VATICAN CITY, JUN 8, 2002 (VIS) - This morning in the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father received a group of pilgrims from the Italian archdiocese of Capua who came to Rome in commemoration of the Pope's pastoral visit of ten years ago, and participants in a congress sponsored by Italian Catholic Action.
The Pope urged the faithful of Capua to try to find Christ "with new ardor, to listen to His voice, He who calls you to a more intense evangelical faithfulness. He asks you to make Him present wherever man finds himself alone, rejected or humiliated due to sorrow or violence and wherever people, tired of human words, have a deep desire to be close to God."
After recalling the invitation that he made ten years ago to the young people of Capua to respond with generosity to Jesus' call, he said: "Today, ten years later, I desire to extend this invitation once again to young people: do not ever lose pride in being Christians, to be able to forge a friendship with Christ, to look for what He looks for, to behave as He behaved. Jesus must become the center of your life. He helps you to be the 'salt and leaven' of your land."
Subsequently, John Paul II addressed the participants in a congress on Armida Barelli, "who was known as the 'Big Sister' of the young women of Catholic Action."
"Follow with faithfulness the path laid out by this strong and fearless woman, imitating her aspiration to holiness, her missionary dedication and her civil and social commitment to instill the fields of culture, politics, business and free time with the leaven of the Gospel."
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