(08 Nov 09 - RV) A ''poor and free church”, capable of speaking to 'contemporary' mankind and of addressing the challenges of today: the economic crisis, immigration, interfaith dialogue. But above all the Church that is the faithful and patient instrument of God’s love for humanity.


This was the message launched by Pope Benedict XVI from the Cathedral of Brescia, the birth place of his predecessor Pope Paul VI, a message taken from the spiritual testament of the Montini Pope, but one that Pope Benedict said is still relevant today.


Four giants screens relayed Pope Benedict’s words to the tens of thousands who filled the rain-swept square before the Cathedral, named in honour of the Brescian man who steered the Church through the Second Vatican Council and its difficult aftermath.


Pope Benedict told them that the encounter and dialogue between the Church and humanity was particularly important to Paul VI in every stage of his life, from the early years of priesthood to his pontificate.


In his homily Pope Benedict XVI dwelt on Paul VI’s encyclical Ecclesiam Suam. The major challenges that face the Church, he said, are those represented by its confrontation with other faiths and a growing secularism that leads to forgetfulness of God.


The Pope said that the question of the Church, its role in the plan for our salvation and its relationship with the world today remain absolutely central. As Paul VI wrote; “more than ever humanity is in need of the precious example of the Churches love for mankind which is inseparable from that of Christ.''


In the teachings of Paul VI, Pope Benedict said we can always find valuable information to address the challenges of the present, above all, the economic crisis, immigration, education of youth.


At the same time, Pope Montini lost no opportunity to emphasize the primacy of God in human experience or to promote the consecrated life.


Benedict XVI’s last words from Brescia in fact were for the priests of the Diocese. Marking this Year for Priests, he recalled the words of Paul VI to the Major Seminary on December 7, 1968:


"Many - he said - expect the Pope to make dramatic gestures and be energetically decisive. The Pope does not believe that he must follow another line that is not that of confidence in Jesus Christ, He will calm the storm ... It is not about waiting inertly but of watchful waiting in prayer. This is the condition that Jesus has chosen for us, so that he can operate fully. Even the Pope needs to be helped by prayer”.