At 11:00am today, in the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience more than 7,000 participants in the Pilgrimage of the Diocese of Isernia-Venafro (Italy).
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning to you all! From the moment when I entered, I saw your joy, you are joyous, you are joyous! Now I understand a little bit why Pope Celestine never found it pleasant in Rome, rather, he turned to you ... because of your joy.
Thank you for this wonderful pilgrimage that you have organized following the pastoral visit I paid to your Dioceses on July 5 of last year. Once again, I want to demonstrate my gratitude for your welcome, and to affectionately greet your Bishop, His Excellency, Camillo Cibotti. Last year, he had barely begun his service as Bishop of Isernia and now he has learned a little! I greet the priests, the religious and the lay faithful who are committed in service to the Gospel. And a special thought goes out to the Authorities, who are here with us today.
The festive climate of our meeting must not prevent us from remembering the numerous and grave problems that still afflict your land, to which I already made reference in the course of my visit to the city of Isernia, and to which the Bishop also made reference now. I am thinking especially of the chronic problem of unemployment, which especially affects the young generations, which increasingly make the choice to go to other countries. I am also thinking of the lack of adequate services to fulfill the effective needs of people – in particular the elderly, the sick and the disabled – and families. Faced with this worrying scenario, a general mobilization is necessary, to unite the strengths of the population, the institutions, private entities and various civil bodies. It is not possible to defer the concrete steps that need to be taken to promote the creation of new jobs, thus offering the young the possibility of realizing their potential through honest work. Things must be found for young people, positions of work, little things, because you know work gives you dignity. Just think, a youth that does not find work does not feel such dignity and suffers. I encourage you to seek, to pray, to look for little things, little things for young people especially.
As the Bishop recalled a short time ago, your Diocese feels the need strongly for a new missionary impetus, which can go beyond a static religious reality. The Celestine Jubilee Year you are living offers your communities the opportunity to return to Christ, to the Gospel, to be reconciled with God and with your neighbour. It is lovely to be reconciled, to have one’s soul at peace: the family at peace, the neighbourhood at peace. And this is an endeavour that God’s grace will accomplish, if we continue with this commitment.
Thus is reborn the desire to take his love to all, especially to persons who are alone, marginalized, humiliated by suffering, by social injustice; to so many who, tired of human words, feel a strong nostalgia for God. Your Diocesan Jubilee Year is preparing you to live even better the Extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy, which I proclaimed recently. May these intense times arouse a vigorous missionary impetus especially in the parishes, where ecclesial communion finds its most immediate and visible expression. Every parish community is called to be a privileged place of listening and of proclamation of the Gospel; a house of prayer gathered around the Eucharist; a true school of communion, where the ardor of charity prevails over the temptation of a superficial and arid religiosity.
When the difficulties seem to obfuscate the prospects of a better future, when we experience failure and emptiness around us, it is the moment of Christian hope, founded on the Risen Lord and accompanied by an ample charitable effort towards the needy. See, now that your diocesan path is orientated in a praiseworthy way to this way of charity, it will be able to involve more persons and more social and institutional realities in approaching those without a home and without work, as well as all those who are afflicted by old and new poverties, not only to provide for their urgent needs, but to build together with them a more hospitable, more just and equitable society, more respectful of differences..
How lovely it is to be able to address the alternating affairs of existence in the company of Jesus, to have his Person and his message with us. It was with these words that last year I invited the young people of Abruzzo and of Molise to continue with courage, to surmount the challenges of the present moment supporting and helping one another. To young people and to all of you I repeat today: problems are overcome with solidarity. Therefore I encourage you to be witnesses of solidarity in your cities and in your countries, at work, at school, in the family and places of meeting.
May the Virgin Mary render you docile to the word of the Lord, transform you into humble, credible and effective apostles of the Gospel and support you in your good resolutions. I entrust you all, in particular the little ones, the poor and the sick to Her and to the Saints that made precious the path of faith of your people . Sustained by such powerful intercessors, look without fear and with hope to your future and the future of your land. With these wishes I impart to all of you my heartfelt and special Blessing; and, please, do not forget to pray for me because I also need it.
Now, let us pray to Our Lady all together.
