St. Augustine a teacher and model for Cardinal Pietro Parolin--Aleteia

Praises his support for those who can put an end to war with words, and maintain peace with peace

The pope’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, was in Pavia, Italy, today to close festivities in honor of St. Augustine, whose feast is celebrated August 28.

In an interview aired by the Pavia, City of St. Augustine Committee, Cardinal Parolin spoke of the great Doctor of the Church as “a model” for him.

The cardinal said that he considers this saint to be a “friend, a teacher, and a model” who inspires him in his activity at the Holy See. He pointed especially to St. Augustine’s “dialogue” with the society of his time, and spoke of the Church’s task of “promoting harmony and solidarity.”

The cardinal referred to one of the quotes of the saint, in which he says that “the biggest claim to fame [for a leader in war] is putting an end to the war by using words” and “maintaining peace through peace, not war.”

Our mission is to make St. Augustine known to the man of today, Cardinal Parolin reflected, but this goal is unattainable if we “don’t pray according to his spirituality and if we don’t live according to his deep experience of faith.”

Cardinal Parolin closed the festivities with a Mass celebrated at the tomb of St. Augustine in the Basilica of San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro.

The city of Pavia has been the home of the relics of St. Augustine of Hippo since the year 720.

In April 2007, Pope Benedict XVI went there on a pilgrimage. Pope Benedict is also deeply devoted to Augustinian thought, having done his doctoral dissertation on “The People and the House of God in Augustine’s Doctrine of the Church.”

A little earlier in the morning, the cardinal visited the premises of the Grafic Veneta publishing house in Trebaseleghe, in northern Italy. There, Cardinal Parolin attended the presentation of a book titled Saint John Paul II and Benedict XVI in Cadore. This book brings together pictures and testimonials of the presence of the two pontiffs in the Cadore Valley, in the heart of the mountainous region of the Dolomites, during their respective holidays.

Pope’s No. 2 says today’s saint is his “friend, teacher, and model”