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Pope Benedict XVI- General Audiences |
General
Audience
On St. Maximus of Turin
"The Intimate and Vital Union of the Bishop With His City"
H.H. Benedict XVI
October 31, 2007
www.zenit.org
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
Between the end of the fourth century and the beginning of the fifth,
another Father of the Church -- after St. Ambrose of Milan --
contributed decisively to the spread and consolidation of Christianity
in northern Italy: He is St. Maximus, who was the bishop of Turin in
398, one year after the death of Ambrose. There is very little
information about him; but, we do have a collection of about 90 Sermons.
In these the intimate and vital union of the bishop with his city
emerges, which bears witness to an evident point of contact between the
episcopal ministry of Ambrose and that of Maximus.
At that time, serious tensions upset civil coexistence. In this context,
Maximus succeeded in uniting the Christian population around him as
pastor and teacher. The city was threatened by scattered groups of
barbarians who, having entered through the eastern passes, were
advancing toward the western Alps. For this reason Turin was permanently
surrounded by military garrisons, which became, during critical moments,
a refuge for the people fleeing the countryside and the unprotected
urban centers.
The interventions of Maximus in the face of this situation bears witness
to his commitment to do something about civil degradation and
disaggregation. Even though it is difficult to determine the social
composition of the people that his Sermons addressed, it appears that
his preaching, to overcome the risk of being generic, was addressed
specifically to a select nucleus of the Christian community of Turin,
comprised of rich landowners who owned land in the countryside and a
home in the city. It was a lucid pastoral decision of the bishop, who
envisaged this kind of preaching as the most effective path to maintain
and reinforce his ties with the people.
To illustrate Maximus' ministry in Turin from this perspective, I wish
to refer to Sermons 17 and 18 as examples. They are dedicated to a theme
that is always current, that of wealth and poverty in Christian
communities. Sharp tensions ran through the city on account of this
topic. Wealth was accumulated and hidden. "One does not think of the
needs of others," the bishop said bitterly in Sermon 17.
"In fact, not only do many Christians not distribute what they have, but
they also plunder the possessions of others. Not only do they fail to
bring to the feet of the apostles the money they collect, but they even
drive away from the feet of the priests their brethren who seek help."
And he concludes: "Many guests and pilgrims come to our city. Do what
you promised" in good faith, "so that what was said of Ananias may not
be said of you: 'You have not lied to men, but to God'" (Sermon 17,
2-3).
In the next Sermon, No. 18, Maximus criticizes the common forms of
profiting from the misfortunes of others. "Tell me, Christian," the
bishop asked his faithful, "tell me: Why have you taken the loot
abandoned by the plunderers? Why have you brought to your house a savage
and contaminated so-called profit?" "But," he continued, "perhaps you
say you bought it, and in this way think you can avoid being accused of
avarice. But this is no way to establish a buyer-seller relationship.
Buying is something good, but in times of peace, when one sells freely,
and not when one sells what has been looted in plunder. ... Therefore,
act like Christians and like citizens who buy back things in order to
return them" (Sermon 18,3).
Maximus preached of an intimate relationship between the duties of a
Christian and those of a citizen. For him, to live a Christian life also
meant taking on civic commitments. And on the other hand, the Christian
who, "despite the fact that he could live on the fruits of his own
labor, takes someone else's loot with the fierceness of beasts," or who
"ambushes his neighbor, attempting day by day to claw at his neighbor's
fence and take possession of his crops," isn't even similar to a fox who
beheads chickens, but rather a wolf who preys on pigs (Sermon 41,4).
Compared to the prudent defensive attitude taken by Ambrose to justify
his famous initiative of rescuing prisoners of war, the historical
changes that have since taken place in the relationship between a bishop
and civic institutions can clearly be seen. Supported in his time by a
law that urged Christians to redeem prisoners of war, Maximus, facing
the collapse of the civil authority of the Roman Empire, felt fully
authorized to exercise a true and proper power of control over the city.
This power would become broader and more effective to the point of
substituting for the absence of magistrates and civic institutions.
Maximus not only dedicated himself to reigniting in the faithful a
traditional love for their native city, but also proclaimed that it was
their duty to take on fiscal responsibilities, as serious and unpleasant
as they may be (Sermon 26, 2).
