At noon today (6:00am EDT), in the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience the Management and Staff of the Rome Police Headquarters and the Central Health Directors from the Department of Public Security, along with members of their families. Also in attendance were family members of victims of terrorism and of those who have fallen in the line of duty.
Mister Police Chief,
Distinguished Authorities,
Dear family members of victims of terrorism and those who have died in the line of duty,
Dear staff members, Agents, civic personnel and members of the State Police,
I welcome you and thank the Chief of Police for his words. To him and to all of you, I renew the expression of my gratitude toward the State Police for the service that you render to the Pope and to the Church.
When your Chaplain asked me for an audience for the personnel and the State Police of Rome and the Central Health Directorate of the Department of Public Security along with the members of your families, I immediately agreed. Meeting you, along with your children, your wives, your husbands and your parents gives me great joy! Looking you in the eyes, shaking hands with you, embracing your children is a joy for our hearts, it brings us closer together and unites us in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. Thank you for coming with your families, thank you!
The family is the first community where we teach and where we learn to love. It is a privileged environment in which we also teach and learn faith, we learn to do good. These things, faith, love, doing good, are only learned in dialect, in the dialect of the family. The good health of the family is essential for the future of the world and of the Church, especially considering the many challenges and difficulties that are present in everyday life. In fact, when we encounter a bitter reality, when we feel pain, when the experience of evil or violence appears, it is within the family, within that communion of life and love that everything can be understood and overcome.
The family, like every human reality, is a sign of suffering; many pages of the bible attest to this fact: fratricidal violence between Cain and Abel; fighting between the children and the wives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the tragedies that David suffers; the suffering of Tobit; the pain experienced by Job. Even the life of the Holy Family was filled with painful contradictions like the flight of Mary and Joseph who were exiled into Egypt with the child Jesus. Mary meditated upon all these experiences in her heart; and Jesus, the Son of God and the son of Mary, also saw, heard, suffered and rejoiced, experienced in his own heart the changes experienced by the people he encountered: Peter's mother-in-law who was sick in bed, Martha and Mary who were crying at the death of their brother Lazarus, the widow of Nain who had lost her only son, the centurion who was saddened by the grave illness of someone who was dear to him ... Jesus is always able to comfort those who implore his help or who are crying unconsolably.
Following the example of Jesus, the Church too, on her daily journey, knows the anxieties and the tensions experienced by families, inter-generational conflicts, domestic violence, economic difficulties, precarious working conditions ... Reflecting day after day on the gospel, the Church is led by the Holy Spirit and remains close to families, as a companion on the journey, above all for those who are experiencing crises or living in pain, and the Church also points out the final goal, where pain and death will disappear forever.
Along the path of life, Jesus never abandons us: He follows and accompanies all human beings with great mercy; in a special way, he is close to families who he sanctifies in love. His presence is made manifest in tenderness, caresses, the embrace of a mother, of a father, of a child. The family is the place for tenderness. Please, never lose your tenderness! This time in history is sorely lacking in tenderness, it needs to be rediscovered, and the family can help us to do this now. It is for this reason that in the Scriptures, God shows himself as a father but also as a mother who takes care of us, but one who also bends over us in order to suckle us and feed us.
The Church, as a loving mother, teaches us to remain firmly rooted in God, the God who loves us and supports us. Based on this interior and fundamental experience, it is possible for us to continue despite the many contrary occurrences and vicissitudes of life, the world's aggression, infidelity and our own weaknesses as well as those of others. Only by beginning with a solid interior experience can we be holy and healthy in the perseverance of goodness, which through the grace of God conquers all evil.
Faith too is handed on in the context of a family. In the context of our families, we learn how to pray: humble prayers, simple and at the same time open to hope, accompanied by joy, real joy that comes from harmony between people, from the beauty of being together and supporting one another on the journey of life, all the while being aware of our limits.
The era in which we live is characterized by profound change. You continually experience this change in your work, both in surveys and in the streets, especially in cities such as Rome. Your experience of family life helps you in this task too, for it gives you human equilibrium, wisdom, and values as points of reference. A good family also passes on civic values, teaches others to feel that they are part of the social fabric, to feel and act as responsible citizens. A nation cannot stand if families do not fulfill this task. The first civic education we receive - is learned in the dialect of the family.
Dear brothers and sisters, I thank you for this visit and I accompany you with my grateful remembrance in prayer. May the Family of Nazareth and Saint Michael the Archangel, your Patron, help all your families and the great family of the State Police. Thank you!
