At noon today (6:00am EDT) in the Clementine Hall at the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience a delegation from the Missionary Institutes in Italy.
Dear brothers and sisters!
I am happy to meet you, and I am grateful to you for asking for this audience together, as specifically missionary religious institutes born in Italy. Thank you for the greeting and introduction. I consider the fact of meeting on the eve of the Extraordinary Missionary Month to be providential, because it allows us to reflect together on the mission and, above all, to invoke God's grace upon it.
First of all I feel the need to express gratitude to your Founders. In a troubled historical era - from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century - the foundation of your religious families, with their generous openness to the world, was a sign of courage and trust in the Lord. When everything seemed to lead to the preservation their existence, your Founders - but also other figures could be added, such as Saint (Frances Xavier) Cabrini - on the contrary were the protagonists of a new impetus towards others and particularly those who are distant. From conservation to momentum.
The missionary lives the courage of the gospel without too many calculations, sometimes even going beyond common sense because he is driven by trust placed exclusively in Jesus. There is a mystique of mission, a thirst for communion with Christ through the testimony that your Founders and your Foundresses lived, which pushed them to give themselves totally. It is necessary to rediscover this mystique in all its fascinating beauty, because it preserves its extraordinary strength for all time. As Saint Paul says: The love of Christ indeed possesses us; and we know well that one has died for all (2 Cor 5.14).
Also in this aspect, the Virgin Mary is a teacher: she who, immediately after having conceived Jesus, left in a hurry to go and help her cousin; and so she brought Jesus into that house, into that family, and at the same time, she brought Jesus to the people of Israel and brought him to the world. Mary leaves because she is inhabited by Christ and by his Spirit. This is why you too leave because they are inhabited by Christ and his Spirit. There is no other reason to decide to leave except for the Risen Christ, no other reason to leave the dearest affections, one's country, one's friends, one's culture. It is beautiful to hear this passion for Christ and for his Kingdom in your words; as in the memorable speech of Paul VI in Manila that you mention in your Document.
On this basis, your confirmation of the dedication to the mission ad gentes is well founded. I thank you for the clear witness you give of your vocation, which is inseparably ecclesial and charismatic. Ecclesial in its very depths, rooted in Baptism, and at the same time linked to the charism towards which the Lord has attracted you and in which your life has taken shape.
I was struck by hearing you repeat without hesitation: We are missionaries and missionaries ad gentes ... ad extra ... ad vitam. And don't say it as a slogan - this would be dangerous! -, but with the necessary motivations and specifications. You say it without triumphalism or a sense of challenge, indeed, in the awareness of the current crisis, accepted as an opportunity for discernment, conversion and renewal.
With the consecration to the mission ad gentes, you make your specific contribution to the evangelization commitment of the whole Church. With the richness of the charisms of your Institutes - which means hearts, faces, stories and even the blood of missionaries - you interpret the message Saint Paul VI's Evangelii nuntiandi, that of Saint John Paul II's Redemptoris missio, and that of Evangelii gaudium. And with this hermeneutic incarnated in your life and in your communities you enrich the feeling and the Church's journey.
Help keep the people of God alive in the awareness of being constitutively outgoing, sent to bring to all people the blessing of God who is Jesus Christ. And also help them to remember that the mission is not an individual work, or the work of solitary champions, but that it is communal, fraternal and shared. In this sense, collaboration between your Institutes is an added value: continue in this way!
Another typical contribution that you offer to the Church is to show that the mission is not one way - from Europe to the rest of the world: these are the traces of the old colonialism - but it lives on an interchange that is now evident but must be grasped as a value, a sign of the times. Today most priestly and religious vocations arise in territories that previously only received missionaries. This fact, on the one hand, increases in us the sense of gratitude towards the holy evangelizers who have been sown with great sacrifices in those lands; and on the other hand, constitutes a challenge for the Church and for the Institutes: a challenge for communion and for formation. But a challenge to be accepted without fear, with confidence in the Holy Spirit who is a Master in harmonizing diversity. I remember, in our 32nd General Congregation - I am talking about 1974 - I remember that there was talk of the Society of Jesus in several places, and someone said: Perhaps we will have an Indian superior, or an African superior ... At that time it was strange. All (superiors) had to be Europeans. And today how many, how many religious congregations have superiors and generals who come from those lands! Today, we too have a Latin American, as superior general. The matter has been reversed: what was a utopia in '74, today is a reality.
