Fr. Michael Williams

The Holy Father’s visit to the UK has been a time when Pope Benedict XVI, the successor of the Apostle Saint Peter, has reinvigorated our Faith. Like Saint Paul Benedict has been named by the Lord as a ‘herald and apostle’ of the Good News of Jesus Christ to build up his brothers and sisters in the Faith.

At the start of his trip Benedict praised many of the qualities of British life and history. But he also warned of ‘aggressive forms of secularism’. St Augustine once said, ‘Throughout the history of humanity, there will be constant pressure on man to reject God, even to the point of hating Him’. There are many individuals and groups today at work in our society who seek to remove God from the public consciousness, who pressurize people not to believe.

But as Catholics, Christians and Believers, the Holy Father has called us to be witnesses to our beliefs and not allow ourselves to be sidelined. He calls on all believers of the different religions to stand up for this fundamental human right- the right of religious freedom and expression. He says for Catholics this will often be demanding. Last night he said at the prayer vigil in Hyde Park:

‘In our own time, the price to be paid for fidelity to the Gospel is no longer being hanged, drawn and quartered but it often involves being dismissed out of hand, ridiculed or parodied. And yet, the Church cannot withdraw from the task of proclaiming Christ and his Gospel as saving truth, the source of our ultimate happiness as individuals and as the foundation of a just and humane society’.

Cardinal John Henry Newman, who will be beatified today, also said that our Faith, is not just a private reality. One of Newman’s most famous phrases is, ‘God has created me to do him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another’. God has committed to each one of us married or single, priest or religious, young or old, ‘some definite service’ for Him in building up the Kingdom of God in our society.