Pope Benedict XVI's Journey to Savona and Genoa

Pope Benedict XVI has been on a pastoral visit to Savona and Genoa yesterday and today.  The Vatican page on the journey already has the Holy Father's words in Italian.

Lots of photos, as well as English translations of the Holy Father's various homilies and addresses in Savona and Genoa, can be found at Papa Ratzinger Forum.

In addition to the translations and articles posted there, Asia News has an article about the Holy Father's words today at the midday Angelus prayer, following a meeting with youth.  A full translation is also available from Zenit. 

The Asia News article also mentions some of his activities earlier in the day, including a visit to a statue of Our Lady of the Guard.  He said that he prays each day in front of a statue of Mary that is in the Vatican gardens by his predecessor Pope Benedict XV.  At the Angelus, the Holy Father emphasized the Genoa's universal vocation, as many missionaries have departed from it to other parts of the world.  After the prayer, he invoked the protection of Mary, Star of the Sea, over the youth, "that they may follow, with her help, the correct route through the often stormy sea of life."

In his homily at today's Mass, the Pope spoke of the Trinity, from the readings for today's Mass for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.

He said that today's feast invites us to contemplate the Lord and to go up the mountain as Moses did.  In doing so, we do not only escape from our problems, but we receive practical implications for life.  From the reality of God, we can derive a certain image of man by understanding the concept of what "person" means.  The human creature made in the image of God reflects God's make-up.

He said that the Vatican II Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes) and the encyclicals of Popes Paul VI, John XXIII, and John Paul II outline a social doctrine for the Church.  He outlined two fundamental options: (1) above all, the choice of God's primacy (putting God first -- not a generic God, but the God of the covenant) and (2) placing the person in relationship at the center of the discussion.  In a society strained by globalization and individualism, the Church offers this concept of koinonia (communion), which has its roots in Heaven in the One and Triune God.  The ecclesial community, he said, is like a sign of God who is love, whose name is deeply engraved in every person and in every experience of true solidarity. 

He encouraged people to look to the future with trust and to work towards building it together, avoiding factions and working towards the common good.  He concluded with a wish from Moses, from the day's Old Testament reading (Exodus 34:9, quoted here in the RSV): "Let the Lord, I pray thee, go in the midst of us . . . and take us for thy inheritance."