes humanity a single family,” calling for firm and concrete action to prevent and eliminate every form of discrimination and intolerance

Castel Gandolfo (Agenzia Fides) – On Sunday, April 19, Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday), and the fourth anniversary of his election as Pontiff, the Holy Father Benedict XVI led the recitation of the Regina Caeli at the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo, where he has spent several days of rest after the Easter celebrations. Prior to the Regina Caeli, the Pope renewed his “fervent Easter wishes” and thanked all those who had expressed their affection and spiritual closeness for Easter, for his birthday (April 16), and for his fourth anniversary of election to the Chair of Peter. “I thank the Lord for this symphony of so much affection. As I was able to affirm recently, I never feel alone. Even more in this singular week, which, for the liturgy, constitutes a single day, I experienced the communion that surrounds and sustains me: a spiritual solidarity, essentially nourished by prayer, which is manifested in thousands of ways. From my colleagues in the Roman Curia to the parishes that are geographically most distant, we Catholics form -- and we must feel that we are -- one family, animated by the same sentiments of the first Christian community.”
Recalling the text from the Acts of the Apostles proclaimed on this Sunday, Benedict XVI mentioned that “The communion of the first Christians had the risen Christ as true center and foundation...Resurrected, Jesus grants a new unity to his followers, stronger than before, invincible, because it is based not on human resources, but on divine mercy, which makes them all feel loved and forgiven by him. Therefore it is the merciful love of God that solidly unites the Church, today as yesterday, and that makes humanity a single family, divine love, which through Jesus crucified and risen forgives our sins and renews us interiorly.” Benedict XVI then recalled John Paul II's decision to dedicate the Second Sunday of Easter to the Divine Mercy, pointing to “the risen Christ as the font of confidence and hope.” The Pope then asked the faithful to entrust his service to the Church to Mary, under the invocation of “Queen of Heaven,” “ knowing that her royalty is like that of her Son: all love, and merciful love.”
After the Regina Caeli, the Holy Father congratulated “the brothers and sisters of the Eastern Churches that, following the Julian calendar, celebrate Holy Easter today.” He then recalled the opening of the Conference in Geneva, on the 2001 Durban Declaration against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia: “This is an important initiative because still today, despite the lessons of history, these deplorable phenomena continue... These affirmations lead to the demand for firm and concrete action, at the national and international levels, to prevent and eliminate every form of discrimination and intolerance. There must be a vast educational undertaking that exalts the dignity of the person and teaches fundamental rights. The Church, for her part, repeats that only the recognition of the dignity of man, created in the image and likeness of God, can constitute a secure reference for such a task. From this common origin, in fact, there flows a common human destiny that must awaken in everyone and all a strong sense of solidarity and responsibility.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 20/4/2009)