PORTO, Portugal, APRIL 21, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI has been «tireless in the analysis and correction of abuses» since taking the Chair of Peter, according to a bishop who will host the Pope next month in his diocese.
Bishop Manuel José Clemente of Porto said this Sunday at an event to give thanks for the fifth anniversary of the Holy Father’s election as Pope, which was Monday. The Bishop of Rome will visit Porto during his May 11-14 trip to Portugal.
«We thank God for Peter’s ministry, and we also thank him for the Pontiff who at present gives it a name and figure,» the bishop said.
Bishop Clemente affirmed that the German Pontiff «has brought to the pontificate, after the great figure of John Paul II, the very timely contribution of his very strong personality, in the doctrinal and practical aspects.»
He further praised the Pope’s «acute and applied intelligence, both in the ecclesial tradition that he lived for many years, from Germany to Rome, as well as in the preparation, realization and implementation of the Second Vatican Council, faithfully interpreted.»
«The present Pontiff is without a doubt one of the voices that is most heard and one of the most followed thinkers by all those who do not desist in understanding and going deeper into all that regards humanity,» Bishop Clemente contended.
Unparalleled example
The Portuguese prelate also referred to the Holy Father’s attitude toward sin in the Church.
«We recall his meditations for the Via Crucis in the Colosseum of Rome, shortly before John Paul II’s death,» he said. «There he alluded with strong words — and perhaps unexpected — to the grave falsehoods observed sometimes in the Church and in her ministers, which it is necessary to correct and overcome.»
Since he assumed his pontificate, «Benedict XVI has been tireless in the analysis and correction of abuses,» the bishop said, «reaffirming himself in the same sense and giving the world an unparalleled example of institutional reform, which will surely encourage others to do the same in their own environments.»
«Nor has Benedict XVI been lacking in lucidity and consistency in addressing other sensitive topics, from the ecumenical and interreligious realm to all that refers to human life, from its conception to natural death,» Bishop Clemente said.
With all this, the 61-year-old bishop invited the faithful to «thank God for the present pontificate.» And he said that everyone must «work so that his teaching is better known and has greater consequences in our personal and community life.»
