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Catholic News Service reported yesterday that Pope Benedict commemorated the 20th anniversary of a peaceful revolt that brought down the communist regime during his trip to the Czech Republic.

The pope urged people in the Czech Republic to rediscover the spiritual and moral values that sustained their struggle for freedom, according to CNS.

“In gatherings Sept. 26-28 with political, social, cultural and religious leaders as well as the Catholic faithful, the pope delivered a message of hope meant to inspire both the country’s majority of nonbelievers and the minority Catholic community,” CNS reported. “Central to his message was that no society, no matter how democratic, could ever maintain a healthy and ethical sense of freedom without guidance from the truth found in God and the wisdom of faith.”

The video above is from the Vatican’s YouTube channel. It reports that the pope said:

“The Church in this country has been truly blessed with a remarkable array of missionaries and martyrs, as well as contemplative saints, among whom I would single out St. Agnes of Bohemia, whose canonization just 20 years ago providentially heralded the liberation of this country from atheist oppression,” he said during the farewell ceremony in Prague.

For more coverage, visit the Catholic News Service Web site.