POPE'S APPEAL TO CLOISTERED LIFE AND THE RURAL FAMILY

Vatican City, 20 November 2013 (VIS) – Following today's general audience, Pope Francis greeted the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square. He recalled the victims and families of those affected by the floods that have claimed many lives on the Italian island of Sardinia.

The Pontiff commented that “Pro Orantibus Day”, will be celebrated tomorrow, 21 November, the liturgical memory of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple and a day on which the Church also remembers cloistered monks and nuns. He encouraged those present to support both spiritually and materially those who are called to the cloistered life, to assist them in carrying out the important task entrusted to them. “It is a good occasion to thank the Lord for the gift of the many people who, in monasteries and hermitages, dedicate themselves to God in prayer and constructive silence”.

He went on to mention that on 22 November the United Nations will inaugurate the “International Year of the Family Farming”. “In work, too, the family is a model of fraternity, for living an experience of unity and solidarity between all its members, with greater sensitivity towards those who are most in need of care or assistance, and stemming social conflict at source”, said the Holy Father, who expressed his wish that this initiative might contribute to promoting “the innumerable benefits that the family brings to the economic, social, cultural and moral growth of the entire human community”.