At 11:00am today (5:00am EST), in the Clementine Hall at the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience the Members of the Circolo San Pietro, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of their foundation, and shared with them the following speech.
Dear members of the Circolo San Pietro!
I am pleased to welcome you and I cordially greet you. I extend my thoughts to your families and to all those who work with you in your various charitable activities. I thank your President, Duca Leopoldo Torlonia, for his kind words. This meeting has a special character, since it is taking place on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the foundation of your association, which began in 1869 on the initiative of some young Romans. They were animated by the desire to witness concrete support and unconditional fidelity to Pope Pius IX, in a time of misunderstandings between Church and State. This fidelity was manifested through gestures of solidarity to be carried out in favour of the poor of Rome; thus the club became the longus manus of the Pope towards the most destitute sections of the population.
Together with you, I praise the Lord for the good that has been accomplished over these 150 years, with a thought of gratitude for the Members of yesterday and for those of today. In this long period of its existence, the original programmatic lines, synthesized in the three cornerstones: prayer, action and sacrifice, have never failed in your Circle. They have been the basis of the wonderful flourishing of activities in the area of charity and acceptance of the poor. These distinctive characteristics will be the springboard for the apostolic vitality and the future of your association: I encourage you to follow them with renewed enthusiasm. In particular, I would like to focus your reflection on one of these three fundamental points: prayer.
If Jesus is present in the brothers and sisters we meet, then voluntary activity can become an experience of God and of prayer. Do not forget the strength and importance of prayer for you and for all those involved in charitable work: it requires being nurtured with appropriate prayers and listening to the Word of God. The secret of the effectiveness of each of your projects is fidelity to Christ and a personal relationship with him in prayer. In this way, you will be ready to nourish those who live today in conditions of hardship or abandonment. Our daily life is in fact permeated by the presence of Jesus, under whose gaze we must also place the sufferings of the sick, the loneliness of the elderly, the fears of the poor and the fragility of the excluded.
Also in our times your precious service, articulated in various Commissions, seeks to be an efficacious expression and a living testimony of the love that the Church and in particular the Holy See reserve for the poor and the suffering. You are addressing mainly the sectors of human poverty in Rome, participating generously in the situations and needs of many brothers and sisters. Continue to pay great attention to new forms of poverty, trying in every situation to give comfort and help to the poor, without any distinction. Every poor person is worthy of our concern, regardless of religion, ethnicity, or any other condition. Going out to meet the poor, bringing relief to the sick and suffering, you serve Jesus, who assured us: That which you have done to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me! (Mt 25, 40).
Your praiseworthy institution, although it has been present for a long time in the Roman social fabric, brings with it evangelical ideals and a vitality that makes it suitable even today to offer a valid contribution in the field of the reception of the apostolate of charity. In a time of great changes and persistent economic precariousness, in which the ecclesial community feels called to proclaim the Christian message again and its power of humanization, you must be aware that your work still has an important role to play.
I thank you for all you do and for Peter's Pence, a contribution that you have come to give me every year: it is a further sign of your openness to people in need. At the same time, it is a concrete participation in the solicitude of the Apostolic See to respond to the growing urgencies of the Church especially in the poorest of countries. I wish once again to express my deep appreciation for your commitment, animated by your fervent fidelity and devotion to the Successor of Peter. May the Blessed Virgin accompany and support your intentions and your good work with her maternal protection.
I ask you to pray for me and for my service to the Church, and with all my heart I impart the Apostolic blessing to you who are here present, as well as to all those who assist you in your various activities, and I willingly extend this blessing also to your families. Thank you.
(Original text in Italian)
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
offered to members of the Circolo San Pietro
Dear members of the Circolo San Pietro!
I am pleased to welcome you and I cordially greet you. I extend my thoughts to your families and to all those who work with you in your various charitable activities. I thank your President, Duca Leopoldo Torlonia, for his kind words. This meeting has a special character, since it is taking place on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the foundation of your association, which began in 1869 on the initiative of some young Romans. They were animated by the desire to witness concrete support and unconditional fidelity to Pope Pius IX, in a time of misunderstandings between Church and State. This fidelity was manifested through gestures of solidarity to be carried out in favour of the poor of Rome; thus the club became the longus manus of the Pope towards the most destitute sections of the population.
Together with you, I praise the Lord for the good that has been accomplished over these 150 years, with a thought of gratitude for the Members of yesterday and for those of today. In this long period of its existence, the original programmatic lines, synthesized in the three cornerstones: prayer, action and sacrifice, have never failed in your Circle. They have been the basis of the wonderful flourishing of activities in the area of charity and acceptance of the poor. These distinctive characteristics will be the springboard for the apostolic vitality and the future of your association: I encourage you to follow them with renewed enthusiasm. In particular, I would like to focus your reflection on one of these three fundamental points: prayer.
If Jesus is present in the brothers and sisters we meet, then voluntary activity can become an experience of God and of prayer. Do not forget the strength and importance of prayer for you and for all those involved in charitable work: it requires being nurtured with appropriate prayers and listening to the Word of God. The secret of the effectiveness of each of your projects is fidelity to Christ and a personal relationship with him in prayer. In this way, you will be ready to nourish those who live today in conditions of hardship or abandonment. Our daily life is in fact permeated by the presence of Jesus, under whose gaze we must also place the sufferings of the sick, the loneliness of the elderly, the fears of the poor and the fragility of the excluded.
Also in our times your precious service, articulated in various Commissions, seeks to be an efficacious expression and a living testimony of the love that the Church and in particular the Holy See reserve for the poor and the suffering. You are addressing mainly the sectors of human poverty in Rome, participating generously in the situations and needs of many brothers and sisters. Continue to pay great attention to new forms of poverty, trying in every situation to give comfort and help to the poor, without any distinction. Every poor person is worthy of our concern, regardless of religion, ethnicity, or any other condition. Going out to meet the poor, bringing relief to the sick and suffering, you serve Jesus, who assured us: That which you have done to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me! (Mt 25, 40).
Your praiseworthy institution, although it has been present for a long time in the Roman social fabric, brings with it evangelical ideals and a vitality that makes it suitable even today to offer a valid contribution in the field of the reception of the apostolate of charity. In a time of great changes and persistent economic precariousness, in which the ecclesial community feels called to proclaim the Christian message again and its power of humanization, you must be aware that your work still has an important role to play.
I thank you for all you do and for Peter's Pence, a contribution that you have come to give me every year: it is a further sign of your openness to people in need. At the same time, it is a concrete participation in the solicitude of the Apostolic See to respond to the growing urgencies of the Church especially in the poorest of countries. I wish once again to express my deep appreciation for your commitment, animated by your fervent fidelity and devotion to the Successor of Peter. May the Blessed Virgin accompany and support your intentions and your good work with her maternal protection.
I ask you to pray for me and for my service to the Church, and with all my heart I impart the Apostolic blessing to you who are here present, as well as to all those who assist you in your various activities, and I willingly extend this blessing also to your families. Thank you.
(Original text in Italian)
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