Dear brothers and sisters, beginning in your beloved country is a sign that restores strength and courage to your communities of origin. With your departure you continue to say: with Christ there is no boredom, tiredness and sadness, because He is the continuous novelty of our life. The missionary needs the joy of the gospel: without it there is no mission, a gospel is announced which does not attract. And the core of the mission is this attraction of Christ: it is the only one that attracts. Men and women of today, in Italy and in the world, need to see people who have in their hearts the joy of the Risen One, who have been attracted to the Lord. This witness, visible in dialogue, in mutual charity, in mutual acceptance and sharing, says the beauty of the Gospel, attracts us to the joy of believing in Jesus and anchoring ourselves to him. It is Jesus himself who attracts us. It is He! This joy, this beauty of the gospel always finds space in your heart, in your gestures, in your words, in the way you experience relationships.
The proclamation of the beauty, joy and novelty of the Gospel is explicit and implicit, it touches all the situations of human adventure. Do not be afraid to witness to Jesus even when it is inconvenient. To witness it with all our lives, not with entrepreneurial methodologies that respond more to a spirit of proselytism but to a true evangelization. Do not forget that the protagonist of evangelization is the Holy Spirit. He, the Lord, will know how to find ways to make that little seed take root, its name pronounced in love by a missionary, is gradually transformed into a plant of solid faith in whose shade many will be able to rest. The buried seed ... I am reminded of something that Cardinal Hummes told me: he is retired but he is the one in charge of the Brazilian Episcopate for the whole Amazon region, and when he goes to a village, to a town, one of the first things he does is go to the cemetery, to see the graves of missionaries. He told me this and then he added: All those missionaries deserve to be canonized, for the seed they threw out there. A nice thought.
The Italian Church also needs you, your testimony, your enthusiasm and your courage to take new paths to proclaim the Gospel. We need to realize that the distant gentes have now come to live in our countries, they are the strangers next door. Even the Italians next door, our fellow citizens. It is necessary to rediscover the fascinating adventure of getting close, of becoming friends, of welcoming oneself and helping oneself. This attitude concerns everyone: priests, consecrated persons and lay faithful. The theme of the October 2019 extraordinary missionary month is Baptized and sent, a theme chosen precisely to remember that the intrinsic nature of the Church is missionary. The Church exists on the journey; there is no church on the sofa.
May your Institutes collaborate more and more with the particular Churches in order to arouse more awareness of the missio ad gentes and to resume the missionary transformation of life and pastoral care with new enthusiasm (Letter of announcement of the extraordinary missionary month 2019). I accompany you with my prayer and I cordially bless you. And you, please, don't forget to pray for me. Thank you.
Testo originale nella lingua italiana
Texto en español
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
addressed to Missionary Institutes in Italy
Dear brothers and sisters!
I am happy to meet you, and I am grateful to you for asking for this audience together, as specifically missionary religious institutes born in Italy. Thank you for the greeting and introduction. I consider the fact of meeting on the eve of the Extraordinary Missionary Month to be providential, because it allows us to reflect together on the mission and, above all, to invoke God's grace upon it.
First of all I feel the need to express gratitude to your Founders. In a troubled historical era - from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century - the foundation of your religious families, with their generous openness to the world, was a sign of courage and trust in the Lord. When everything seemed to lead to the preservation their existence, your Founders - but also other figures could be added, such as Saint (Frances Xavier) Cabrini - on the contrary were the protagonists of a new impetus towards others and particularly those who are distant. From conservation to momentum.
The missionary lives the courage of the gospel without too many calculations, sometimes even going beyond common sense because he is driven by trust placed exclusively in Jesus. There is a mystique of mission, a thirst for communion with Christ through the testimony that your Founders and your Foundresses lived, which pushed them to give themselves totally. It is necessary to rediscover this mystique in all its fascinating beauty, because it preserves its extraordinary strength for all time. As Saint Paul says: The love of Christ indeed possesses us; and we know well that one has died for all (2 Cor 5.14).
Also in this aspect, the Virgin Mary is a teacher: she who, immediately after having conceived Jesus, left in a hurry to go and help her cousin; and so she brought Jesus into that house, into that family, and at the same time, she brought Jesus to the people of Israel and brought him to the world. Mary leaves because she is inhabited by Christ and by his Spirit. This is why you too leave because they are inhabited by Christ and his Spirit. There is no other reason to decide to leave except for the Risen Christ, no other reason to leave the dearest affections, one's country, one's friends, one's culture. It is beautiful to hear this passion for Christ and for his Kingdom in your words; as in the memorable speech of Paul VI in Manila that you mention in your Document.
On this basis, your confirmation of the dedication to the mission ad gentes is well founded. I thank you for the clear witness you give of your vocation, which is inseparably ecclesial and charismatic. Ecclesial in its very depths, rooted in Baptism, and at the same time linked to the charism towards which the Lord has attracted you and in which your life has taken shape.
