The Pope, in today’s General Audience:

Saints also disagreed among themselves and holiness does not imply not making mistakes, but rather is one’s capacity to convert and repent, to start all over, as the lives of some of Saint Paul’s collaborators show, i.e. people who devoted their lives to spreading the Gospel.

Before 6,000 people gathered in the Paul VI Hall for the general audience, the Pope today spoke of the behaviour of Saint Paul’s companions, especially Barnabas, Silvanus and Apollos, who devoted themselves to evangelisation.

Benedict XVI stressed first of all that all three were part of a wider group. “The apostle is open to collaboration; he does not try to do everything alone but relies of several helpers,” including women like Phoebe and Prisca. Among these the Pope focused on three, who played a particularly significant role in evangelisation.

The Pope said that Barnabas was one of the first Christians who dedicated himself to evangelisation in Tarsus and Antioch and almost “returned” Paul to the Church. He went on mission with the apostle for what came to be known as the first missionary trip of the apostle of the peoples.

“They were together at the so-called Council of Jerusalem, where the apostles decided to separate circumcision from the Christian identity”, thus opening the Church to the pagans.

Paul and Barnabas “quarrelled however during their second missionary trip” over which comrade to bring along.

For Benedict XVI this shows that “even among the saints there were disagreements” and this is “comforting”.