The Church Fathers - Gregorian Chant - Kyrie Eleison

Christianity Not a 'European Faith,' Pope Tells Audience

Vatican, Nov. 28 (CWNews.com) - During his weekly public audience on November 28, Pope Benedict XVI, exposed the error in the belief, widespread today, that "Christianity is a European religion that was subsequently exported" to other cultures.

In his remarks to the 8,000 people who assembled in the Vatican's Paul VI auditorium, the Holy Father concentrated on St. Ephrem the Syrian, noting in the process that the origins of Christianity lie in "Jerusalem and the Semitic world."

Even today, the Pope continued, the Church "constantly draws nourishment" from its roots in the Old Testament-- which means the Semitic world. At the same time, the faith has inspired and shaped other cultures, not only in Europe but also in the Eastern world, through the influence of Christianity in the Byzantine Empire and in India, for instance.

The Pope spoke of St. Ephrem, a poet and theologian of the 4th century, as an example of "the one Christian faith's multiplicity of cultural form ever since its inception." St. Ephrem put his expressions of faith in artistic form, giving "poetry and liturgical hymns a didactic and catechetical character," he said.

The best known poet among the Church Fathers, St. Ephrem earned the title, "harp of Holy Spirit," the Pope told his audience. A deacon, he lived to serve in liturgical ministry, and his poetry served that purpose as well.

In his poetry St. Ephrem returned frequently to the theme of God as Creator, and instructed his readers that "nothing in Creation is isolated, and the world-- alongside Sacred Scripture-- is a Bible of God," the Pope said. The Syrian poet also placed a heavy emphasis on the role of the Virgin Mary, the Pope explained, because: "Just as there is no Redemption without Jesus, so there is no Incarnation without Mary."