Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday called attention to World Blood Donor Day, celebrated on this coming Thursday, June 14th, under the sposorship of the World Health Organization. The Holy Father thanked everyone who gives blood, expressing his great appreciation for that form of solidarity, which, he said, is “indispensable to so many sick people.”
The Pope’s remarks came after the Angelus prayer with the faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square.
Speaking ahead of the traditional prayer of Marian devotion, the Holy Father recalled the great Eucharistic feast day marked in many places around the world on Sunday: the Solemnity of the Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ – the feast of Corpus Domini or Corpus Christi. The Pope discussed the importance of the Corpus Christi feast as a great public act of Eucharistic worship – evidenced especially in the many Eucharistic processions held in parishes and dioceses around the world. He also noted the emphasis the feast places on Eucharistic adoration as a central and integral part of the life of individual Christians, of faith communities and of the whole Church.
Pope on Corpus Christi