Let us pray to Our Lady, our Mother, asking her to bless all the police officers, their families and to help them to keep moving forward, meekly and tenderly.
Hail Mary and blessing
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
offered to the Police and Public Security officials of Rome
Mister Police Chief,
Distinguished Authorities,
Dear family members of victims of terrorism and those who have died in the line of duty,
Dear staff members, Agents, civic personnel and members of the State Police,
I welcome you and thank the Chief of Police for his words. To him and to all of you, I renew the expression of my gratitude toward the State Police for the service that you render to the Pope and to the Church.
When your Chaplain asked me for an audience for the personnel and the State Police of Rome and the Central Health Directorate of the Department of Public Security along with the members of your families, I immediately agreed. Meeting you, along with your children, your wives, your husbands and your parents gives me great joy! Looking you in the eyes, shaking hands with you, embracing your children is a joy for our hearts, it brings us closer together and unites us in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. Thank you for coming with your families, thank you!
The family is the first community where we teach and where we learn to love. It is a privileged environment in which we also teach and learn faith, we learn to do good. These things, faith, love, doing good, are only learned in dialect, in the dialect of the family. The good health of the family is essential for the future of the world and of the Church, especially considering the many challenges and difficulties that are present in everyday life. In fact, when we encounter a bitter reality, when we feel pain, when the experience of evil or violence appears, it is within the family, within that communion of life and love that everything can be understood and overcome.
The family, like every human reality, is a sign of suffering; many pages of the bible attest to this fact: fratricidal violence between Cain and Abel; fighting between the children and the wives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the tragedies that David suffers; the suffering of Tobit; the pain experienced by Job. Even the life of the Holy Family was filled with painful contradictions like the flight of Mary and Joseph who were exiled into Egypt with the child Jesus. Mary meditated upon all these experiences in her heart; and Jesus, the Son of God and the son of Mary, also saw, heard, suffered and rejoiced, experienced in his own heart the changes experienced by the people he encountered: Peter's mother-in-law who was sick in bed, Martha and Mary who were crying at the death of their brother Lazarus, the widow of Nain who had lost her only son, the centurion who was saddened by the grave illness of someone who was dear to him ... Jesus is always able to comfort those who implore his help or who are crying unconsolably.
Following the example of Jesus, the Church too, on her daily journey, knows the anxieties and the tensions experienced by families, inter-generational conflicts, domestic violence, economic difficulties, precarious working conditions ... Reflecting day after day on the gospel, the Church is led by the Holy Spirit and remains close to families, as a companion on the journey, above all for those who are experiencing crises or living in pain, and the Church also points out the final goal, where pain and death will disappear forever.
Along the path of life, Jesus never abandons us: He follows and accompanies all human beings with great mercy; in a special way, he is close to families who he sanctifies in love. His presence is made manifest in tenderness, caresses, the embrace of a mother, of a father, of a child. The family is the place for tenderness. Please, never lose your tenderness! This time in history is sorely lacking in tenderness, it needs to be rediscovered, and the family can help us to do this now. It is for this reason that in the Scriptures, God shows himself as a father but also as a mother who takes care of us, but one who also bends over us in order to suckle us and feed us.
The Church, as a loving mother, teaches us to remain firmly rooted in God, the God who loves us and supports us. Based on this interior and fundamental experience, it is possible for us to continue despite the many contrary occurrences and vicissitudes of life, the world's aggression, infidelity and our own weaknesses as well as those of others. Only by beginning with a solid interior experience can we be holy and healthy in the perseverance of goodness, which through the grace of God conquers all evil.
Faith too is handed on in the context of a family. In the context of our families, we learn how to pray: humble prayers, simple and at the same time open to hope, accompanied by joy, real joy that comes from harmony between people, from the beauty of being together and supporting one another on the journey of life, all the while being aware of our limits.
The era in which we live is characterized by profound change. You continually experience this change in your work, both in surveys and in the streets, especially in cities such as Rome. Your experience of family life helps you in this task too, for it gives you human equilibrium, wisdom, and values as points of reference. A good family also passes on civic values, teaches others to feel that they are part of the social fabric, to feel and act as responsible citizens. A nation cannot stand if families do not fulfill this task. The first civic education we receive - is learned in the dialect of the family.
Dear brothers and sisters, I thank you for this visit and I accompany you with my grateful remembrance in prayer. May the Family of Nazareth and Saint Michael the Archangel, your Patron, help all your families and the great family of the State Police. Thank you!
Let us pray to Our Lady, our Mother, asking her to bless all the police officers, their families and to help them to keep moving forward, meekly and tenderly.
Hail Mary and blessing
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