A few days prior to the Canonization of Blessed John XXIII, His Holiness, Pope Francis sent a message to the people of Bergamo, the province of Italy where the soon-to-be-named saint was born.
Dear friends from Bergamo,
As we approach the day of canonization of Blessed John XXIII, I feel the desire to send this greeting to your Bishop Francis, to the priests, the religious and the lay faithful of the Diocese of Bergamo, but also to those who do not belong to the Church and to the entire civil community of Bergamo.
I know how much you loved Pope John, and how much he loved you as well. From the day of his election to the Pontificate, the name of Bergamo and of Sotto il Monte became household words throughout the world and they still are today; more than fifty years later, they are still associated with his smiling face and his paternal tenderness.
I invite you to thank the Lord for the great gift that his holiness was for the universal Church, and I encourage you to cherish the memory of the land in which this holiness was allowed to grow: a terrain of profound faith seen in daily life, in families who are poor but united in their love for the Lord, and of communities capable of sharing in simplicity.
Of course, since then the world has changed, and new also are the challenges for the mission of the Christian community. However, that legacy can still inspire today a Church called to live the sweet and comforting joy of evangelizing, to be a companion on every man's journey, a village fountain from which all can draw the fresh water of the Gospel. The renewal intended by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council opened the way, and it is a special joy that the canonization of Pope Roncalli is taking place together with that of the Blessed John Paul II, who instituted and promoted so much renewal during his long pontificate.
I am sure that even civil society will always be able to find inspiration in the life of the Pope from Bergamo and in the atmosphere that formed him and taught him to search for new models suited to the times in order to create a life based on the perennial values of fraternity and solidarity.
Dear brothers and sisters, I confide this message of mine to the Eco of Bergamo, with whom the young priest Father Angelo Roncalli was a valued collaborator. When his ministry took him far away, he always received from the pages of the Eco, the voice and the call of his homeland. I ask you to pray for me, and I assure you of my own remembrance and of my prayer for all of you, in particular for those who are suffering, for the sick - recalling the citizens hospital which I wanted to dedicate to Pope John - and for the diocesan Seminary, so dear to his heart. To all of you, I send, in the immensity of the Paschal feasts, an Apostolic Blessing.
Greetings of His Holiness, Pope Francis
to the people of Bergamo
Dear friends from Bergamo,
As we approach the day of canonization of Blessed John XXIII, I feel the desire to send this greeting to your Bishop Francis, to the priests, the religious and the lay faithful of the Diocese of Bergamo, but also to those who do not belong to the Church and to the entire civil community of Bergamo.
I know how much you loved Pope John, and how much he loved you as well. From the day of his election to the Pontificate, the name of Bergamo and of Sotto il Monte became household words throughout the world and they still are today; more than fifty years later, they are still associated with his smiling face and his paternal tenderness.
I invite you to thank the Lord for the great gift that his holiness was for the universal Church, and I encourage you to cherish the memory of the land in which this holiness was allowed to grow: a terrain of profound faith seen in daily life, in families who are poor but united in their love for the Lord, and of communities capable of sharing in simplicity.
Of course, since then the world has changed, and new also are the challenges for the mission of the Christian community. However, that legacy can still inspire today a Church called to live the sweet and comforting joy of evangelizing, to be a companion on every man's journey, a village fountain from which all can draw the fresh water of the Gospel. The renewal intended by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council opened the way, and it is a special joy that the canonization of Pope Roncalli is taking place together with that of the Blessed John Paul II, who instituted and promoted so much renewal during his long pontificate.
I am sure that even civil society will always be able to find inspiration in the life of the Pope from Bergamo and in the atmosphere that formed him and taught him to search for new models suited to the times in order to create a life based on the perennial values of fraternity and solidarity.
Dear brothers and sisters, I confide this message of mine to the Eco of Bergamo, with whom the young priest Father Angelo Roncalli was a valued collaborator. When his ministry took him far away, he always received from the pages of the Eco, the voice and the call of his homeland. I ask you to pray for me, and I assure you of my own remembrance and of my prayer for all of you, in particular for those who are suffering, for the sick - recalling the citizens hospital which I wanted to dedicate to Pope John - and for the diocesan Seminary, so dear to his heart. To all of you, I send, in the immensity of the Paschal feasts, an Apostolic Blessing.
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