At 11:45am today, in the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father received in audience the Christian Life Community (CLC) and the Missionary Students League on the occasion of the opening of the National Convention of these two groups of Ignatian spirituality which is taking place beginning today and continuing until May 3, focused on the theme Beyond the walls.
Having distributed copies of the speech that had been prepared for this occasion, the Pope responded to four questions posed by the participants.
While awaiting the transcription of the discourse which the Pope shared with the participants, below is the text of the prepared speech which was distributed.
Dear brothers and sisters,
I greet all of you, who represent the Community of Christian Life of Italy, and the exponents of various groups of Ignatian spirituality, close to your formative tradition and committed in evangelization and human promotion. A particular greeting goes to the students and former students of the Massimo Institute of Rome, as well as to the students and staff of other schools directed by the Jesuits in Italy.
I know your Association well, having been a National Assistant in Argentina at the end of the 60s. Your roots are found in the Marian Congregations, which go back to the first generation of the companions of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. It has been a long journey in which the Association has distinguished itself throughout the whole world for the intense spiritual life and apostolic zeal of its members, and anticipating, in certain ways, the dictates of Vatican Council II regarding the role and service of the lay faithful in the Church. From this perspective, you chose the theme of your Congress, which is entitled Beyond the Walls.
Today I would like to offer you some guidelines for your spiritual and communal journey.
First: the commitment to spread the culture of justice and peace. Faced with the culture of illegality, of corruption and of dispute, you are called to dedicate yourselves to the common good, also through service to people that identify themselves in politics. As Blessed Paul VI affirmed, it is the highest and most demanding form of charity. If Christians were to disengage from direct commitment in politics, it would be to betray the mission of the lay faithful who are called to be salt and light in the world even through this way of presence.
As a second apostolic priority, I point out the importance of a pastoral approach to the family based on the reflections of the recent Synod of Bishops. I encourage you to help diocesan communities to support engaged couples as they prepare for marriage. At the same time, you can collaborate in hospitality toward the so-called estranged: among them, many are separated and many suffer because of the failure of their plans for conjugal life, as well as other situations of family hardship which can make the journey of faith and life in the Church laborious.
The third guideline I suggest to you is missionizing. I was happy to learn that you have undertaken a common path with the Students’ Missionary League, which has projected you on the streets of the world, in the encounter with the poor and with communities most in need of pastoral workers. I encourage you to maintain this capacity to go out to the frontiers of humanity's most needy. Today you have invited delegations of members of your communities present in countries twinned with you, especially in Syria and Lebanon to be present: martyred people by terrible wars. I renew to them my affection and solidarity. These people are experiencing the hour of the cross; therefore, we must help them ti feel the love, closeness and support of the whole Church. May your bonds of solidarity with them confirm your vocation to build bridges of peace everywhere.
Your style of fraternity, which has you committed also to projects of hospitality for migrants in Sicily, renders you generous in the education of young people, be it within your Association or in schools. Saint Ignatius understood that to renew society it was necessary to begin with young people and he encouraged the opening of colleges. The first Marian Congregations were born in them. In the luminous and fertile wake of this apostolic style, you can also be active in the animation of the various educational, Catholic and State institutions, present in Italy, as is already the case in many parts of the world. At the root of your pastoral action there must always be the joy of evangelical witness, united to the delicacy of the approach and to respect for others.
May the Virgin Mary, who with her yes inspired your Founders, enable you to respond without reservations to the vocation to be light and salt in the environments in which you live and work. May my blessing also accompany you, a blessing which I impart to you and to your families from my very heart. Please, do not forget to pray for me.
Having distributed copies of the speech that had been prepared for this occasion, the Pope responded to four questions posed by the participants.
While awaiting the transcription of the discourse which the Pope shared with the participants, below is the text of the prepared speech which was distributed.
Speech of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
prepared for the meeting with members of the
Christian Life Community and the Missionary Students League
Dear brothers and sisters,
I greet all of you, who represent the Community of Christian Life of Italy, and the exponents of various groups of Ignatian spirituality, close to your formative tradition and committed in evangelization and human promotion. A particular greeting goes to the students and former students of the Massimo Institute of Rome, as well as to the students and staff of other schools directed by the Jesuits in Italy.
I know your Association well, having been a National Assistant in Argentina at the end of the 60s. Your roots are found in the Marian Congregations, which go back to the first generation of the companions of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. It has been a long journey in which the Association has distinguished itself throughout the whole world for the intense spiritual life and apostolic zeal of its members, and anticipating, in certain ways, the dictates of Vatican Council II regarding the role and service of the lay faithful in the Church. From this perspective, you chose the theme of your Congress, which is entitled Beyond the Walls.
Today I would like to offer you some guidelines for your spiritual and communal journey.
First: the commitment to spread the culture of justice and peace. Faced with the culture of illegality, of corruption and of dispute, you are called to dedicate yourselves to the common good, also through service to people that identify themselves in politics. As Blessed Paul VI affirmed, it is the highest and most demanding form of charity. If Christians were to disengage from direct commitment in politics, it would be to betray the mission of the lay faithful who are called to be salt and light in the world even through this way of presence.
As a second apostolic priority, I point out the importance of a pastoral approach to the family based on the reflections of the recent Synod of Bishops. I encourage you to help diocesan communities to support engaged couples as they prepare for marriage. At the same time, you can collaborate in hospitality toward the so-called estranged: among them, many are separated and many suffer because of the failure of their plans for conjugal life, as well as other situations of family hardship which can make the journey of faith and life in the Church laborious.
The third guideline I suggest to you is missionizing. I was happy to learn that you have undertaken a common path with the Students’ Missionary League, which has projected you on the streets of the world, in the encounter with the poor and with communities most in need of pastoral workers. I encourage you to maintain this capacity to go out to the frontiers of humanity's most needy. Today you have invited delegations of members of your communities present in countries twinned with you, especially in Syria and Lebanon to be present: martyred people by terrible wars. I renew to them my affection and solidarity. These people are experiencing the hour of the cross; therefore, we must help them ti feel the love, closeness and support of the whole Church. May your bonds of solidarity with them confirm your vocation to build bridges of peace everywhere.
Your style of fraternity, which has you committed also to projects of hospitality for migrants in Sicily, renders you generous in the education of young people, be it within your Association or in schools. Saint Ignatius understood that to renew society it was necessary to begin with young people and he encouraged the opening of colleges. The first Marian Congregations were born in them. In the luminous and fertile wake of this apostolic style, you can also be active in the animation of the various educational, Catholic and State institutions, present in Italy, as is already the case in many parts of the world. At the root of your pastoral action there must always be the joy of evangelical witness, united to the delicacy of the approach and to respect for others.
May the Virgin Mary, who with her yes inspired your Founders, enable you to respond without reservations to the vocation to be light and salt in the environments in which you live and work. May my blessing also accompany you, a blessing which I impart to you and to your families from my very heart. Please, do not forget to pray for me.
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