VATICAN - The Pope receives Bishops, Friends of the Focolari Movement and the Community S. Egidio: “The original brotherhood which exists between you and the Movements of which you are friends, leads you to carry ‘one another’s burdens (Gal 6,2), as the Apostle says, above all with regard to evangelisation, love for the poor and the cause for peace”

Friday, 9 February 2007

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - On 8 February Pope Benedict XVI received participants in the annual meeting of bishops, Friends of the "Focolare" movement, who are considering the theme: "Christ crucified and abandoned, light in the cultural night," and participants in the ninth congress of bishops, Friends of the S. Egidio Community, who are studying the question: "The globalization of love." The Pope told the bishops that their closeness to these movements "highlights the vitality of new groupings of the faithful, and expresses the communion between charismas that constitutes a typical 'sign of the times'."
In meetings such as these bishops experience “not only collegiality but also brotherhood among bishops which draws from shared ideals promoted by the Movement, the impulse to render more intense communion of hearts - the Pope said -, stronger reciprocal support and more deeply shared commitment to demonstrate that the Church is a place of prayer and charity, the home of mercy and peace”. John Paul II presented new church Movements and communities as a “providential gift of the Holy Spirit’s to the Church to responds effectively to the challenges of our day”, and Pope Benedict XVI added : “And you know that this is also my conviction”.
The Vigil of Pentecost last year brought many Church movements and communities together in St Peter’s Square and repeating what he said on that occasion the Pope said: “the diversity and unity of charisma and ministries are inseparable in the life of the Church. The Holy Spirit wishes the diversity of the Movements to be a the service of the one Body, the Church. And he achieves this through the ministry of those whom he has chosen to guide the Church: the Bishops in communion with the Successor of Peter”. The Pope then underlined the “powerful missionary dimension” of both of these Church movements which bear witness to “the joy of the faith and the beauty of being Christians. With great ecumenical opening in the vast depressed areas of the earth they communicate the message of solidarity and draw close to the poor and the weak with that love, human and divine, which I re-proposed for the attention of all in my encyclical Deus caritas est.”
The Focolari Movement, starting from Christ crucified and abandoned “emphasises the charisma and the service of unity in various social and cultural spheres for example economics…and through the paths of ecumenism and interreligious dialogue. The Community of S. Egidio focuses its life on prayer and the Liturgy in order to be close to those who live in situations of hardship and social exclusion”. “Together it is possible to face with greater impulse the pressing challenges of this beginning of the third millennium - the Pope said -: I think in the first place of the quest for justice and peace and the urgent need to build a world of more brotherhood and solidarity … I refer especially to Africa, a continent which I carry in my heart and which I hope will soon live times of stable peace and authentic development. The next Synod of African Bishops will surely be an opportunity to show God’s great love for the beloved peoples of Africa.” The Holy Father concluded: “The original brotherhood which exists between you and the Movements of which you are friends, leads you to carry ‘one another’s burdens (Gal 6,2), as the Apostle says, above all with regard to evangelisation, love for the poor and the cause for peace. May the Lord render ever more fruitful you spiritual and apostolic initiatives”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 9/2/2007 - righe 44, parole 637)


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