Catechesis of Benedict XVI on St. Athanasius of Alexandria during the general audience

Athanasius Defended God's Closeness, Says Pope

Address Focused on Arianism

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 20, 2007 (ZENIT.org)

		St. Athanasius of Alexandria

St. Athanasius' defense of Christ's divinity was a battle to show that God is accessible, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope explained this today at the general audience held in Paul VI Hall. The Holy Father continued with his series of catechesis on the Church Fathers, reflecting today on St. Athanasius, who lived from about A.D. 300 to 373.

Athanasius was one of the participants in the Council of Nicaea, which "dealt with many questions, foremost among them, the serious problems that had originated some years before with the preaching of the deacon Arian," the Pontiff said.

Arius' "theory threatened authentic faith in Christ, declaring that the 'logos' was not true God, but a created God, a being not quite God and not quite man, but in the middle. And therefore the true God remained inaccessible to us," he added.

The Pope explained that in the saint's most famous work, "Athanasius says, in a phrase that has become well known, that the Word of God 'became man so that we might become God. He manifested himself by means of a body in order that we might perceive the unseen Father. He endured shame from men that we might inherit immortality.'

"The fundamental idea of the entire theological battle of St. Athanasius was that God is accessible. He is not a secondary God, he is true God, and through our communion with Christ we can truly unite ourselves to God. He truly became 'God with us.'"

Benedict XVI said that "we have many reasons to thank St. Athanasius," who "has always been esteemed as a model of orthodoxy, in the East as well as in the West."

		St. Athanasius of Alexandria

Benedict XVI says that St. Athanasius was a best-selling author in ancient Christianity and his widely read biography of Anthony the Abbot contributed to the spread of monasticism.
He said: "Athanasius is also the author of […] a text that constituted a 'best seller' of ancient Christian literature: the 'Life of Anthony,' the biography of St. Anthony the Abbot, written shortly after the death of this saint, while the bishop of Alexandria was in exile, living with the monks of the Egyptian desert."

Due to his conflict with proponents of the Arian heresy, Athanasius was forced to flee his diocese five times, spending 17 years in exile, the Holy Father explained.

"St. Anthony, with his spiritual strength, was the most important person in sustaining the faith of St. Athanasius," the Pontiff added. "Athanasius was a friend of the great hermit, and even received one of the two sheepskins left by Anthony as his inheritance, together with the mantel that he himself had given him.

"The biography of this beloved figure in Christian tradition contributed greatly to the spread of monasticism in the East and the West, as it became very popular and was soon translated twice in Latin and then in other Eastern languages.

"Athanasius showed that he had a clear awareness of the influence that the figure of Anthony could have on the Christian people."

Referring to his encyclical, "Deus Caritas Est," Benedict XVI affirmed that Athanasius' and Anthony's lives show us "that 'those who draw near to God do not withdraw from men, but rather become truly close to them.'"

(Text courtesy of Zenit)

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