(Vatican Radio) “Keep moving forward with courage, creativity and boldness.” Those were Pope Francis’ words to Serra International whom he met on Friday on the occasion of their 75th convention.Listen to this report: To quote St John Paul II, Serrans “accept as their responsibility the promotion of vocations to the priesthood and religious life”, and on Friday, his successor to the See of Peter, Pope Francis said that above all else a Serran, “is a special friend whom the Lord has brought into the lives of seminarians and priests.”The Holy Father made the comment during an address to the 600 participants attending the 75th Convention of Serra International taking place in Rome this week.Speaking about friendship, the Pope said friends stand at our side, they listen to us closely, and can see beyond mere words; they are merciful when faced with our faults; they are non-judgmental. This, Pope Francis commented is, “als...
(Vatican Radio) “Keep moving forward with courage, creativity and boldness.” Those were Pope Francis’ words to Serra International whom he met on Friday on the occasion of their 75th convention.
Listen to this report:
To quote St John Paul II, Serrans “accept as their responsibility the promotion of vocations to the priesthood and religious life”, and on Friday, his successor to the See of Peter, Pope Francis said that above all else a Serran, “is a special friend whom the Lord has brought into the lives of seminarians and priests.”
The Holy Father made the comment during an address to the 600 participants attending the 75th Convention of Serra International taking place in Rome this week.
Speaking about friendship, the Pope said friends stand at our side, they listen to us closely, and can see beyond mere words; they are merciful when faced with our faults; they are non-judgmental.
This, Pope Francis commented is, “also the kind of friendship that you seek to offer to priests.” The Serra Club, he added, “helps foster this beautiful vocation of being laity who are friends to priests.”
The Holy Father noted another phrase that is used to describe the Serrans, that is Siempre adelante! or Keep moving forward! Like you, the Pope went on to say, “I believe that this is a synonym for the Christian vocation.”
Vocation, Pope Francis said “is an invitation to go forth from ourselves, to rejoice in our relationship with the Lord, and to journey along the ways that he opens up before us.”
But he stressed, “we cannot make progress unless we take a risk, and have the courage to dare, not to let fear stifle creativity, not to be suspicious of new things, but instead to embrace the challenges which the Spirit sets before us, even when this means changing plans and charting a different course.”
In conclusion, the Pope invited those gathered to keep moving forward with courage, creativity and boldness. “Do not rest on your laurels, he said, but be ever ready to try new things.”
Pope Francis waves while traveling by boat in Venice, Italy, for a meeting with young people at the Basilica della Madonna della Salute on April 28, 2024. Earlier in the day he met with inmates at a women's prison. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNARome Newsroom, Apr 28, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).Pope Francis opened his one-day visit to Venice on Sunday morning with a meeting with female inmates where he reaffirmed the importance of fraternity and human dignity, noting that prison can be a place of new beginnings. "A stay in prison can mark the beginning of something new, through the rediscovery of the unsuspected beauty in us and in others, as symbolized by the artistic event you are hosting and the project to which you actively contribute," the pope said to the female inmates gathered in the intimate courtyard of the Women's Prison on the Island of Giudecca. Pope Francis left the Vatican by helicopter at approximately 6:30 in the mo...
Pope Francis prays in front of the tomb of St. Mark the Evangelist inside St. Mark's Basilica in Venice on April 28, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNARome Newsroom, Apr 28, 2024 / 09:35 am (CNA).Pope Francis had a full slate of events Sunday during his day trip to Venice, a trip that tied together a message of unity and fraternity with the artistic patrimony of a city that has been a privileged place of encounter across the centuries. "Faith in Jesus, the bond with him, does not imprison our freedom. On the contrary, it opens us to receive the sap of God's love, which multiplies our joy, takes care of us like a skilled vintner, and brings forth shoots even when the soil of our life becomes arid," the pope said to over 10,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Mark's Square. Framing his homily during the Mass on the theme of unity, one of the central points articulated throughout several audiences spread across the morning, Pope Francis reminded Christians: "Remaining ...
Prayer house at San Simeone, Italy, September 2012. / Credit: Courtesy of Ricostruttori nella preghieraRome, Italy, Apr 28, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).Across Italy there are houses of prayer run by the Ricostruttori (Reconstructors) community, a Catholic movement dedicated to people who are far from the Church but attracted to spirituality, particularly Eastern meditation and Buddhist practices. The Reconstructors was founded in 1978 by Jesuit Father Gian Vittorio Cappelletto. "During the postconciliar period, the Church was faced with the need for new forms of evangelization and apostolate, to reach out to people who were drifting away," Don Roberto Rondanina, priest and superior of the Ricostruttori, explained to CNA. "It was a time when Eastern meditation, Hinduism, Buddhism, the New Age ... were beginning to spread in Europe." "Father Cappelletto, who lived in Turin, sought to understand the meaning of this 'flight to the East' and felt the need to find new forms of sp...