PROCLAIM AND GIVE WITNESS TO THE GOSPEL OF LOVE

VATICAN CITY, FEB 12, 1999 (VIS) - The Pope received at midday today the cardinals and bishops from various continents who are friends of the Focolari Movement and who have just finished their annual congress in Castelgandolfo.

John Paul II said that during their meeting, they "appropriately highlighted the vital importance of prayer and Christian meditation, as experiences of love which lift the soul and unite it to God. ... In our daily lives, it is important that intimate dialogue with our Heavenly Father is not lacking. Everything should find its meaning and value in this communion of life, so that our being and actions show the merciful love of God, source of unity and communion."

"Know how to discern, welcome and favor the charism which the Spirit stirs up in the Movement, so that the desire for unity and communion be accomplished in all peoples, which is a privileged characteristic of the 'Opus Mariae'" (Work of Mary), the official name of the Focolari Movement.

The Holy Father asked the prelates to always take care to "proclaim and give witness to the Gospel of love. This requires a deep spirituality which obtains unceasing vitality from the Eucharistic mystery, in full harmony with the Magisterium of the Church and with the necessities of the ecclesial community."

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