{"id":8558,"date":"2014-10-29T15:12:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-29T15:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/the-churchs-mystery-its-both-visible-and-spiritual-pope-says-82569\/"},"modified":"2014-10-29T15:12:00","modified_gmt":"2014-10-29T15:12:00","slug":"the-churchs-mystery-its-both-visible-and-spiritual-pope-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/10\/the-churchs-mystery-its-both-visible-and-spiritual-pope-says\/","title":{"rendered":"The Church’s mystery: it’s both visible and spiritual, Pope says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

Vatican City, Oct 29, 2014 \/ 09:12 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- In his weekly general audience Pope Francis spoke of the visible actions carried out by the Church, explaining that they are an expression of her deeper spiritual reality rooted in the two natures of Christ.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe visible and the invisible of the Church are not opposed, but are rather integrated in the one Church,\u201d the Pope told those present in St. Peter\u2019s Square for his Oct. 29 general audience.<\/p>\n

\tThis, he said, \u201cis a reflection of the mystery of the person of Christ, who in his divine nature is inseparable from his human nature, which is placed entirely at the service of the divine plan to bring redemption and salvation to all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tIn his address Pope Francis continued his weekly catechesis on the Church, saying that although so far discussion has surrounded the Church\u2019s invisible, spiritual reality, she also has a visible reality that is crucial to her identity.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe know that the Church is also a visible reality, expressed in our parishes and communities, and in her institutional structures,\u201d the Roman Pontiff observed, saying that this visible aspect \u201cis itself mysterious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe mystery of the visible reality of the Church lies in the fact that it embraces \u201cthe countless and often hidden\u201d works of charity which are carried out by believers around the world, the Pope noted.<\/p>\n

\tHe emphasized how this visible structure is not only limited to the bishops or clergy, but rather it includes \u201call baptized people who believe, hope and love, doing good in the name of Jesus, and in this way bringing Him close to the life of our brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tBecause of this it\u2019s apparent that the visible and invisible aspects of the Church are not opposed, but are instead integrated in the one and only Church, the pontiff noted, saying that in order to understand this mystery, we must look to Jesus himself.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cJust as Christ\u2019s humanity serves his divine mission of salvation, so too, with the eyes of faith, we can understand how the Church\u2019s visible dimension is at the service of her deepest spiritual reality,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\tThe Church is called to be close to each person through her sacraments and witness to Christ in the world, the Pope continued, adding that this closeness must begin with the poorest, the marginalized, and those who suffer.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cLet us ask the Lord to enable us to grow in holiness and to be an ever more visible sign of his love for all mankind,\u201d he prayed, saying that it\u2019s the mission of the Church to bring \u201cthe compassionate and merciful gaze of Jesus\u201d to all mankind.<\/p>\n

\tPope Francis also spoke off-the cuff in an appeal for prayers for the 43 Mexican students who disappeared Sept. 26 in the Southern State of Guerrero.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI would like to raise a prayer and draw close in our hearts to the people of Mexico, who are suffering from the loss of these students and many similar problems. May our hearts be close to them in prayer at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe students, who attended Ayotzinapa teacher\u2019s school, a rural teacher training center which caters to poor and indigenous people, were supposedly pulled over and shot at by police in order to prevent them from participating in a demonstration protesting government education reforms, BBC News reports.<\/p>\n

\tAccording to BBC, the city\u2019s mayor, Jose Luis Abarca, allegedly ordered police to intercept the students to prevent them from interrupting a speech his wife was giving in Iguala, and were afterward turned over to a criminal group known as Guerrero Unidos.<\/p>\n

\tOut of two mass graves found in police searches so far, only the second holds the possibility of containing the remains of the 43 missing students.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vatican City, Oct 29, 2014 \/ 09:12 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- In his weekly general audience Pope Francis spoke of the visible actions carried out by the Church, explaining that they are an expression of her deeper spiritual reality rooted in the two natures…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vatican"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Church's mystery: it's both visible and spiritual, Pope says<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vatican City, Oct 29, 2014 \/ 09:12 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- In his weekly general audience Pope Francis spoke of the visible actions carried out by the Church, explaining that they are an expression of her deeper spiritual reality rooted in the two natures...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/10\/the-churchs-mystery-its-both-visible-and-spiritual-pope-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Church's mystery: it's both visible and spiritual, Pope says\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Vatican City, Oct 29, 2014 \/ 09:12 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- In his weekly general audience Pope Francis spoke of the visible actions carried out by the Church, explaining that they are an expression of her deeper spiritual reality rooted in the two natures...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/10\/the-churchs-mystery-its-both-visible-and-spiritual-pope-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-10-29T15:12:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/Pope_Francis_greets_pilgrims_during_his_Oct_29_2014_General_Audience_Credit_Daniel_Ibez_CNA.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/10\/the-churchs-mystery-its-both-visible-and-spiritual-pope-says\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/10\/the-churchs-mystery-its-both-visible-and-spiritual-pope-says\/\",\"name\":\"The Church's mystery: it's both visible and spiritual, Pope says\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-29T15:12:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-10-29T15:12:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"Vatican City, Oct 29, 2014 \/ 09:12 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- In his weekly general audience Pope Francis spoke of the visible actions carried out by the Church, explaining that they are an expression of her deeper spiritual reality rooted in the two natures...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/10\/the-churchs-mystery-its-both-visible-and-spiritual-pope-says\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/10\/the-churchs-mystery-its-both-visible-and-spiritual-pope-says\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/10\/the-churchs-mystery-its-both-visible-and-spiritual-pope-says\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Church’s mystery: it’s both visible and spiritual, Pope says\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\",\"name\":\"CNA Daily News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CNA Daily News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Church's mystery: it's both visible and spiritual, Pope says","description":"Vatican City, Oct 29, 2014 \/ 09:12 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- In his weekly general audience Pope Francis spoke of the visible actions carried out by the Church, explaining that they are an expression of her deeper spiritual reality rooted in the two natures...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/10\/the-churchs-mystery-its-both-visible-and-spiritual-pope-says\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Church's mystery: it's both visible and spiritual, Pope says","og_description":"Vatican City, Oct 29, 2014 \/ 09:12 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- In his weekly general audience Pope Francis spoke of the visible actions carried out by the Church, explaining that they are an expression of her deeper spiritual reality rooted in the two natures...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/10\/the-churchs-mystery-its-both-visible-and-spiritual-pope-says\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2014-10-29T15:12:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/Pope_Francis_greets_pilgrims_during_his_Oct_29_2014_General_Audience_Credit_Daniel_Ibez_CNA.jpg"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/10\/the-churchs-mystery-its-both-visible-and-spiritual-pope-says\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/10\/the-churchs-mystery-its-both-visible-and-spiritual-pope-says\/","name":"The Church's mystery: it's both visible and spiritual, Pope says","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-10-29T15:12:00+00:00","dateModified":"2014-10-29T15:12:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"Vatican City, Oct 29, 2014 \/ 09:12 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- In his weekly general audience Pope Francis spoke of the visible actions carried out by the Church, explaining that they are an expression of her deeper spiritual reality rooted in the two natures...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/10\/the-churchs-mystery-its-both-visible-and-spiritual-pope-says\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/10\/the-churchs-mystery-its-both-visible-and-spiritual-pope-says\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/10\/the-churchs-mystery-its-both-visible-and-spiritual-pope-says\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Church’s mystery: it’s both visible and spiritual, Pope says"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/","name":"Catholic News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1","name":"CNA Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CNA Daily News"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8558\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}