On Pentecost the Holy Spirit descends and the Church is born. The Church is the community of those who are "begotten from above", "by water and the Spirit", as we read in John's Gospel (cf. Jn 3:3,5). The Christian cormmunity is not primarily the result of the free decision of believers; at its origin there is first and foremost the gratuitous initiative of the Love of God, who offers the gift of the Holy Spirit. The assent of faith to this gift of love is a "response" to grace and is itself motivated by grace. Therefore, between the Holy Spirit and the Church there exists a deep and indissoluble bond. St. Irenaeus says in this regard: "Wherever the Church is, the Spirit of God is also there; and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, the Church is there and every grace" (Adv. Haer. III, 24, 1). Then we can understand St. Augustine's daring expression: "The Holy Spirit is possessed in so far as one loves the Church" (In Io., 32, 8).

Pope John Paul II
General Audience, June 17, 1998