In short, the tone and substance of his Sermons assume a mature and
growing awareness of the political responsibility of a bishop in
specific historical circumstances. He was the city's "watchtower." Are
not the watchtowers, Maximus asked in Sermon 92, "the blessed bishops
who, being raised, so to speak, on an elevated rock of wisdom to defend
the people, see from afar the evils that are approaching?"
In Sermon 89, the bishop of Turin illustrates to the faithful his task,
availing himself of a singular comparison between the bishop's function
and that of bees: "Like the bee," he said, the bishops "observe corporal
chastity, offer the food of celestial life, use the sting of the law.
They are pure in order to sanctify, gentle in order to comfort and
severe in order to punish." That is how St. Maximus described the
mission of a bishop in his time.
Definitively, historical and literary analysis demonstrates his growing
awareness of the political responsibility of ecclesiastical authorities,
in a context in which he was in fact substituting for civil authority.
This is the development of the bishop's ministry in northern Italy,
beginning with Eusebius, who lived in Vercelli "like a monk," to Maximus,
who "like a sentinel" was situated on the highest rock in the city.
Obviously, the historical, cultural and social context today is
profoundly different. The context today is that which my venerated
predecessor, Pope John Paul II, described in his postsynodal exhortation
"Ecclesia in Europa," in which he offers a detailed analysis of the
challenges and signs of hope for Europe today (6-22). In any case,
independent of changed conditions, the duties of the believer toward his
city and homeland remain valid. The intimate relationship between the
"honest citizen" and the "good Christian" continues to stand.
In conclusion, I wish to recall what the pastoral constitution "Gaudium
et Spes" says to clarify one of the most important aspects of the unity
of Christian life: the consistency between faith and behavior, between
Gospel and culture. The Council exhorts the faithful "to strive to
discharge their earthly duties conscientiously and in response to the
Gospel spirit. They are mistaken who, knowing that we have here no
abiding city but seek one which is to come, think that they may
therefore shirk their earthly responsibilities. For they are forgetting
that by the faith itself they are more obliged than ever to measure up
to these duties, each according to his proper vocation" (No. 43).
Following the magisterium of St. Maximus and many other Fathers of the
Church, let us make the Council's hope ours as well, that the faithful
may ever more "exercise all their earthly activities and their humane,
domestic, professional, social and technical enterprises by gathering
them into one vital synthesis with religious values, under whose supreme
direction all things are harmonized unto God's glory" (ibid.), and in
this way for the good of mankind.
[Translation by ZENIT]
[After the audience, the Pope greeted the people in various languages.
In English, he said:]
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In our catechesis on the Fathers of the Early Church, we now turn from
Saint Eusebius of Vercelli and Saint Ambrose of Milan to another great
Bishop of Northern Italy, Saint Maximus of Turin. We meet Maximus as
Bishop of Turin in 398, a year after the death of Ambrose. It was a time
of growing civil unrest, when Turin had become a centre of refuge for
those fleeing before the barbarian invaders. His Homilies reflect a
growing awareness of the responsibility of Christians to promote a just
social order grounded in solidarity with the poor. Addressed
specifically to the wealthy, the Homilies inculcate concern for those in
need, readiness to sacrifice for the common good and commitment to
public service. Like many other Bishops of the time, Maximus found
himself called upon to take on greater civic authority and
responsibility.
His example and teaching remind us that, whatever the age in which they
live, Christian believers are called upon to carry out faithfully their
duties as citizens, working to imbue temporal society with the spirit of
the Gospel, and striving to achieve a vital synthesis between their
duties as citizens of the earthly city and their commitment to work for
the coming of God’s Kingdom of holiness, justice and peace.
I warmly greet the Sisters of the Resurrection present in Rome for the
beatification of their foundress Mother Celine Chludjinska Borzencka.
May the Lord grant them the grace of following generously in her
footsteps.
I also welcome the members of the Risso Kossei-kai Buddhist group from
Japan. Upon all the English-speaking visitors, including those from
England, Wales, Ireland, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, Canada, the
Philippines and the United States, I invoke God’s abundant blessings.
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