杏MAP导航

By Devin Watkins

杏MAP导航 Francis held an audience on Saturday with members of the Spanish World Heritage Cities Group, which was set up in 1993 to defend their cities鈥� historic and cultural heritage.

Welcoming the representatives of various Spanish cities to Vatican City State, the 杏MAP导航 said the world鈥檚 smallest state preserves a rich heritage, as does the cities of which they serve as guardians.

In his prepared remarks, he noted that humanity鈥檚 desire to protect its cultural heritage should encompass both the artistic-cultural field and the 鈥渋ntegrity of the person who receives this legacy and of the peoples who have transmitted it to us.鈥�

鈥淗istorical situations 鈥� with their lights and shadows,鈥� he said, 鈥渟peak to us of real men and women, of genuine feelings, which should be lessons of life for us, rather than of pieces in a museum.鈥�

Learning lessons of the past

杏MAP导航 Francis prayed that God might help the guardians of the cultural heritage of Spain鈥檚 cities transmit their beauty and the 鈥渇aith, hope, and charity of your people.鈥�

鈥淚t is the sufferings and aspirations of the people who over time have built their cities, the mixing of cultures and civilizations that have followed one another in them, and naturally their faith in God, that make their hearts beat with passion,鈥� he said.

Cities and their cultural monuments invite residents and visitors alike to reflect on the strength and prudence of those who built them.

鈥淢ay they feel challenged by the lesson of justice and temperance that each historical situation encompasses,鈥� he said.

Striving toward the future

Instead of leaving the past locked in a museum, the heritage of cities should help people today to build a better future.

鈥淲e will thus speak of peoples, of persons, of a history that is not merely contemplated, but realized, with one eye on the past and the other on the future, to always have our hands in the present that questions us every day.鈥