Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “In a missionary Church, placed before an educational emergency like the one found in Italy today, you who love and serve it should be tireless announcers and prepared, generous educators; in a Church called to trials of faithfulness that are sometimes very demanding, and tempted to adaptation, you must be courageous and prophetic witnesses of the radical nature of the Gospel; in a Church that faces the relativistic, hedonistic, and consumerist mentality on a daily basis, you must be able to make more room for rationality under the banner of a faith that is the friend of intelligence, both in the area of popular mass culture, and in that of more elaborate and reflective research; in a Church that calls to the heroism of sanctity, respond without fear, always trusting in the mercy of God.” This was the “advice” that the Holy Father Benedict XVI gave to the members of Catholic Action in Italy, in an address he made following the recitation of the Regina Caeli on Sunday, May 4. Thousands of members of the organization filled St. Peter’s Square participated in a Mass presided by Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, in honor of Catholic Action’s 140th anniversary of foundation.
Reflecting on the number of saints, blesseds, venerables, and servants of God from among the ranks of Catholic Action, whose portraits lined the columns of Saint Peter’s Square, the Pope recalled that for Catholic Action, they were “the most authentic identification card,” and encouraged the children, youth, and adults to make their lives “a testimony of communion with the Lord that becomes an authentic masterpiece of holiness.” “This will certainly be possible,” the Holy Father said, “if Catholic Action continues to be faithful to its own profound roots of faith, sustained by a total adhesion to the Word of God, an unconditional love for the Church, a careful participation in civil life, and a constant effort in formation. Dear friends, be generous in responding to the this call to holiness, in the ways that most befit your situation as lay faithful! May you continue to be inspired by the three great ‘directives’ that my predecessor, the Servant of God John Paul II, gave you in Loreto in 2004: contemplation, communion, and mission.”
Benedict XVI later reaffirmed the value, even in our day, of the vocations that distinguish Catholic Action, exhorting its members to “continue with generosity” in their service to the Church, “in a spirit of intimate communion with the Successor of Peter and of active collaboration with [the Church’s] Pastors,” thus incarnating “a balanced and fruitful ministry between the universal Church and the local Church,” that requires a constant effort in contributing to communion. The Holy Father continued: “Illumined and sustained by the work of the Holy Spirit and remaining firmly rooted on the path of the Church, you are led with courage, on the quest for the ever-new synthesis between the proclamation of salvation in Christ to the man of our time and the promotion of the integral well-being of the person and of the entire human family.”
After having pointed out that Italy has always been able to rely on the men and women with formation in Catholic Action, “willing to serve, in any cause for the common good, in order to contribute to the establishment of a just order in society and in the State,” Benedict XVI concluded his address to the members of Catholic Action with these words: “May you always know how to live up to the greatness of your Baptism, for the salvation of every man you meet and for a world that thirsts for peace and truth...Intensify your prayer, conform your conduct to the eternal values of the Gospel, allowing yourselves to be guided by the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church. The Pope accompanies you, recalling you in constant prayer to the Lord.” (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 5/5/2008; righe 48, parole 650)
