Pope, at audience, says God intervenes in history to save oppressed

Published: 2003-12-10

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- God watches over each person and all peoples, intervening to save those who are oppressed and to judge those who do evil, Pope John Paul II said. "God is present in history, taking the part of the just and of victims," he said Dec. 10 at his weekly general audience. Continuing a series of audience talks about the psalms and canticles used in the church's evening prayer, the pope focused on a hymn of praise from the Book of Revelation. "Our prayer," he said, "must invoke and give praise for divine action, for the effective justice of the Lord and for his glory obtained with his triumph over evil." The canticle from the 19th chapter of Revelation begins with a "festive hymn of praise" sung by "a great multitude in heaven" giving witness to the fact that "the Lord is not indifferent like an impassive and remote emperor before the events of human history."

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