Castel Gandolfo, Aug. 17 (CWNews.com) - At his regular weekly public audience on Wednesday, August 17, Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) expressed his sorrow over the death of Brother Roger, the founder of the ecumenical Taize community, who was stabbed to death during a prayer service in France the previous evening. [See the separate CWN news story.]
The violent death of the 90-year-old ecumenical leader "touches me all the more," the Pontiff said, "in that only yesterday I received a moving letter from him." In the letter, the Pope revealed, Brother Roger had said that he was sorry his health would not permit him to attend World Youth Day ceremonies, but "with all his heart he would be wth the Pope and all other who were in Cologne."
Brother Roger had been in the front row among worshippers at the funeral of Pope John Paul II (bio - news). The late Pontiff, who had been particularly close to Brother Roger, visited the Taize community in October 1986.
During his stay in Castel Gandolfo, Pope Benedict has planned ordinarily to make the short trip to the Vatican for his Wednesday public audiences. But in light of his departure for Cologne tomorrow, the August 17 audience was held at the papal summer residence. Several hundred people-- including a large number of young people who were en route to World Youth Day-- gathered in the courtyard of the apostolic palace as the Pope appeared from a balcony.
In a reference to his coming trip to Germany, the Pope asked all the faithful to imitate the Magi, "true worshippers of God, giving Him the first place in your lives and being ardent witnesses of his love before all men." He also asked for special prayers for "the youth of the world" during the WYD ceremonies.
The papal audience was unusually brief, and Pope Benedict appeared distracted at times. He did not follow his usual practice of greeting pilgrims after making his remarks, but prepared to return to his apartment. Then the Holy Father turned, smiling in embarrassment, and said: "You can see that I am already in Cologne. I forgot the most important thing." He then gave the crowd his blessing, smiled again, and waved goodbye.
