THE CHURCH IS CALLED TO PROCLAIM THE POWER OF THE CROSS

VATICAN CITY, SEP 21, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received participants in the General Chapter of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and of the Perpetual Adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament, who are celebrating the second centenary of their foundation.

The Holy Father recalled that the congregation expanded first through Europe "but later moved to the Pacific, to Latin America, to Asia and Africa, up to the present day when you have a presence in more that 40 countries."

"Today, as always," he continued, "what the Church is called to proclaim before the world is the power of the Cross. ... What this requires from you is that, like Christ Himself, you allow your hearts to open in order that they be converted in the reflection of the spring of living water, the only thing that can satisfy the thirst of the human heart."

John Paul II emphasized that "only in the depths of contemplation can the Holy Spirit transform your hearts. ... Social structures can never be perfected and elevated without a true conversion of hearts. Both aspects should go together as, if the structures are changed without converting hearts, these structural changes may conceal evil but not overcome it. For this reason the mission, if it does not contemplate the Crucified Christ, is condemned to frustration."

After recalling that their founding was characterized by the fact that men and women form part of the same congregation, the Pope indicated that "this unity has not always been easy, and it is important for the governing bodies of both branches to work for an ever more mature testimony of evangelical union, solidarity and interdependence among all members of the congregation."

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