Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Santiago de Chile (Agenzia Fides) - Young volunteers are currently visiting 55 areas of the country to bring a message of peace and hope to families. There are more than 1,500 students on mission to encounter Christ at the service of the communities.
"Pope Francis sent me a letter inviting me to be less of a cardinal and more of a servant, so in your case it is a question of being less of an engineering, medical or pedagogical student and more of a servant," said the Archbishop of Santiago, Cardinal Fernando Chomalì, in his homily at the sending-off Mass, referring to what the Pope had recommended to him when he was appointed cardinal in the Consistory of December 7, 2024.
"The Holy Father also told me to look up, to look beyond myself and go out of myself. Saying that this is a great opportunity to broaden my view, to know that life does not begin or end with the things we have prepared and studied for,” added Cardinal Chomalì, who is also Grand Chancellor of the Catholic University of Chile (UC).
The cardinal urged the young missionaries to marvel at everything around them, starting with their own study disciplines, and to make use of their own talents. “Your efforts will not be in vain, they will lead to a better country. In the country that unfortunately - and I apologize - we were not able to leave you.”
“Looking up to go out of ourselves, because Christ is the center, hands folded so that we can be people of prayer and bare feet to feel the suffering of poverty,” said the Archbishop of Santiago before blessing the crosses of the volunteers who will return to the Chilean capital on January 12, 2025.
Together with Cardinal Chomalì, Osvaldo Fernández de Castro and Jorge Merino, Vice-Grand Chancellor and Grand Chaplain of the UC, concelebrated the Mass of sending. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 8/1/2024)
