By John Thavis
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- At a Mass to close the Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist, Pope Benedict XVI defended priestly celibacy and expressed his "deep sadness" that Chinese bishops were not allowed to attend the assembly.

The synod's work called on all Catholics to revive their commitment of faith and understand that "no dichotomy is admissible between faith and life," the pope said in a sermon Oct. 23.

The Mass, celebrated in a packed St. Peter's Square, brought together several threads that have tied together the pontificates of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict:

-- The pope formally ended the Year of the Eucharist and the synod, both projects convened by his predecessor to refocus on the basic elements of the faith.

-- He canonized five new saints and said they exemplified how the Eucharist was "the source of holiness and spiritual nourishment for our mission in the world." All the new saints' causes were advanced under Pope John Paul.

-- He celebrated World Mission Sunday, an event for which Pope John Paul wrote a message before his death, and reminded Catholics of the sacrifice made by missionaries around the globe.

Wearing white vestments embroidered with small gold bees -- a traditional symbol of purity and wisdom -- the pope processed slowly through the crowd at the start of the liturgy, preceded by more than 300 bishops.

As tens of thousands of pilgrims applauded, sun broke through the morning fog that hung over the square, lighting up giant portraits of the new saints that hung from the facade of St. Peter's Basilica.

In his sermon, the pope sent greetings to the four Chinese bishops who were not given permission to travel to Rome for the synod. He said the "suffering path" of their church communities was in the hearts of synod participants.

"With deep sadness we feel the absence of their representatives. I would like to assure the Chinese bishops that we are close to them in prayer, and to their priests and faithful," he said.

In his remarks about the synod's work, the pope touched briefly on the issue of priestly celibacy, which was strongly affirmed by the synod despite acknowledgment of a priest shortage in some parts of the world.

"The celibacy that priests have received as a precious gift and the sign of undivided love toward God and neighbor is founded on the eucharistic mystery, celebrated and adored," the pope said.

"Eucharistic spirituality must also be the interior motor of all activity, and no dichotomy is admissible between faith and life in their mission of Christian animation in the world," he said.

After listening for three weeks as the bishops looked for ways to express the Eucharist's importance, the pope offered his own brief explanation. In the Eucharist, he said, Catholics contemplate how Christ fulfilled his own commandment to love God and to love one's neighbor as oneself.

"And this love of his, he communicates to us when we are nourished by his body and his blood," he said.

Then he defined sainthood by saying a saint is "someone who is so fascinated by the beauty of God and by his perfect truth that he is progressively transformed by it. For this beauty and this truth he is ready to renounce everything, even himself."

The pope pronounced the canonization formula at the beginning of the Mass, smiling as pilgrims from Chile, Ukraine, Poland and Italy applauded the new saints from their church communities. He delivered his sermon in the languages of all four countries.

The newly canonized were:

-- St. Jozef Bilczewski, 1860-1923. During World War I, as Polish archbishop of Lviv, in what is now Ukraine, he helped numerous Catholics, Orthodox and Jews.

-- St. Zygmunt Gorazdowski, 1845-1920, also a Pole. As a priest in Lviv, he was known as the "priest of the homeless," founding two homes for the hungry and destitute. He also founded a home for abandoned children and single mothers with children. In 1884, he founded the Sisters of Mercy of St Joseph.

-- St. Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, 1901-1952. After growing up in poverty in Chile, he became a Jesuit priest and began teaching and working with the poor. He would roam the streets with his green pickup truck searching for homeless children to take to the shelter he founded. He eventually founded the Hogar de Cristo movement, which provides vocational training and other services for young people.

-- St. Felice da Nicosia, 1715-1787. As a Capuchin friar in Sicily, he often was humiliated, even by his fellow brothers, for his illiteracy. He collected donations for the monastery and visited jailed prisoners every Sunday.

-- St. Gaetano Catanoso, 1879-1963. The Italian founder of the Congregation of the Daughters of St. Veronica, he was dedicated to the holy face of Christ. He revived Marian and eucharistic devotions in his local parish and founded an organization to help subsidize education for poor seminarians.

The pope said the new saints illustrated a point frequently made at the synod, that from the Eucharist springs witness to the Gospel and a missionary spirit.

Citing Pope John Paul's message for World Mission Sunday, he said the Eucharist "urges the Christian to be 'broken bread' for others and to work for a more just and more fraternal world."

In the name of Christ, the pope said, missionaries today "proclaim and witness the Gospel, at times even to the sacrifice of life."

"Dear friends, we must start again from the Eucharist," he said.

About 350 cardinals, bishops and priests, who were seated in sections flanking the altar in front of the basilica, concelebrated the Mass, which lasted two and a half hours.

The synod, after one bishop voiced strong doubts about the liturgical propriety of large concelebrations, had asked for study of the question.

It was the first time Pope Benedict presided over a canonization Mass, and the liturgy was similar to those celebrated by Pope John Paul.

One change was that the portraits of the saints on the basilica facade were visible throughout the Mass. Under Pope John Paul, the portraits were covered by drapes that fell at the moment of canonization, a dramatic touch that usually generated a long burst of applause.

Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops