VATICAN CITY, MAY 5, 2011, (Zenit.org).- Here is the translation of the video-message sent by Benedict XVI to the Santo Domingo International Book Fair, which is under way in the Dominican Republic through May 24. The Holy See was invited to the book fair as a guest of honor.
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I greet cordially the president of the Republic, the authorities present, the participants in the inaugural ceremony of the 14th International Book Fair of Santo Domingo and the whole beloved Dominican nation. I thank those responsible for this initiative for the kind invitation they addressed to the Holy See to take part in it as guest of honor, precisely in this year in which is commemorated the fifth centenary of the canonical erection of the Diocese of Santo Domingo, one of the first three in American lands. Without a doubt, this prestigious event will give the opportunity to many persons to appreciate a significant exhibition of the literary production of the Catholic Church and her great contribution to the Dominican culture and people, which is appreciated in figures such as Monsignor Francisco Arnaiz and Father José Luis Sáez, to whom the fair has allocated an important place.
The Venerable Pope Pius XII said that the task of a good book is to educate to a more profound understanding of things, to think and to reflect.
God himself willed that the Word should assume our weak nature, to make himself comprehensible and close to men, and he decided that the one and eternal Word should be expressed, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in human words that could be written in the form of a book so that, through sacred Scriptures, the Good News of salvation would reach all. May he also help you all to contribute effectively to preserve and diffuse, in the best of the human spirit through the books, the everlasting legacy for all men. I pray to the Almighty to give abundant fruits to the Book Fair and to bless the sons and daughters of that country.
[Translation by ZENIT]
