Pope tells Italian police to recognize God in all people

Published: 2008-01-11

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Meeting with the Italian police who ensure his security when he is outside the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI said humanity will struggle to see itself as one family unless people believe in God and recognize all were created by him. "Let us be clear: Without the transcendent foundation, which is God, society risks becoming simply a group of neighbors (and) ceases being a community of brothers and sisters called to form one large family," the pope said Jan. 11. He asked the officers to make sure that in all their dealings with the public they consciously seek "the face of a brother or a sister whom God places on your path, a friend, even if unknown, to be welcomed and assisted with patient listening." Seeing everyone as a creature of God, one recognizes the supreme value of that person, the pope told the officers.

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