ANNIVERSARY OF SISTERS OF THE HOLY FACE OF CHRIST

VATICAN CITY, OCT 21, 2000 (VIS) - Made public today was a message from the Pope addressed to Cardinal Fiorenzo Angelini, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers. The message marks the 50th anniversary of the Benedictine Reparation Sisters of the Holy Face of Our Lord Jesus Christ, a congregation the cardinal has spiritually tended for many years.

The congregation was founded in 1950 by Servant of God Ildebrando Gregori, then Benedictine abbot general. In his message, dated September 27, the Holy Father writes that "the constant reference to Christ's Holy Face has sustained the spirituality of those who, from the origins of the congregation to the present day, have committed themselves to making reparation for the daily offenses committed against the Lord."

John Paul II affirms that, thanks to an increase in vocations among the young, it had been possible to open new communities in India, Poland, Romania and Africa.

The Pope concludes by expressing the desire that this anniversary "be for each Reparation sister, an occasion for renewed enthusiasm for the gift of the vocation and that it may act as a stimulus to joyful witness of exemplary consecrated life."

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