At 9:00am today in the Sala Clementina at the Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience a group of participants in the International Meeting organized by the Équipes Notre-Dame.
I am pleased to welcome you, dear directors and spiritual directors of Équipes Notre-Dame, on the occasion of your world gathering. This meeting which I have the joy of living with you takes place a few weeks prior to the Synod of Bishops which I have convoked here in Rome so that the Church might study with ever growing attention, the situations being experienced by families, vital cells of our societies and of the Church, and who find themselves, as you know, threatened in difficult current cultural contexts. I ask you therefore, as well as all the couples who are part of your teams, to pray with faith and ferver for the Synod Fathers and for me.
It is apparent that a movement concerning spirituality for married life like yours finds its strength in the care which the Church lavishes on families, as well as the growth in the maturity of the couples who are part of your teams, and by the fraternal care afforded by other couples to whom your teams are sent.
I would, in fact, insist on this missionary role for the Équipes Notre-Dame. Each engaged couple receives a lot, certainly, from what is experienced in each team, and the married life of each couple is also deepened and perfected by the spirituality of your movement. However, after having received from Christ and from the Church, every Christian is irresistibly sent out to bear witness and to pass on that which we have received. The new evangelization must lead to every baptized person becoming a protagonist of a new way of life (Evangelii gaudium, 120). Couples and christian families are often in the best circumstances to proclaim Jesus Christ to other families, to support them, strengthen them and encourage them. What you experience as couples and in your families - along with the charism that is proper to your movement - this profound and irreplaceable joy which Christ Jesus shares with you through his presence in your homes in the midst of the joys and struggles, through the joy of your husband/wife's presence, through the growth of your children, by the human and spiritual richness that these allow you, you must bear witness to all of it, proclaim it, communicate it to others so that they in turn might set out on the way.
First, I encourage all couples to practice and to live deeply, with constancy and perseverance, the spirituality of the Équipes Notre-Dame. I think that the concrete points of effort which are proposed are truly effective aids which help couples to progress with assurance in their married life according to the gospel. In particular, I'm thinking about couples praying together and with their families, a beautiful and necessary tradition which has always helped faith to grow and supported the hope of Christians, who have unfortunately been abandoned in many parts of the world; I am also thinking about monthly opportunities for dialogue between couples - the famous and challenging communication challenge which is so counter cultural compared with the practices of the world which is so focused on individualism - moments of exchange experienced in truth in the eyes of the Lord, which is a precious time for grace, forgiveness, mutual respect and attention to each other; finally I am thinking about faithful participation in team life, which offers each individual the treasure of teaching and exchange, as well as the help and comfort of friendship. In passing, I also point out the reciprocal riches of this meeting lived with your chaplain. I thank you, dear couples, members of the Équipes Notre-Dame for supporting and encouraging the ministry of your priests who always find in their contact with your teams and your families, priestly joy, fraternal presence, affective balance and spiritual paternity.
Second, I invite couples, strengthened by the presence of their teams to enter into mission. This mission which is entrusted to them is all the more important as an image of the family - God willing, made up of a man and a woman for the good of the couple as well as their generation and the education of children - is distorted by powerful contrary efforts underpinned by ideological colonization. Surely, you are already missionaries through the radiance of your family life, shared with your friends and relations, and even beyond those confines. For it is in a happy, balanced family that the presence of God speaks of the love of God for all people. But I also invite you to get involved, if possible, in an even more concrete manner and with creativity that is constantly renewed., in the activities that can be organized in order to welcome, instruct and accompany in faith especially young couples both before and after the celebration of their weddings.
I also call upon you to continue your efforts to draw close to wounded families, who are so numerous today, either because of the absence of work, or poverty, health problems, grief, worry about a child, imbalance caused by distance or absence, or a climate of violence. We must dare to go before these families, with discretion but also with generosity, either physically, personally or spiritually, in circumstances where they are vulnerable.
Finally, I must encourage the couples belonging to Équipes Notre-Dame to be instruments of the mercy of Christ and of the Church toward persons whose marriages have failed. Never forget that your conjugal faithfulness is a gift from God and that each of us has also been shown mercy. A couple who are united and happy is better able than anyone else to understand, how from within, wounds and suffering can lead to abandonment, betrayal, a breakdown in love. It is therefore imperative that you provide your witness and your experience in order to help Christian communities to discern the concrete situations faced by such persons, to welcome them with all their wounds, and to help them to walk in faith and in truth, under the watchful eye of Christ, the Good Shepherd, so that they can take their rightful place in the life of the Church. Do not forget either the unspeakable suffering of children who experience situations of suffering within their families, you have much to offer them.
Dear Notre Dame Teams, I renew my confidence and my encouragement to all of you. The cause for beatification of your founder, Father Henri Caffarel has been opened in Rome; I pray that the Holy Spirit may guide the Church in the judgement that she will one day have to pronounce in this matter. I confide your couples to the protection of the Virgin Mary and of Saint Joseph, and with all my heart, I grant you all the Apostolic Blessing.
