Pope says God's plan always has been to save people from sin

Published: 2005-07-06

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- From the beginning of time, God's plan has been to save people from sin and embrace them as his children, Pope Benedict XVI said at his general audience. The plan of salvation is God's "great secret project" that he had in mind "before the foundation of the world," the pope said. It is "our predestination to be children of God" through Jesus Christ, he said in his July 6 catechesis reflecting on the first chapter of St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians. At one point in his address to pilgrims in St. Peter's Square, Pope Benedict lifted his eyes from his prepared text and told his audience he was moved every time he meditated on "this truth that from eternity we were before the eyes of God and he decided to save us."

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