Vatican City, 20 December 2014 (VIS) –
Today in the Paul VI Hall the Holy Father received 7,500 members of
the Community of John Paul XXIII, founded by the Italian priest
Oreste Benzi in 1968. The association, currently present in 34
countries, is concerned with situations of marginalisation and
poverty and promotes the non-violent removal of the root causes. It
follows the principle of sharing of life in a number of contexts:
minors and young people in difficult conditions, the disabled,
detainees, itinerant communities, drug users, alcoholics, those
without fixed abode, the elderly, the sick, mothers with problems and
women forced into prostitution.
During the audience, various members of
the Community narrated to the Pope their experiences, which as
Francis said, spoke of “slavery and liberation, of the selfishness
of those who imagine they can build up their lives by exploiting
others and taking advantage of the generosity of those who help
others to rise up from material and moral degradation. They are
experiences that shed light on the many forms of poverty that
unfortunately afflict our world, and they reveal the most dangerous
misery of all, the cause of all others: distance from God, the
presumption of being able to do without Him. This is the blind misery
of those who believe that the aim of their existence is material
wealth, the pursuit of power and pleasure, and the enslavement of the
lives of others to these objectives”.
“Yes, my friends, it is the presence
of the Lord that makes the difference between the freedom of good and
the slavery of evil … it broadens horizons … and gives us the
strength necessary to overcome difficulties and obstacles. … Faith,
indeed, moves the mountains of indifference and apathy, of
disinterest and sterile self-centredness. … Faith opens the doors
of charity … giving us the courage to act according to the example
of the Good Samaritan. Fr. Oresti Benzi, the founder of your
association, understood this well. His love for the least and for the
poor, for the excluded and the abandoned, was rooted in his love for
Jesus crucified, Who made Himself poor for us. … From the mission
of involving adolescents and encouraging their interest in the figure
of Jesus, there was born the idea of organising for them a vital and
radical encounter with Him as a hero and friend, through testimonies
of life, fully demonstrating the Christian message, but in a joyful
or even joking fashion”.
“In this way your community was born,
now present in 34 countries with its family-houses, its social and
educational cooperatives, its houses of prayer, services for
accompanying difficult motherhood and other initiatives”, continued
the Pope. “Providence has enabled you to grow, demonstrating the
vitality of the charism of your Founder, who liked to say that “to
get onto your feet, you need to kneel first”.
Pope Francis concluded by inviting
those present to be attentive to their spiritual formation, and to
partake frequently of the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist, as
“it fills the heart with the love for God that is the wellspring of
charity towards our brothers and sisters”.
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