Vatican City, 1 February 2014 (VIS) –
Today Pope Francis received in audience eight thousand members of the
Neocatechumenal Way, the Catholic formation itinerary initiated by
the Spanish laypeople Francisco Jose Gomez Arguello (better known as
Kiko Arguello) and Carmen Hernandez who, along with the Italian
priest Mario Pezzi, form the “International Responsible Team of the
Way”.
“The Church is grateful for your
generosity!” said the Pope. “I thank you for everything you do in
the Church and in the world. And in the name of the Church, our
Mother, I would like to make some simple recommendations to you. The
first is to take the greatest care to construct and conserve
communion within the particular Churches in which you carry out your
work. The Way has its own charisma, its own dynamics, a gift which,
like all the gifts of the Spirit, has a profound ecclesial dimension;
this means listening to life of the Churches to which your leaders
send you, to recognising the value of their richness, suffering for
their weaknesses when necessary, and walking together as a single
flock, under the guidance of the pastors of the local Churches.
Communion is essential: at times it can be better to set aside some
of the details that your itinerary requires in order to guarantee
unity between the brothers that form the single ecclesial community,
of which you must always consider yourselves to be a part”.
Pope Francis' second recommendation
was, “wherever you go, it will do you good to think that the Spirit
of God always arrives before us. The Lord always precedes us! Even in
the most distant places, even in the most diverse cultures, God sows
everywhere the seeds of his Word. From this, there arises the need
for special attention to the cultural context in which you, as
families, go to carry out your work; it is an environment often very
different to that from which you come. Many of you take great pains
to learn the local language, at times difficult, and these efforts
are commendable. Even more important will be your effort to 'learn'
the cultures you encounter, to recognise the need for the Gospel that
is present everywhere, but also that action that the Holy Spirit has
accomplished in the life and history of every people”.
Finally, the Holy Father urged them all
to “care, with love, for each other, especially the weakest. The
Neocatechumenal Way, as an intinerary for the discovery of one's own
Baptism, is a demanding path, along which a brother or sister may
encounter unexpected difficulties. In these cases, the exercise of
patience and mercy by the community is a sign of mature faith. The
freedom of each person must not be forced, and it is necessary to
respect the eventual decision of those who decide to seek, outside
the Way, other forms of Christian life that may help them to grow in
their response to the call of the Lord”.
The Holy Father concluded, “I
encourage you to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ everywhere, even in
the least Christianised environments, especially in the existential
peripheries. Evangelise with love, take God's love to all. Tell those
you encounter on the streets of your mission that God loves man just
as he is, even with his limits, with his errors, with his sins. Be
messengers and witnesses to the infinite goodness and inexhaustible
mercy of the Father”.
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