This morning, inside the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience the members of the Sardegna Solidale Centre for Volunteer Service. This is the 20th year of existence for that Service.
Dear brothers and sisters,
I am pleased to meet with you, representatives of the Sardegna Solidale Centre for Volunteer Service, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of your foundation, along with Cardinal Angelo Becciu, together with the Archbishops of Cagliari: His Excellency, Arrigo Miglio; and of Oristano: His Excellency, Ignazio Sanna. I extend cordial greetings to all of you, and my thoughts also extend to the Authorities, especially to the President of the Region of Sardegna, the Honourable Francesco Pigliaru. I thank the president of Sardegna Solidale, Giampiero Farru for the words with which he introduced this gathering.
You represent the multitude of Sardinian volunteers, who work in the territory of your beautiful island for a generous and necessary service to the poor. Your territory is rich in natural treasures, history and art, but also marked by poverty and unease. I would like to express my appreciation for what you have done and the fact that you are working for the benefit of the weakest sections of the Sardinian population, with a focus on some of the poorest countries in the world. This should be emphasized, because it is a sign that you are not isolated but, despite the great needs present in your own home, you have kept the horizon of solidarity open. In this perspective, you have been able to welcome and include those who have come to Sardinia from other lands in search of peace and work.
Your presence gathers numerous volunteer organizations, carrying out a considerable service of aggregation and cooperation, aimed at making the commitment to helping those who are in precarious situations more qualified and effective. I encourage you to continue with a spirit of understanding and unity; in this way you will be able to spread the culture of solidarity even further. In order to interpret the authentic needs of the people and find adequate answers to them, it is necessary to maintain an attitude of collaboration with the institutional realities of the region: I am thinking in particular of the Municipalities and Parishes, who are close to the people every day, sharing their labours and their hopes.
The culture of solidarity and gratuitousness qualifies volunteerism and concretely contributes to the construction of a fraternal society, at the centre of which is the human person. In your land this culture draws abundantly from the strong Christian roots, that is, the love of God and the love of neighbour. In the Gospel, Jesus invites us to love God with our whole heart and our neighbour as ourselves (cf Mk 12:29). It is the love of God that always makes us recognize our neighbour, our brother or sister and to love that person. And this requires personal and voluntary commitment, for which public institutions can and must create favourable general conditions. Thanks to this evangelical sap, we can maintain a human dimension which is not depersonalized. Precisely for this reason you volunteers do not perform a work of substitution in the social network, but rather, you contribute to giving a human and Christian face to our society.
The voluntary service of solidarity is a choice that allows you to be free and open to the needs of the other; to the demands of justice, to the defence of life, to the protection of creation, with a tender and special attention for the sick and above all for the elderly, who are a treasure of wisdom!
I encourage you to pursue your mission with passion, seeking all possible and constructive forms to awaken the need to work for the common good, in support of the weak and the poor. Today there is a great need for witnesses of goodness, tenderness and freely-offered love. There is a need for persevering people who face difficulties with a spirit of unity and who always place at the foundation of everything they do, their ultimate goal, that is, service to others. By doing so, you will continue to be a reference point and an example for Sardinia as a whole.
May the Virgin Mary - who the Sardinian people venerate with love in so many shrines - assist you and support you; may she inspire within you strength and confidence in God so that you may always be a gift to others. I warmly bless all of you and your loved ones, and I ask you to please pray for me. Thank you.
(Original text in Italian)
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
offered to the members of the
Sardegna Solidale Centre for Volunteer Service
Dear brothers and sisters,
I am pleased to meet with you, representatives of the Sardegna Solidale Centre for Volunteer Service, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of your foundation, along with Cardinal Angelo Becciu, together with the Archbishops of Cagliari: His Excellency, Arrigo Miglio; and of Oristano: His Excellency, Ignazio Sanna. I extend cordial greetings to all of you, and my thoughts also extend to the Authorities, especially to the President of the Region of Sardegna, the Honourable Francesco Pigliaru. I thank the president of Sardegna Solidale, Giampiero Farru for the words with which he introduced this gathering.
You represent the multitude of Sardinian volunteers, who work in the territory of your beautiful island for a generous and necessary service to the poor. Your territory is rich in natural treasures, history and art, but also marked by poverty and unease. I would like to express my appreciation for what you have done and the fact that you are working for the benefit of the weakest sections of the Sardinian population, with a focus on some of the poorest countries in the world. This should be emphasized, because it is a sign that you are not isolated but, despite the great needs present in your own home, you have kept the horizon of solidarity open. In this perspective, you have been able to welcome and include those who have come to Sardinia from other lands in search of peace and work.
Your presence gathers numerous volunteer organizations, carrying out a considerable service of aggregation and cooperation, aimed at making the commitment to helping those who are in precarious situations more qualified and effective. I encourage you to continue with a spirit of understanding and unity; in this way you will be able to spread the culture of solidarity even further. In order to interpret the authentic needs of the people and find adequate answers to them, it is necessary to maintain an attitude of collaboration with the institutional realities of the region: I am thinking in particular of the Municipalities and Parishes, who are close to the people every day, sharing their labours and their hopes.
The culture of solidarity and gratuitousness qualifies volunteerism and concretely contributes to the construction of a fraternal society, at the centre of which is the human person. In your land this culture draws abundantly from the strong Christian roots, that is, the love of God and the love of neighbour. In the Gospel, Jesus invites us to love God with our whole heart and our neighbour as ourselves (cf Mk 12:29). It is the love of God that always makes us recognize our neighbour, our brother or sister and to love that person. And this requires personal and voluntary commitment, for which public institutions can and must create favourable general conditions. Thanks to this evangelical sap, we can maintain a human dimension which is not depersonalized. Precisely for this reason you volunteers do not perform a work of substitution in the social network, but rather, you contribute to giving a human and Christian face to our society.
The voluntary service of solidarity is a choice that allows you to be free and open to the needs of the other; to the demands of justice, to the defence of life, to the protection of creation, with a tender and special attention for the sick and above all for the elderly, who are a treasure of wisdom!
I encourage you to pursue your mission with passion, seeking all possible and constructive forms to awaken the need to work for the common good, in support of the weak and the poor. Today there is a great need for witnesses of goodness, tenderness and freely-offered love. There is a need for persevering people who face difficulties with a spirit of unity and who always place at the foundation of everything they do, their ultimate goal, that is, service to others. By doing so, you will continue to be a reference point and an example for Sardinia as a whole.
May the Virgin Mary - who the Sardinian people venerate with love in so many shrines - assist you and support you; may she inspire within you strength and confidence in God so that you may always be a gift to others. I warmly bless all of you and your loved ones, and I ask you to please pray for me. Thank you.
(Original text in Italian)
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