CASSINO, Italy – Pope Benedict XVI made a pilgrimage Sunday to Monte Cassino, the site of a decisive World War II battle in southern Italy and home to a rebuilt Benedictine monastery particularly dear to the pontiff.
Benedict was celebrating an open-air Mass followed by vespers in the Monte Cassino abbey, founded in 529 by St. Benedict of Nursia. Known as the father of Western monasticism, St. Benedict is a patron saint of Europe.
Later, the German-born Benedict was to visit the nearby Polish military cemetery, containing the remains of Polish troops who fought alongside the Allies and died trying to take control of the abbey and surrounding positions from German troops. This year marks the 65th anniversary of the 1944 Allied bombardment that leveled Monte Cassino and the battle for the abbey, which was decisive for the Allied advance on Rome, 80 miles 130 kilometers to the north.
Benedict cited the anniversary of Monte Cassino's destruction before thousands of people gathered for the Mass in Cassino, at the foot of a rocky hill on which the monastery sits
Benedict said the area had known "moments of great suffering," during the war and that the Polish, German and Commonwealth cemeteries which surround the town were "silent witnesses" to the pain of its people.
The pope has spoken frequently about his strong affinity for St. Benedict, the 6th century hermit and monk who wrote the "Rule of St. Benedict," which became the basis for the Benedictine order and heavily influenced western Christian monasticism.
In his first general audience as pope, in April 2005, Benedict said he had chosen to call himself Pope Benedict XVI to pay homage to St. Benedict, who he said was a "fundamental point of reference for European unity and a strong reminder of the undeniable Christian roots of her culture and civilization."
During his homily Sunday, the pope cited the saint's commitment to both prayer and work, and said he was particularly concerned about the plight of workers in Cassino, home to a Fiat plant at risk amid the economic downturn.
"The wound of unemployment, which afflicts this land, compels those responsible for public life — businessmen and others who are able — to find valid solutions to the labor crisis, creating new jobs so families can be protected," Benedict said.
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