I met Pope Benedict XVI in 2011 on the occasion of World Youth Day in Madrid. There were more than a million Catholic youths from all over the world. The Pope asked his young friends to “be prudent and wise, build your lives on the firm foundation which is Christ” and to “listen closely to the words of the Lord.”
His writings on Christian faith and doctrine have guided the Church over the years, even before he became Pope.
The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI has given rise to a controversy but those who understand the Catholic Church understand that it is not the individual who matters. According to the words of the Pope himself, in a homily given in 2005: “My real programme of governance is not to do my own will, not to pursue my own ideas, but to listen, together with the whole Church, to the word and the will of the Lord, to be guided by Him, so that He himself will lead the Church at this hour of our history.”
Anu Liza Thomas,
Hyderabad
