VATICAN CITY (Catholic Online) - We are pleased to present the spontaneous words spoken on Thursday evening by Pope Benedict XVI. He addressed them to a large crowd gathered in St. Peters Square on Thursday evening, October 11, 2012.

Most of those gathered were associated with the Italian Catholic Action movement, a wonderfully effective and faithful lay movement dedicated to offering the truths taught by the Catholic Church as leaven to then be worked into the bread of culture and civil society.

This gathering concluded an historic day when the Holy Father addressed the Bishops gathered in Synod, the crowds who joined with them - and the faithful throughout the world. It was the 50th Anniversary of the Second Vatican Council.  It was also the day when he inaugurated the Year of Faith.

The pastoral warmth, humility, living faith and genuine hope revealed in these impromptu remarks from the successor of the Apostle Peter are like a drink of water in the desert of despair which seems to describe our age.

This Pope is a treasure. He demonstrates the kind of living faith so vital to our own participation, no matter what our state in life, in the one mission of the Church.

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Pope Benedict VI  

Good evening to all of you and thank you for coming! Many thanks as well to Catholic Action for having organized tonight's vigil.

Fifty years ago tonight, I, too, was in this square, with my eyes turned toward this window, as the Good Pope, Pope John, spoke to us those unforgettable words - full of poetry, of goodness, words from his heart.

We were all happy that night and full of enthusiasm - the great ecumenical council had begun, and we were sure of a new springtime for the church, a new Pentecost with a new presence of the liberating grace of the Gospel.

We're happy today, too - we should carry joy in our hearts. I would say, however, that our joy is a more sober one, something more humble. Over these fifty years, we have learned and experienced that original sin exists, and that it translates itself into personal sins which can become structures of sin.

We have seen that even in the Lord's field there is discord, that even in the net of Peter we find bad fish, that human weakness is present even in the church, that the ship of the church journeys in the face of an opposing wind, amid storms that threaten the ship.

And sometimes we have thought that 'the Lord is asleep and has forgotten us.' But this is only one part of the experience of these fifty years. We've also been made to experience the presence of the Lord, the gifts of his goodness and strength.

The fire of the Holy Spirit, the fire of Christ is never one that devours nor a destructive one. It's a quiet fire, a small flame of goodness, of goodness and truth, that transforms with its light and warmth. We have seen that the Lord doesn't forget us - even today, his way is humble.

The Lord is present, he gives warmth to our hearts, shows us life, creates charisms of goodness and charity that shine in our world, which are for us a guarantee of the goodness of God.

Yes, Christ lives with us today and we can be happy because, even now, his goodness remains and is strong. And finally, I dare to make my own the unforgettable words of Pope John: 'When you go home, give your children a kiss and tell them that it's from the Pope.'

With this sense from my whole heart, I give my blessing to you.