Everyone, even atheists, has human desire to know who God is

By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS)—The desire to see and know God is innate in everyone, even non-believers, Pope Benedict said. But it’s especially important people don’t just seek God when they need him, but make room for him throughout their busy lives, he said during his weekly general audience in the Vatican’s Paul VI hall January 16.

Pilgrims from Poland hold their national flag as they attend Pope Benedict XVI’s general audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican Jan 16. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

“The desire to really know God, that is, to see the face of God, exists in everyone, even atheists.”  It can even be an unconscious desire to simply know “who is he, what is he for us?” the pope said. That yearning finds fulfilment in Christ, he said; as Jesus told his disciples, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

The pope said it was important to follow Christ “not just those moments when we need him,” but to “find room for him in our daily tasks” and throughout one’s life. “The splendour of the divine countenance is the source of life, it’s what lets one see reality” and its light is a sure guide in life, he said.

At the end of his catechesis, the pope made an appeal for people to join the observance of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity from January 18-25. The theme for this year’s week is “What does God require of us?”

“I invite everyone to pray, ceaselessly asking God for the great gift of unity among the disciples of the Lord. May the inexhaustible power of the Holy Spirit encourage us in a sincere commitment to the search for unity, so that together we may all profess that Jesus is the Saviour of the world,” he said.

A video report on the pope’s audience remarks is available at www.youtube.com/user/CatholicNewsService.

The text of the pope’s audience remarks in English will be posted online at www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2013/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20130116_en.html.