Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “As leaven which makes the flour rise, so too your lives, at times silent and hidden, but always propositional and encouraging, are capable of spreading hope. The place of your apostolate is therefore in everything which is human… both in the Christian community and in the civil community where relationships are built in the search for common good, in dialogue with all, called to witness that Christian anthropology which constitutes proposals of sense in a society disorientated and confused by a marked multi-cultural and multi-religious climate.” This exhortation was addressed by Pope Benedict XVI to members of the World Conference of Secular Institutes received in audience on 3 February on the occasion of an international Symposium organised to mark the 60th anniversary of the promulgation of the apostolic constitution Provida Mater Ecclesia.
In different cultural, political and religious situations in which they live and work, members of Secular Institutes are called to “announce the beauty of God and his creation”: “Following the example of Christ- the Pope said -, be obedient to love, men and women of meekness and mercy, capable of walking the streets of the world doing only good. May yours be lives which give central place to the Beatitudes, contradicting human logic, expressing unconditioned trust in God who wishes mankind to be happy. The Church needs you in order to complete her mission. Be seeds of holiness thrown generously in the furrows of history. Rooted in the freely given and effective action with which the Spirit of the Lord guides human vicissitudes may you bear fruits of genuine faith, writing with your lives and with your witness parables of hope, writing them with works promoted by ‘creative charity’.”
In his address the Pope recalled that 60 years ago on 2 February 1947, Pius XII promulgated the apostolic constitution Provida Mater Ecclesia, which acknowledged Secular Institutes as “one of countless gifts with which the Holy Spirit accompanies the journey of the Church and continually renews her down through the centuries”. “You are here today to continue along the path initiated sixty years ago - the Pope told the participants at the audience coming from many different countries -, are ever more enthusiastic bearers, in Jesus Christ, of the sense of the world and of history. Your enthusiasm is born of the discovery of the beauty of Christ, of His unique manner of loving, meeting, healing, cheering and comforting life. And it is of this beauty that your lives wish to sing, so that your being in the world may be a sign of your being in Christ.”
Outlining the traits of the secular mission, Pope Benedict XVI quoted: witness of human virtues such as "justice, la peace, joy"; an "honourable life style", mentioned by St Peter in his First Letter (cfr 2,12); commitment to build a society which recognises in all the different areas the dignity of the human person and the values indispensable for its full realisation (from policies to economy, from education to commitment for public health, from service management to scientific research). “Be involved in all suffering, and all injustice, but also in every search for truth, beauty and goodness- the Holy Father said -, not because you have solutions for all problems but because every circumstance in which man lives and dies is an opportunity for you to bear witness to the salvific work of God. This your mission”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 5/2/2007 - righe 38, parole 570)
