POPE THANKS SODALITY FOR CHARITABLE WORKS, PETER'S PENCE

VATICAN CITY, MAY 3, 2001 (VIS) - The Pope this morning welcomed 30 members of the Circolo San Pietro, a Rome-based sodality founded in the 19th century which volunteers assistance for papal ceremonies and serves the city's hungry, poor and homeless. They also collect locally, through an ancient privilege granted the Circolo, the annual Peter's Pence and present it to the Holy Father on the occasion of their yearly visit.

The Pope recalled the intense activity performed by the Circolo San Pietro during the Jubilee Year, especially "the daily distribution of meals to the poor in the kiosks you ran near the four patriarchal basilicas." He added that "the memory of the strong ecclesial experiences which were lived surely constitutes a stimulus to open wide our hearts to the promising horizons of the new evangelization. It is with this spirit that you too, dear ones, must resume the 'ordinary' path of your apostolate, simple yet profound, spreading Christian hope everywhere."

Urging them to live the Gospel ideal of holiness in their families, at work and in professional activities, John Paul II observed: "Only a solid spirituality is valid support for efficacious charitable action. Only when they are animated by the breath of the Spirit do the initiatives of assistance and human promotion for the elderly and children, for the poor and sick, whom you care for in Rome, become eloquent signs of the Gospel of charity."

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