(Vatican Radio) Describing his prepared remarks as “a little formal,” Pope Francis laid aside his written text and spoke off-the-cuff for approximately thirty minutes with male and female religious of the Salesian Family.
The Salesians, with their sister order the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, were founded by St John Bosco – known as Don Bosco – Turin’s most famous and well-known saint.
In the Pope’s written discourse to the Salesians and to the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, FMA) – which he promised to consign to the Rector to distribute to the Salesians –
Pope Francis spoke about three specific aspects of the charism of Don Bosco: his trust in divine Providence; his vocation to be a priest of the young, especially the poorest among them; his loyal and active service to the Church, particularly to the Pope.
Don Bosco’s unwavering confidence in God, the essence of consecrated life
The founder of the Salesian Family, he said, lived out to the end his priestly mission “sustained by an unwavering confidence in God.” This confidence, the Pope said, is also “the essence of the consecrated life, so that the service of the Gospel and of our brothers should not remain a prisoner of our views, of the realities of this passing world, but might continue to rise above ourselves.”
The service to the young, beginning with the most vulnerable
Another important aspect of the life of Don Bosco, Pope Francis continued, is “the service to the young , beginning with the most vulnerable and abandoned: this concerns the “pedagogy of the faith” which is taken up in the Salesian formula “educating to evangelize, and evangelizing to educate.” The Holy Father encouraged the Salesian religious to carry on “with generosity and confidence the multiple activities in favour of the new generations: oratories, youth centres, professional institutes, schools, and colleges. But without forgetting those whom Don Bosco called ‘the young people of the streets’.” These young people, he said, “have great need of hope, of being formed in the joy of the Christian life.”
A Saint always docile and faithful to the Church and to the Pope
Finally, the Pope recalled that Don Bosco was always “ docile and faithful to the Church and to the Pope , by following their suggestions and pastoral indications”; and he invites his spiritual sons and daughters “to always go forward anew to find the children and young people where they live: in the peripheries of the great cities, in areas of physical and moral danger, in social contexts where they lack so many material things, but above all lack love, understanding, tenderness, hope.”
Making “an oratory” of every place, aiming at ever greater apostolic horizons
Concluding his remarks, the Holy Father called on the Salesians “to proclaim to all the mercy of Jesus, making ‘an oratory’ of every place, especially the most inaccessible; bearing in the heart the ‘oratorian’ style of Don Bosco and aiming at ever greater apostolic horizons,” recalling the great many religious institutions living that today are living the charism of Don Bosco “to share the mission of taking the Gospel to the furthest reaches of the peripheries.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) During his Sunday Angelus on his Apostolic Visit to Turin on Sunday, Pope Francis recalled that his own grandparents were immigrants to Argentina from the Piemontese region of Italy, by concluding with a remark about “this blessed land of which I am a grandson”.
The Holy Father’s Angelus address centered on the Shroud of Turin as an icon of Jesus’ salvific, self-sacrificing love, which ‘attracts us to the face and martyred body of Jesus and, at the same time, pushes us toward the face of every person who suffers and is unjustly persecuted. It pushes us in the same direction of the gift of love of Jesus’.
As Jesus had entrusted his disciples of every age to his Mother, Pope Francis also entrusted the city of Turin and the inhabitants of the entire Piemontesi region to the Virgin Mary, ‘our loving mother’.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated Mass in Piazza Vittorio during his Apostolic Visit to Turin on Sunday, reminding all to found their lives upon the ‘rock’ which is Christ.
The Holy Father based his Sunday homily to the faithful of Turin on the Collect: “you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of the rock of your love”, saying that three important aspects of the love of God are that it is ‘faithful’, it ‘recreates all things’, and is ‘stable and sure’.
Recalling the Psalm ‘His love endures forever’, Pope Francis said that Jesus embodies the faithfulness of God’s love without limits or measure, since he is indeed ‘the face of God’s mercy’.
The love of God recreates all things and renews them. The concrete expression of this is the recognition of one’s limits and weaknesses, which is the ‘door to pardon which renews us’. The sure sign of our transformation by God’s love is the ability to divest ourselves of rancor and hatred by putting on ‘the vest of service and kindness to others’.
‘The love of God’, Pope Francis said, ‘is stable and secure’, as Jesus shows in the Gospel. He calms the storm of our lives by commanding the winds and sea. For the person at the point of surrender, the Lord ‘comes to him and offers him the Rock of His Love’.
The Holy Father also encouraged the residents of Turin to ‘not be paralyzed by fear of the future and to search for security in passing things or in a closed model of society which tends to exclude rather than include’.
Concluding his homily, Pope Francis asked the Holy Spirit ‘to help us be always mindful of this ‘rocky’ love which makes us stable and strong in the little and great sufferings’ and ‘to look to the future with hope’.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis’s two-day Apostolic Visit to Turin (June 21-22) began Sunday morning with an audience in Piazza Rebaudengo for a vast array of workers, farmers, and entrepreneurs.
Listen to Devin Watkins’ report:
After speeches from local labourers which focused on their daily difficulties, the Holy Father affirmed that work is necessary, not only for the economy, but also for the integrity of the human person, for their dignity and social inclusion. He acknowledged the problems caused by the current economic crisis on the health, education, and future of individuals.
In this time of increased immigration, Pope Francis recognized that new migrants increase competition, but that “they are not to be blamed, because they are also victims of inequality, of this ‘throw-away economy’, and of war”.
Proposing a solution to the economic crisis which has left many Italians unemployed, the Holy Father said all must say ‘NO’ to an economy of waste which excludes persons who do not produce, ‘NO’ to corruption and the idolatry of money, and ‘NO’ to inequality which generates violence. “Don Bosco”, he reminded the saint’s compatriots, “teaches us that the best method is prevention: even social conflict must be prevented, and this is done with justice”.
Pope Francis also emphasized the need for an economic model which is not in function of capital and production, but which works for the common good. The challenge of the future must be “faced with solidarity and broad vision”, and with a “social and generational pact”, which pools resources for the common effort.
Finishing his speech with words of encouragement, Pope Francis recalled a favorite theme which bridges the generational gap: “Children are the promise of the future, of moving ahead”, and “grandparents are the memory of the past which traces our steps for the future.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday addressed members of the Italian National Federation of the Knights of Labour during an audience at the Vatican.
Listen to Christopher Wells’ report:
In his address, Pope Francis spoke of some of the economic issues we face in our time, singling out inequality and unemployment – especially among young people. Youth unemployment, he said, “is a true and proper social plague.” The world of labour should welcome young people and the contributions they can make, but instead seems to tell them they are not needed.
Continuing his analysis of contemporary social issues, the Holy Father said the common good cannot be advanced simply by achieving higher profits and greater production. “The social teaching of the Church continually recalls this fundamental criterion: that the human being is at the centre of development,” he said. “As long as men and women remain passive or marginalized, the common good cannot be considered fully achieved.” This, he said, is the social aspect of labour, which must involve people in a way that promotes interdependence, creativity, and commitment.
But, the Pope said, there is also an ethical dimension to labour. Authentic development must be rooted in justice and respect for the law, must avoid all forms of corruption, and must not neglect care for the environment. Justice, the Pope said, is not limited to refraining from iniquity or strict observance of the law – even if these are a necessary beginning. The just person will act conscientiously and with concern for the good of others, taking to heart the condition of the less fortunate and of the poorest among us. “The practice of justice, in this full sense, is what we hope for everyone who works in the economic field, and for all citizens.”
(from Vatican Radio)…