Volunteer service essential to society, pope tells charity workers

Published: 2007-09-10

VIENNA, Austria (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI met with Austrian volunteers and told them their generous and unpaid service to others was essential to modern society. "Love of neighbor" can never simply be delegated to the state but demands personal commitment in order to keep its human dimension, the pope said. He spoke Sept. 9 in a Viennese concert hall to some 1,800 representatives of volunteer organizations, including those run by the church and by nonchurch organizations in Austria. It was the last major event of a three-day papal visit to the country. The 80-year-old pope, smiling and walking briskly, entered the gilded hall to an ovation. He took his seat next to Austrian President Heinz Fischer, whom church sources said had pressed for the papal encounter with volunteers. Austria has a strong history of charitable action inside and outside the country, and in a talk the pope praised what he called its remarkable "culture of volunteerism."

Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .