Pope Francis receives the members of the Communion and Liberation group in St. Peter’s Square to celebrate the centenary of the movement’s founder, Fr Giusani.
(Vatican News Network)About 60,000 members of the Communion and Liberation group gathered in St. Peter’s Square on October 15. In his meeting with them, Pope Francis praised the mission of the movement, in particular the charisma of its founder, Fr Luigi Giussani, and extended his best wishes to the members.
During the celebrations of Fr Giusani’s centenary, members of the community of Communion and Liberation from all over the world gathered in St. Peter’s Square to review and testify to Fr Giusani’s apostolic work. Fr Giusani is a Milanese priest dedicated to educating students, educating them and inspiring them in their life.
Pope Francis began his speech by expressing gratitude for Fr Giusani’s inspirational role, underlining that the priest was extremely influential in educating and inspiring young people. Fr Giusani shares his faith with passion, helping young people to lay the foundations of their faith in their daily life so that they can grow and prosper.
The Pope also referred to Fr Giusani’s educational work during the turbulent 1960s and to the expansion of his mission. The Pope thus encourages everyone to persevere despite the similar challenges we face today. The age of crisis, the Pope said, “is a time of renewal and relaunching the mission according to the current state of the Church, as well as the needs, sufferings and hopes of the present. The crisis favors growth”.
The Pope then deepened the three characteristics of Fr Giusani: his charisma, his educational mission and his love for the Church.
On the personal charisma of Fr Giusani, who at a young age was amazed by the mystery of Christ and knew how to knock on the hearts of many young people. The Pope said: “Christ is the nucleus that unifies all reality, the answer to all human questions, the fulfillment of every desire of the human heart for happiness, goodness, love and eternity”. , that grace is always the same, but the way it is lived must be adapted to bear fruit in today’s world, and this requires humility.
Referring to Fr Giusani’s role as educator, the Pope underlined that, in the years following his ordination, Fr Giusani felt the urgency to transmit his own experience of encounter with Jesus, to encourage others to encounter Jesus; he awakens the desire for meaning and truth in situations where religion is superficial or misunderstood. At the same time, Fr Giusani respects everyone’s freedom and responsibility and encourages them to use their talents and respond to their calls.
Furthermore, the Pope called Fr Giusani “son of the Church” because he loved the Church with reverence and loyalty, and he taught others to have the same respect and filial piety. «The ecclesiastical community, with its charism, helps to manifest the attractive qualities and the novelties of the Christian faith; the ecclesiastical authorities are wise and prudent in indicating the path that the movements must follow so that they can be faithful to themselves, and the mission entrusted to them by God ”.
At the end of the day, the Pope urged all present to walk with him, to make peace together and to remain united.
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