(Hail Mary)
And now, I'd be happy to hear some singing!
Speech of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
to the faithful of Isernia-Venafro
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning to you all! From the moment when I entered, I saw your joy, you are joyous, you are joyous! Now I understand a little bit why Pope Celestine never found it pleasant in Rome, rather, he turned to you ... because of your joy.
Thank you for this wonderful pilgrimage that you have organized following the pastoral visit I paid to your Dioceses on July 5 of last year. Once again, I want to demonstrate my gratitude for your welcome, and to affectionately greet your Bishop, His Excellency, Camillo Cibotti. Last year, he had barely begun his service as Bishop of Isernia and now he has learned a little! I greet the priests, the religious and the lay faithful who are committed in service to the Gospel. And a special thought goes out to the Authorities, who are here with us today.
The festive climate of our meeting must not prevent us from remembering the numerous and grave problems that still afflict your land, to which I already made reference in the course of my visit to the city of Isernia, and to which the Bishop also made reference now. I am thinking especially of the chronic problem of unemployment, which especially affects the young generations, which increasingly make the choice to go to other countries. I am also thinking of the lack of adequate services to fulfill the effective needs of people – in particular the elderly, the sick and the disabled – and families. Faced with this worrying scenario, a general mobilization is necessary, to unite the strengths of the population, the institutions, private entities and various civil bodies. It is not possible to defer the concrete steps that need to be taken to promote the creation of new jobs, thus offering the young the possibility of realizing their potential through honest work. Things must be found for young people, positions of work, little things, because you know work gives you dignity. Just think, a youth that does not find work does not feel such dignity and suffers. I encourage you to seek, to pray, to look for little things, little things for young people especially.
As the Bishop recalled a short time ago, your Diocese feels the need strongly for a new missionary impetus, which can go beyond a static religious reality. The Celestine Jubilee Year you are living offers your communities the opportunity to return to Christ, to the Gospel, to be reconciled with God and with your neighbour. It is lovely to be reconciled, to have one’s soul at peace: the family at peace, the neighbourhood at peace. And this is an endeavour that God’s grace will accomplish, if we continue with this commitment.
Thus is reborn the desire to take his love to all, especially to persons who are alone, marginalized, humiliated by suffering, by social injustice; to so many who, tired of human words, feel a strong nostalgia for God. Your Diocesan Jubilee Year is preparing you to live even better the Extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy, which I proclaimed recently. May these intense times arouse a vigorous missionary impetus especially in the parishes, where ecclesial communion finds its most immediate and visible expression. Every parish community is called to be a privileged place of listening and of proclamation of the Gospel; a house of prayer gathered around the Eucharist; a true school of communion, where the ardor of charity prevails over the temptation of a superficial and arid religiosity.
When the difficulties seem to obfuscate the prospects of a better future, when we experience failure and emptiness around us, it is the moment of Christian hope, founded on the Risen Lord and accompanied by an ample charitable effort towards the needy. See, now that your diocesan path is orientated in a praiseworthy way to this way of charity, it will be able to involve more persons and more social and institutional realities in approaching those without a home and without work, as well as all those who are afflicted by old and new poverties, not only to provide for their urgent needs, but to build together with them a more hospitable, more just and equitable society, more respectful of differences..
How lovely it is to be able to address the alternating affairs of existence in the company of Jesus, to have his Person and his message with us. It was with these words that last year I invited the young people of Abruzzo and of Molise to continue with courage, to surmount the challenges of the present moment supporting and helping one another. To young people and to all of you I repeat today: problems are overcome with solidarity. Therefore I encourage you to be witnesses of solidarity in your cities and in your countries, at work, at school, in the family and places of meeting.
May the Virgin Mary render you docile to the word of the Lord, transform you into humble, credible and effective apostles of the Gospel and support you in your good resolutions. I entrust you all, in particular the little ones, the poor and the sick to Her and to the Saints that made precious the path of faith of your people . Sustained by such powerful intercessors, look without fear and with hope to your future and the future of your land. With these wishes I impart to all of you my heartfelt and special Blessing; and, please, do not forget to pray for me because I also need it.
Now, let us pray to Our Lady all together.
(Hail Mary)
And now, I'd be happy to hear some singing!
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