Pope makes his farewells after
three months in Castel Gandolfo
Adapted from
Sept. 29, 2012
Left, the Pope greets CG authorities; right, he addresses the staff of the Pontifical Villas and their families. (Enlarged from Vatican Radio thumbnails).
Pope Benedict XVI expressed his thanks and bade farewell Saturday morning to the civilian and military authorities of Castel Gandolfo, along with the city's religious communities, as he prepares to return to the Vatican after spending almost three months in the papal summer residence here. He returns to the Vatican on Monday afternoon, Oct. 3.
He praised the efforts of all those who assisted and gave hospitality to him, his colleagues, and all the guests and Pilgrims who travel to the resort town to meet him.
He asked them to continue their spiritual closeness to him in prayer. Mayor Maurizio Colacchi promised to pray for him and for his intentions, especially for families in need and for the sick.
The Pope had special thanks for the police and military forces that provide security and transportation during his stay at the Papal summer retreat. These include the Papal Gendarmerie, Italian State Police, the Swiss Guard and the 31st Squadron of the Italian Air Force.
Here is a translation of the Pope's remarks:
Dear brothers and sisters,
I am happy to welcomed you at the end of my summer stay in Castel Gandolfo. It has allowed me to live a time of study, prayer, and rest, during which I have noted with admiration the solicitude and attention of all the persons involved in guaranteeing assistance and hospitality to me and my co-workers, as well as the guests and pilgrims who have come here to meet the Successor of Peter.
I express my great appreciation to each and everyone for your profuse dedication in the course of the past three months. In the summertime, Castel Gandolfo is confirmed as a 'second seat' for the Bishop of Rome, that views with Rome in the capacity to welcome visitors and pilgrims who come to pray the Angelus on Sundays and for the General Audiences on Wednesday.
I greet with affection and gratitude, first of all, the Bishop of Albano, Mons. Marcello Semeraro. I greet the parish priest of Castel Gandolfo and his co-workers, along with the religious and lay communities, male and female, in the territory.
I ask you all to continue making me feel your spiritual closeness even after my departure, just as you have during the time I have been here. I am thankful for this, and I encourage you to continue with trust and joy your service to Christ and his Gospel.
I also greet the civilian authorities of Castel Gandolfo in the person of the Mayor. As I thank you for the readiness and concern you have shown, I assure you of remembrance in prayer for all of your community, especially for families in difficulty and for the sick.
I am also pleased to greet the officials of the various offices of the Vatican Governatorate - the Gendarmerie Corps, the florists, the technical and health services - as well as the forces of Italian law and order and the officials and airmen of the 31st Squadron of the Military Aeronautic forces.
May the Lord reqard you all with abundant heavenly duties and watch over you and your families.
Dear brothers and sisters, I thank you for your presence today at this meeting. The best way to remember each other is in prayer: I will never fail to pray for you and your intentions, and I trust that you will do the same for me.
To the Virgin Mary whom we venerate in the month of October as the Queen of the Holy Rosary, I entrust each of you, your families and friends. May she with her loving regard always accompany and sustain us in our journey along the road of justice and truth.
With these sentiments, I impart the Apostolic Blessing on each of you present and to all your dear ones.
On Friday afternoon, the Pope made his farewells to the the staff of the Pontifical Villas at Castel Gandolfo, along with their families.
In what has become a traditional greeting and leave-taking at the end of the Pope’s sojourn in the ancient hill town outside Rome, Pope Benedict XVI thanked all those who work to make the Papal summer retreat at Castel Gandolfo safe, pleasant and relaxing.
“Everything passes in this world!” he said. “So it is also with serene and peaceful times,” as he described the months from July through the end of the present month of September, in “the beautiful setting of Castel Gandolfo... (where) he could “breathe a family atmosphere and great cordiality.”
The Holy Father also looked ahead to his upcoming visit to Loreto next Tuesday, to mark the 50th anniversary of the pilgrimage of Blessed John XXIII to the Marian shrine a week before the Second Vatican Council opened, to entrust the Council to the Mother of God, Mary.
In which connection, he referred to the coming General Assembly of the Bishops' Synod to discuss the tasks of New Evangelization, and the opening of the Year of Faith starting with the 50th anniversary of the Vatican-II opening on Oct. 11.
Here is a full translation of his remarks:
Dear brothers and sisters,
Everything passes away in this world! Everything that begins, even the most positive and the most beautiful, inevitably carries with it its own conclusion. So it is too for the serene and tranquil time that I have spent here with you, in the beautiful setting of Castel Gandolfo, where once more, I have breathed a climate of familiarity and of genuine cordiality.
Our meeting today, which has become a gratifying custom, gives me the opportunity to thank each and everyone of you for the generous service you carry out in this Pontifical Residence.
My special and affectionate greeting goes to Dott. Saverio Petrillo, general director of the Pontifical Villas, with gratitude for his kind words which he addressed to me in your name. And a dear greeting to all the personnel and their families. May the Lord, rich with goodness, bless you all and keep you in his love.
The month of September which is coming to an end is always the time for a positive new launch after the summer vacation. For your children, school begins again, and for all of you, it means more intense and assiduous work.
Even in the Church, for many Christian communities throughout the world, God the Father gives us the beginning of a new pastoral year.
But we also have some events that are very significant.
I think of my coming visit to Loreto, with which I wish to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the pilgrimage by Blessed John XXIII to that Marian shrine in order to entrust the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council to Mary.
There is the General Assembly of the Bishops' Synod which will reflect on the New Evangelization in today's Church and in the world.
And finally, on the 50th anniversary of the Council opening - the start of the Year of Faith. which I decreed to help every man open up his heart and his life to Jesus our Lord and to his Word of salvation.
Thus I entrust to your prayers, dear friends, these important ecclesial events that we are called upon to live. May the Lord assist you and help each one to grow in the faith, to rediscover Jesus as the precious and genuine pearl, the treasure of our life.
May the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church and ours, whom we invoke confidently in the coming month of October with the daily recitation of the Holy Rosary, always protect and sustain you to realize all the good intentions in your heart.
Let my blessing also accompany you, which I impart on each and everyone, to your families and all who are dear to you, especially those who are sick and suffering. (He gives the Blessing)
Arrivederci!
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 30/09/2012 10:29]