Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Lion (Fides Service) - Pope Benedict XVI said he hoped the Assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies and celebrations to commemorate Pauline Jaricot may “revive missionary ardour” among the Catholics of France that they may have the same audacity of their ancestress from Lyon “to announce through convinced witness and persistent prayer the Gospel and salvation which comes from the one Saviour”, calling also young people to offer themselves for missionary work. The Message also underlined that Jaricot drew from Eucharist the power of faith and profoundly missionary conviction and the Pope invites all the faithful to base their “life and deeds on contemplation of the mystery of the Eucharist which is the source and summit of the Church’s growth”. The Message sent on the Pope’s behalf by the Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, assures those present at the assembly of the Holy Father’s closeness. The message was read out on Thursday 5 May during the solemn mass presided by Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe at St John Baptist cathedral filled to capacity.
Earlier during Morning Prayers of the Feast of the Ascension the new house prayer and mission formation, once the home of Pauline Marie Jaricot (1799/1862), the foundress of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, was inaugurated. The ceremony was presided by Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyon, present Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, Cardinal Ivan Dias, Archbishop of Bombay, Archbishop Josef Cordes, President of the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum”, Archbishop Henryk Hoser, secretary adjunct of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples and president of the Pontifical Mission Societies, papal nuncio in France Archbishop Fortunato Balzelli, other Bishops and numerous civil authorities.
Cardinal Barbarin said he hoped Christians of today would reach the same union with Christ experienced by Pauline Jaricot an experience which led to her great missionary and social efforts. The mayor of Lyon Hon. Gérard Collomb said in his address that the “message of Pauline Jaricot is for believers and non believers a message of love and hope”.
At the end of the celebration the 120 national directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies who have come to Lyon from all over the world for their annual general assembly, held this year here in France for the first time, each left an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary as she is venerated in their respective countries. These pictures will be on show in one of the rooms in the new House as a reminder that the Society for the Propagation of the Faith has spread to the whole world.
Not far from the house, at the Marian Shrine of Our Lady of La Fourviére, a plaque was unveiled to commemorate the vow of chastity taken here by Pauline Jaricot on 25 December 1816. This was followed by Mass at 11am presided by Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe at the John the Baptist Cathedral.
The day closed with a musical on the life of Pauline Jaricot, performed by a youth group from Dijon diocese led by Fr. Raoul Mutin. At the end of the play the actors ask Pauline: “What is your secret ?” and she replies: “I have loved Jesus Christ more than anything on this earth”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 6/5/2005 - Righe 40; Parole 566)
