BE TIRELESS WITNESSES TO HOPE, POPE TELLS RELIGIOUS

VATICAN CITY, FEB 17, 2003 (VIS) - Participants in the 17th General Chapter of the Daughters of Mary Most Holy "dell orto", also called the Gianelli Sisters after their founder, St. Anthony Mary Gianelli, were welcomed to the Vatican this morning by Pope John Paul.

He said that their theme, "Consecrate and Send into the Service of the Kingdom," was "stimulating," as it motivated them "to return to the roots of your charism and to place them face to face with current needs, in an ever-changing world." He noted how their work was always inspired by their founder, Bishop Gianelli, "who loved to repeat: 'God, God, only God!'. Everything he did was animated by his ardent longing for Christ."

"His teachings are well expressed in your Constitutions," the Pope pointed out, "which outline the style typical of your religious family: fidelity to your charism, living a vigilant evangelical charity, forgetting one's own interests and comfort; remaining attentive to the needs of the times, taking pleasure in becoming everything for everyone with a commitment whose only limits are impossibility and inopportuneness."

The Holy Father urged the sisters to "pursue this path, placing Christ at the center of your life." He asked them to make love of Christ, love of their neighbor and poverty the marks of their ministry, and he also asked them to "be tireless witnesses of hope."

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