Knowing God created them makes humans great, pope says

Published: 2007-08-08

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Knowing they have been created by God and striving to live united with him make humans great, said Pope Benedict XVI. Returning briefly to the Vatican Aug. 8 for his weekly general audience, the pope dedicated his talk to the life and writings of St. Gregory Nazianzen, the fourth-century doctor of the church. Pope Benedict told the estimated 7,500 people gathered in the Vatican audience hall that, while people should learn from St. Gregory's theological work, "let us also be moved by the love conveyed in his poetry." The pope described St. Gregory as a "refined and sensitive" man who suffered greatly because of the doctrinal disputes that divided the Christian community of his day. For St. Gregory, the pope said, "theology was not a purely human reflection and even less only the fruit of complicated speculation, but derived from a life of prayer and holiness, from an assiduous dialogue with God."

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