Pope Francis says "We go forward with the power of the Gospel..." and "The world needs Jesus Christ, Way, Truth and Life" Quoting Don Alberione
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ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
TO THE READERS OF THE "CHRISTIAN FAMILY" WEEKLY
Paul VI Hall
Saturday, May 21, 2022
[Multimedia]
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!
I thank the Director, Don Stefano, for his presentation.
You today represent the large family of the "Famiglia Cristiana". It is not a play on words! The most widespread Catholic magazine in Italy is 90 years old: she is a grandmother, like a good grandmother, who has seen many and acquired wisdom.
Everything stems from the apostolic spirit of Blessed Don Giacomo Alberione: he imagines a magazine that brings families a Christian vision of reality, current events, the great issues of the world and the Church. And in this project he involves the whole Pauline Family: the priests in the direction and editing, the religious brothers especially in the technical phase of printing, the sisters for the diffusion in the homes, all of them to raise awareness in the parishes. But the collaboration immediately extends to journalists and experts in all fields.
Fr Alberione already said to young priests in 1915: «Sowing good ideas so that they yield good works: this is the work that matters. Religious ideas, social ideas, economic ideas, ideas of virtue, ideas of hygiene, etc. [...]. When we know that an idea can do good, that a fact can make a newspaper interesting, it will be useful to communicate them: it is a talent that God gives: let's make it bear fruit "(Notes on Pastoral Theology, n. 340).
Dear friends, the readers - that is you - are the real assets of a magazine like Famiglia Cristiana. And in fact the management, the editorial staff and the journalists have always nurtured contact with people; a relationship that must also be renewed in the digital transformation we are going through. Don Alberione used to say: «Introducing cinema to parishes and making subscriptions to Catholic magazines. The Catholic newspaper is like a visit from God to homes (Sermons to the Pastorelle, book VII, 1981, 318).
This has always been the main editorial line of the Paulines: to be attentive to relationships as the key to communicative practice, and to "networks" as places of collaborative creation of meanings and contents; a tendency to seek new forms of presence and action, linked not so much to the means but rather to the culture and the new grammar of communication; and at the service of all the people of God, especially the men and women who live in today's suburbs. This line is always valid, and of course it must be updated according to the great orientations of evangelization; today two paths are opening up before us in particular: the path of fraternity and the path of integral ecology. We have to follow these paths, but the method remains the same: dialogue and listening, which allow us to cultivate relationships.
Speaking of dialogue, it is important to understand that it cannot be reduced to an exchange of data or information, and that the relationship with the other cannot be limited to a connection. You know this well! A mere contact cannot be confused with a sign of dialogue and interaction, or a simple exchange of messages with true communication. Someone told me that the telephone directory is the one that has the most data and has the most characters, but without communication, curious! Communication is a deeper exercise, which brings out one's self-referentiality. Overcoming self-referentiality to look towards a broader horizon is essential in this moment of change of the era. To get to know the interlocutors of his mission and get closer to them, the communicator must make an "outgoing" journey, changing attitudes and mentality if necessary. This is the way that Vatican Council II, and then Saint Paul VI, Saint John Paul II showed us; but even before this is the example of the apostle Paul, who by communicating the Gospel created relationships and formed community.
The theme of the next General Chapter of priests and brother disciples of the Society of Saint Paul clearly goes in this direction: "Allow yourselves to be transformed by renewing your way of thinking" (Rom 12: 2). Called to be artisans of communion to prophetically announce the joy of the Gospel in the culture of communication. You will begin it precisely on the World Communications Day, the day desired by Saint Paul VI, whose liturgical memorial occurs on the same day. Finding ourselves here together today, let us pray for this important moment of you Paulines; and we pray that "Famiglia Cristiana" and your other periodicals, books, television, multimedia and formative activities in Italy and in the world will always be renewed according to the Gospel with the zeal of the apostle Paul.
Always go to the Gospel, always go to the roots. And from there, gain strength for the newness, the roots give you the juice to grow, the Gospel will give you the mission and will give you the message that constitutes you. But beware of a danger today: Unfortunately, going in depth is confused with going back. And a culture that, instead of going in depth, goes backwards to announce, ends up conserving itself, not growing, not having the charisma of a communication. Be careful, in your magazines: always show the roots but to grow. And be careful to look when there is some "backward" movement to denounce it and say: this is not Christian. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews said: "We are not people who go backwards" (cf. 10:39). We go forward with the power of the Gospel, with the communicative power that creates community; do not go back to create small groups of self-preservation, which will end up transforming our soul into a piece of museum. Beware of this.
And we conclude with a word from Don Alberione that summarizes his charismatic path: «No greater wealth can be given to this poor and proud world than Jesus Christ - it is the greatest wealth -. Mary gave the world grace in Jesus Christ; she continues to offer it over the centuries. […] The world needs Jesus Christ, Way, Truth and Life. Mary gives him through the apostles and apostolates, which she raises, forms, assists and crowns with fruits and glory in heaven ". (Abundantes divitiae gratiae suae, 1953, p. 108).
Thanks everyone for coming! I cordially bless you, and I bless all the readers of "Famiglia Cristiana", and all those who work to write, print and disseminate it. And don't forget to pray for me. Thanks!
