Rimini Meeting

THE POPE: “A PROTAGONIST
IS ONE WHO GIVES HIS LIFE TO GOD”
The Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples opened with a precious gift: a message from Benedict XVI, sent by the Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, to the Bishop of Rimini, Francesco Lambiasi. Here are some extracts

What does it mean to be protagonist of your own life and that of the world? The question has become more urgent today, because often the alternative to protagonism seems to be a life without meaning, the gray anonymity of the many “nobodies” who are lost in the folds of a formless mass, sadly unable to emerge with a noteworthy face. So the question needs to be focused better and could be formulated thus: What gives a man a face; what makes him unmistakable, and gives full dignity to his life? The society and the culture we are immersed in, and whose means of communication are a powerful amplifier, are largely dominated by the conviction that notoriety is an essential component of personal realization. The aim of many is to arouse public attention for themselves at any cost. […]
Man today, as in all times, tends towards his own happiness and pursues it wherever he thinks it can be found. So the true question hidden behind the word “protagonism” is: In what does happiness consist? What can truly lead man to achieve it? […]
Man is made for the eternal fulfillment of his existence. This is well beyond simple worldly achievement and is not in contradiction with the humility of the conditions in which his pilgrimage on earth progresses. Man’s fulfillment is knowledge of God, by whom every person has been created and to whom everyone tends with every fiber of his being. In order to achieve this, neither fame nor success before the crowds is needed. This, therefore, is the protagonism that the title of this year’s Meeting wants to propose. A protagonist of his own life is one who gives his life to God, who calls him to cooperate in the universal plan of salvation.
The Meeting wants to reaffirm that only Christ can reveal to man his true dignity and communicate to him the authentic meaning of his life. When a believer follows Him submissively, he is able to leave a lasting mark in history. It is the mark of Love of which he becomes witness precisely because he has been taken hold of by Love. And so, what was possible for St. Paul becomes possible for each one of us, too. It is not important if God’s plan foresees a narrow range of action for us; it is not important whether we live within the walls of a monastery or are immersed in many and varied activities in the world; it is not important whether we are fathers or mothers of a family or consecrated people or priests. God makes use of us according to His plan of love, according to ways that He decides, and asks us to respond to the action of His Spirit; He wants us as co-workers for the realization of His Kingdom. To everyone, He says, “Come and follow me,” and only by following Him does man come to know the true exaltation of his “I.”