Papal preacher focuses on St. Athanasius
March 12, 2012
Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the preacher of the pontifical household, devoted the first of his four annual Lenten sermons to St. Athanasius. Pope Benedict and leaders of the Roman Curia attended the sermon.
"The dogma that Athanasius helps us to 'reawaken' and to have shine in all its glory is that of the divinity of Christ; for it he suffered exile seven times," the Capuchin Franciscan friar preached. "The bishop of Alexandria was thoroughly convinced that he was not the discoverer of this truth. On the contrary, all his work would consist in showing that this has always been the faith of the Church, that the truth is not new but what is new is the opposing heresy. His chief merit, in this field, has been that of removing the obstacles that had impeded up to then a full recognition without reticence of the divinity of Christ in the Greek cultural context."
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