TO THE READERS OF THE "CHRISTIAN FAMILY" WEEKLY
Paul VI Hall
Saturday, May 21, 2022
[Multimedia]
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!
I thank the Director, Don Stefano, for his presentation.
You today represent the large family of the "Famiglia Cristiana". It is not a play on words! The most widespread Catholic magazine in Italy is 90 years old: she is a grandmother, like a good grandmother, who has seen many and acquired wisdom.
Everything stems from the apostolic spirit of Blessed Don Giacomo Alberione: he imagines a magazine that brings families a Christian vision of reality, current events, the great issues of the world and the Church. And in this project he involves the whole Pauline Family: the priests in the direction and editing, the religious brothers especially in the technical phase of printing, the sisters for the diffusion in the homes, all of them to raise awareness in the parishes. But the collaboration immediately extends to journalists and experts in all fields.
Fr Alberione already said to young priests in 1915: «Sowing good ideas so that they yield good works: this is the work that matters. Religious ideas, social ideas, economic ideas, ideas of virtue, ideas of hygiene, etc. [...]. When we know that an idea can do good, that a fact can make a newspaper interesting, it will be useful to communicate them: it is a talent that God gives: let's make it bear fruit "(Notes on Pastoral Theology, n. 340).
Dear friends, the readers - that is you - are the real assets of a magazine like Famiglia Cristiana. And in fact the management, the editorial staff and the journalists have always nurtured contact with people; a relationship that must also be renewed in the digital transformation we are going through. Don Alberione used to say: «Introducing cinema to parishes and making subscriptions to Catholic magazines. The Catholic newspaper is like a visit from God to homes (Sermons to the Pastorelle, book VII, 1981, 318).
This has always been the main editorial line of the Paulines: to be attentive to relationships as the key to communicative practice, and to "networks" as places of collaborative creation of meanings and contents; a tendency to seek new forms of presence and action, linked not so much to the means but rather to the culture and the new grammar of communication; and at the service of all the people of God, especially the men and women who live in today's suburbs. This line is always valid, and of course it must be updated according to the great orientations of evangelization; today two paths are opening up before us in particular: the path of fraternity and the path of integral ecology. We have to follow these paths, but the method remains the same: dialogue and listening, which allow us to cultivate relationships.
Speaking of dialogue, it is important to understand that it cannot be reduced to an exchange of data or information, and that the relationship with the other cannot be limited to a connection. You know this well! A mere contact cannot be confused with a sign of dialogue and interaction, or a simple exchange of messages with true communication. Someone told me that the telephone directory is the one that has the most data and has the most characters, but without communication, curious! Communication is a deeper exercise, which brings out one's self-referentiality. Overcoming self-referentiality to look towards a broader horizon is essential in this moment of change of the era. To get to know the interlocutors of his mission and get closer to them, the communicator must make an "outgoing" journey, changing attitudes and mentality if necessary. This is the way that Vatican Council II, and then Saint Paul VI, Saint John Paul II showed us; but even before this is the example of the apostle Paul, who by communicating the Gospel created relationships and formed community.
The theme of the next General Chapter of priests and brother disciples of the Society of Saint Paul clearly goes in this direction: "Allow yourselves to be transformed by renewing your way of thinking" (Rom 12: 2). Called to be artisans of communion to prophetically announce the joy of the Gospel in the culture of communication. You will begin it precisely on the World Communications Day, the day desired by Saint Paul VI, whose liturgical memorial occurs on the same day. Finding ourselves here together today, let us pray for this important moment of you Paulines; and we pray that "Famiglia Cristiana" and your other periodicals, books, television, multimedia and formative activities in Italy and in the world will always be renewed according to the Gospel with the zeal of the apostle Paul.
Always go to the Gospel, always go to the roots. And from there, gain strength for the newness, the roots give you the juice to grow, the Gospel will give you the mission and will give you the message that constitutes you. But beware of a danger today: Unfortunately, going in depth is confused with going back. And a culture that, instead of going in depth, goes backwards to announce, ends up conserving itself, not growing, not having the charisma of a communication. Be careful, in your magazines: always show the roots but to grow. And be careful to look when there is some "backward" movement to denounce it and say: this is not Christian. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews said: "We are not people who go backwards" (cf. 10:39). We go forward with the power of the Gospel, with the communicative power that creates community; do not go back to create small groups of self-preservation, which will end up transforming our soul into a piece of museum. Beware of this.
And we conclude with a word from Don Alberione that summarizes his charismatic path: «No greater wealth can be given to this poor and proud world than Jesus Christ - it is the greatest wealth -. Mary gave the world grace in Jesus Christ; she continues to offer it over the centuries. […] The world needs Jesus Christ, Way, Truth and Life. Mary gives him through the apostles and apostolates, which she raises, forms, assists and crowns with fruits and glory in heaven ". (Abundantes divitiae gratiae suae, 1953, p. 108).
Thanks everyone for coming! I cordially bless you, and I bless all the readers of "Famiglia Cristiana", and all those who work to write, print and disseminate it. And don't forget to pray for me. Thanks!
Source: Vatican.va - Image Screenshot Vatican News
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