EUROPE/ENGLAND - Charity, a means of evangelization in times of pandemic according to the National Director of Missio

London (Agenzia Fides) - "Helping families in difficulty, supporting the poor, bringing a word of comfort to the sick and dying, assisting them in times of suffering or need: this is the marvelous principle of giving according to one's abilities and receiving according to one's need, which demonstrates how charity can evangelize the world". This is what Father Anthony Chantry, Director of "Missio", the National Direction of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) in England and Wales, says to Agenzia Fides, noting how much each baptized person carries within himself the responsibility of collaborating in evangelization. "God invites all the faithful to unite as brothers - he continues - to discover how it is possible to help each other in order to overcome the challenges that are faced daily on the path of every man".
Father Anthony underlines how, in times of pandemic, there are many "courageous and selfless women and men who work in different parts of the world at the service of the poor and the weakest", offering "material but also spiritual support, because what matters is to experience the love of God".
"Last year - Fr. Chantry tells Fides - I visited a number of projects in Mongolia and in one of the religious communities where I stayed, the Missionaries of Charity, the Congregation founded by St. Teresa of Calcutta. These nuns run retirement homes for the abandoned elderly and homes for street children. They live and work with very little help - he explains - and they are not allowed by law to promote the Catholic faith. Their actions are every day, exclusively, in favor of the local population. This is a profound testimony of the Gospel and of love for God".
According to the Director of Missio, however necessary "the aspect of fundraising of the PMS for the future of the Church struggling in areas of deprivation, conflict and poverty, in reality it is only a secondary aspect compared to our fundamental call: the profound relationship with God and the reciprocal strengthening in faith, ready to be witnesses and messengers of Christ with our enthusiasm and our missionary zeal". Fr. Anthony concludes: "We are called to rekindle the mission through sparkles of true love, as a reflection of the love for Jesus". (ES) (Agenzia Fides, 5/12/2020)

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