Speech of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the meeting with members of
Équipes Notre-Dame
I am pleased to welcome you, dear directors and spiritual directors of Équipes Notre-Dame, on the occasion of your world gathering. This meeting which I have the joy of living with you takes place a few weeks prior to the Synod of Bishops which I have convoked here in Rome so that the Church might study with ever growing attention, the situations being experienced by families, vital cells of our societies and of the Church, and who find themselves, as you know, threatened in difficult current cultural contexts. I ask you therefore, as well as all the couples who are part of your teams, to pray with faith and ferver for the Synod Fathers and for me.
It is apparent that a movement concerning spirituality for married life like yours finds its strength in the care which the Church lavishes on families, as well as the growth in the maturity of the couples who are part of your teams, and by the fraternal care afforded by other couples to whom your teams are sent.
I would, in fact, insist on this missionary role for the Équipes Notre-Dame. Each engaged couple receives a lot, certainly, from what is experienced in each team, and the married life of each couple is also deepened and perfected by the spirituality of your movement. However, after having received from Christ and from the Church, every Christian is irresistibly sent out to bear witness and to pass on that which we have received. The new evangelization must lead to every baptized person becoming a protagonist of a new way of life (Evangelii gaudium, 120). Couples and christian families are often in the best circumstances to proclaim Jesus Christ to other families, to support them, strengthen them and encourage them. What you experience as couples and in your families - along with the charism that is proper to your movement - this profound and irreplaceable joy which Christ Jesus shares with you through his presence in your homes in the midst of the joys and struggles, through the joy of your husband/wife's presence, through the growth of your children, by the human and spiritual richness that these allow you, you must bear witness to all of it, proclaim it, communicate it to others so that they in turn might set out on the way.
First, I encourage all couples to practice and to live deeply, with constancy and perseverance, the spirituality of the Équipes Notre-Dame. I think that the concrete points of effort which are proposed are truly effective aids which help couples to progress with assurance in their married life according to the gospel. In particular, I'm thinking about couples praying together and with their families, a beautiful and necessary tradition which has always helped faith to grow and supported the hope of Christians, who have unfortunately been abandoned in many parts of the world; I am also thinking about monthly opportunities for dialogue between couples - the famous and challenging communication challenge which is so counter cultural compared with the practices of the world which is so focused on individualism - moments of exchange experienced in truth in the eyes of the Lord, which is a precious time for grace, forgiveness, mutual respect and attention to each other; finally I am thinking about faithful participation in team life, which offers each individual the treasure of teaching and exchange, as well as the help and comfort of friendship. In passing, I also point out the reciprocal riches of this meeting lived with your chaplain. I thank you, dear couples, members of the Équipes Notre-Dame for supporting and encouraging the ministry of your priests who always find in their contact with your teams and your families, priestly joy, fraternal presence, affective balance and spiritual paternity.
Second, I invite couples, strengthened by the presence of their teams to enter into mission. This mission which is entrusted to them is all the more important as an image of the family - God willing, made up of a man and a woman for the good of the couple as well as their generation and the education of children - is distorted by powerful contrary efforts underpinned by ideological colonization. Surely, you are already missionaries through the radiance of your family life, shared with your friends and relations, and even beyond those confines. For it is in a happy, balanced family that the presence of God speaks of the love of God for all people. But I also invite you to get involved, if possible, in an even more concrete manner and with creativity that is constantly renewed., in the activities that can be organized in order to welcome, instruct and accompany in faith especially young couples both before and after the celebration of their weddings.
I also call upon you to continue your efforts to draw close to wounded families, who are so numerous today, either because of the absence of work, or poverty, health problems, grief, worry about a child, imbalance caused by distance or absence, or a climate of violence. We must dare to go before these families, with discretion but also with generosity, either physically, personally or spiritually, in circumstances where they are vulnerable.
Finally, I must encourage the couples belonging to Équipes Notre-Dame to be instruments of the mercy of Christ and of the Church toward persons whose marriages have failed. Never forget that your conjugal faithfulness is a gift from God and that each of us has also been shown mercy. A couple who are united and happy is better able than anyone else to understand, how from within, wounds and suffering can lead to abandonment, betrayal, a breakdown in love. It is therefore imperative that you provide your witness and your experience in order to help Christian communities to discern the concrete situations faced by such persons, to welcome them with all their wounds, and to help them to walk in faith and in truth, under the watchful eye of Christ, the Good Shepherd, so that they can take their rightful place in the life of the Church. Do not forget either the unspeakable suffering of children who experience situations of suffering within their families, you have much to offer them.
Dear Notre Dame Teams, I renew my confidence and my encouragement to all of you. The cause for beatification of your founder, Father Henri Caffarel has been opened in Rome; I pray that the Holy Spirit may guide the Church in the judgement that she will one day have to pronounce in this matter. I confide your couples to the protection of the Virgin Mary and of Saint Joseph, and with all my heart, I grant you all the Apostolic Blessing.
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