Pope Francis meets with Carabinieri and Says "In carrying out your profession, let the awareness always accompany you that every person is loved by God, is his creature and as such deserves respect."

 GREETING FROM THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS

TO THE CARABINIERI OF THE ROME SAINT PETER COMPANY

Sala Clementina
Saturday, October 17, 2020

 

Dear Carabinieri!

I am pleased to welcome you and extend my cordial welcome to each one. I greet the Commander General of the Carabinieri, whom I thank for his words, the Commander of the “San Pietro” Company, the other Commanders and Officers and all of you present here.

I wish to express my gratitude to you for the service you render to the Holy See by collaborating with the other Italian and Vatican forces for public security and order. Your appreciated work in the surroundings of the Vatican City favors the peaceful unfolding of events which, throughout the year, attract pilgrims and tourists from all over the world. This is an activity that requires, on the one hand, the need to enforce the provisions that are imparted and, on the other, a patient availability for people's needs. That patience you have with all those who ask you questions, even with priests. Thanks for that.

The professionalism and sense of responsibility, which you testify in the area, express and strengthen the sense of solidarity within the social community. In your work, around the Vatican as in other areas of the city, you are called to pay particular attention to fragile and disadvantaged people, especially the elderly, who are precisely the root of our culture, the living memory of our culture. This is facilitated by the relationship of trust and dedication to the common good that is usually established between the carabinieri and the people. This is curious, it is true. When a person meets a carabiniere, he is aware that he can count on his help. And this is more meritorious when it happens in hiding, through those small but significant gestures of your daily service.

Your mission is expressed in dedication to your neighbor and commits you every day to correspond to the trust and esteem that people place in you. This requires constant availability, prudence, a spirit of sacrifice and a sense of duty. I encourage you everywhere to be promoters of responsible citizenship, to help people to be good citizens, to be guardians of the right to life, through a commitment to the safety and safety of people. In carrying out your profession, let the awareness always accompany you that every person is loved by God, is his creature and as such deserves respect. May the grace of the Lord nourish the spirit with which you dedicate yourself to your work day by day, stimulating you to live it with a supplement of attention and dedication.

I renew my gratitude to all of you for the vigilant and discreet presence around the Vatican. The Lord reward you! Every morning when I arrive here in my study in the Library, I pray to Our Lady and then I go to the window to look at the square, to look at the city and there, at the end of the square, I see you. Every morning I greet you with my heart and thank you. I hope that your faith, the tradition of fidelity and generosity of which you are heirs, the ideals of the weapon will help you to find ever new reasons for realization in your service. May everyone have positive experiences in their professional, personal and family life.

I invoke the gifts of the Holy Spirit upon you and your daily work. I entrust you to the maternal protection of Our Lady, whom you venerate with the title of Virgo fidelis . Turn to her with trust, especially in moments of weariness and difficulty, sure that, as a most tender Mother, she will know how to present your needs and expectations to her Son Jesus. She is a mother and like all mothers she knows how to guard, how to cover, how to help. I cordially bless you, together with your families. And I ask you to please pray for me. Thank you!

FULL TEXT Source: Vatican.va - Unofficial Translation - Image Source: Screenshot - Vatican.va