Pope says being a disciple means having a relationship with Christ

Published: 2006-07-05

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Being a disciple of Christ means having a personal relationship with him, being convinced of his love, and being an unshakable witness to faith in him, Pope Benedict XVI said. At his July 5 general audience, Pope Benedict spoke about the example of discipleship given by St. John, the apostle referred to in the Gospels as "the disciple Jesus loved." The audience with an estimated 20,000 people in St. Peter's Square was the only general audience Pope Benedict had scheduled for July. He was to travel July 8-9 to Valencia, Spain, for the Fifth World Meeting of Families, return to the Vatican for two days, then head to the northern Italian Alps for a July 11-28 vacation. Joaquin Navarro-Valls, the papal spokesman, said July 4 that the pope would go from Les Combes in northern Italy July 28 directly to the papal summer villa at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.

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