I was struck by hearing you repeat without hesitation: We are missionaries and missionaries ad gentes ... ad extra ... ad vitam. And don't say it as a slogan - this would be dangerous! -, but with the necessary motivations and specifications. You say it without triumphalism or a sense of challenge, indeed, in the awareness of the current crisis, accepted as an opportunity for discernment, conversion and renewal.
With the consecration to the mission ad gentes, you make your specific contribution to the evangelization commitment of the whole Church. With the richness of the charisms of your Institutes - which means hearts, faces, stories and even the blood of missionaries - you interpret the message Saint Paul VI's Evangelii nuntiandi, that of Saint John Paul II's Redemptoris missio, and that of Evangelii gaudium. And with this hermeneutic incarnated in your life and in your communities you enrich the feeling and the Church's journey.
Help keep the people of God alive in the awareness of being constitutively outgoing, sent to bring to all people the blessing of God who is Jesus Christ. And also help them to remember that the mission is not an individual work, or the work of solitary champions, but that it is communal, fraternal and shared. In this sense, collaboration between your Institutes is an added value: continue in this way!
Another typical contribution that you offer to the Church is to show that the mission is not one way - from Europe to the rest of the world: these are the traces of the old colonialism - but it lives on an interchange that is now evident but must be grasped as a value, a sign of the times. Today most priestly and religious vocations arise in territories that previously only received missionaries. This fact, on the one hand, increases in us the sense of gratitude towards the holy evangelizers who have been sown with great sacrifices in those lands; and on the other hand, constitutes a challenge for the Church and for the Institutes: a challenge for communion and for formation. But a challenge to be accepted without fear, with confidence in the Holy Spirit who is a Master in harmonizing diversity. I remember, in our 32nd General Congregation - I am talking about 1974 - I remember that there was talk of the Society of Jesus in several places, and someone said: Perhaps we will have an Indian superior, or an African superior ... At that time it was strange. All (superiors) had to be Europeans. And today how many, how many religious congregations have superiors and generals who come from those lands! Today, we too have a Latin American, as superior general. The matter has been reversed: what was a utopia in '74, today is a reality.
Dear brothers and sisters, beginning in your beloved country is a sign that restores strength and courage to your communities of origin. With your departure you continue to say: with Christ there is no boredom, tiredness and sadness, because He is the continuous novelty of our life. The missionary needs the joy of the gospel: without it there is no mission, a gospel is announced which does not attract. And the core of the mission is this attraction of Christ: it is the only one that attracts. Men and women of today, in Italy and in the world, need to see people who have in their hearts the joy of the Risen One, who have been attracted to the Lord. This witness, visible in dialogue, in mutual charity, in mutual acceptance and sharing, says the beauty of the Gospel, attracts us to the joy of believing in Jesus and anchoring ourselves to him. It is Jesus himself who attracts us. It is He! This joy, this beauty of the gospel always finds space in your heart, in your gestures, in your words, in the way you experience relationships.
The proclamation of the beauty, joy and novelty of the Gospel is explicit and implicit, it touches all the situations of human adventure. Do not be afraid to witness to Jesus even when it is inconvenient. To witness it with all our lives, not with entrepreneurial methodologies that respond more to a spirit of proselytism but to a true evangelization. Do not forget that the protagonist of evangelization is the Holy Spirit. He, the Lord, will know how to find ways to make that little seed take root, its name pronounced in love by a missionary, is gradually transformed into a plant of solid faith in whose shade many will be able to rest. The buried seed ... I am reminded of something that Cardinal Hummes told me: he is retired but he is the one in charge of the Brazilian Episcopate for the whole Amazon region, and when he goes to a village, to a town, one of the first things he does is go to the cemetery, to see the graves of missionaries. He told me this and then he added: All those missionaries deserve to be canonized, for the seed they threw out there. A nice thought.
The Italian Church also needs you, your testimony, your enthusiasm and your courage to take new paths to proclaim the Gospel. We need to realize that the distant gentes have now come to live in our countries, they are the strangers next door. Even the Italians next door, our fellow citizens. It is necessary to rediscover the fascinating adventure of getting close, of becoming friends, of welcoming oneself and helping oneself. This attitude concerns everyone: priests, consecrated persons and lay faithful. The theme of the October 2019 extraordinary missionary month is Baptized and sent, a theme chosen precisely to remember that the intrinsic nature of the Church is missionary. The Church exists on the journey; there is no church on the sofa.
May your Institutes collaborate more and more with the particular Churches in order to arouse more awareness of the missio ad gentes and to resume the missionary transformation of life and pastoral care with new enthusiasm (Letter of announcement of the extraordinary missionary month 2019). I accompany you with my prayer and I cordially bless you. And you, please, don't forget to pray for me. Thank you.
Testo originale nella lingua italiana
Texto en español
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