Pope says world will recognize Christ only if church is united

Published: 2006-11-22

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Through the church, Christ continues to be present in the world, but the world will recognize him only if members of the church are united, Pope Benedict XVI said. At his Nov. 22 weekly general audience, held under a strong downpour in St. Peter's Square, the pope concluded his series of talks about St. Paul. The pope interrupted his speech briefly to express his hope that God would stop the rain, but it continued to soak the estimated 20,000 people in the square for another 15 minutes. At the end of the audience, he thanked the crowd for its patience despite the rain. In his main audience talk, Pope Benedict said the church was a central concern of St. Paul's even though the apostle's first encounters with the Christian community in Jerusalem were "counterproductive" and, in fact, he persecuted the community. But when Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus, Jesus made it clear that "in persecuting the church, he was persecuting Christ himself," the pope said. After Paul's conversion, he realized that "the church is truly the body of Christ, an extension, as it were, of the presence of Christ in the world."

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