Delayed post on a Wednesday event. The Vatican posted the text of the Pope's remarks Thursday. It is unusually personal in tone, reflecting his close ties to the Comunione e Liberazione movement.
A very personal message from Benedict XVI
to the top officials of C&L's priestly arm
Translated from
February 7, 2013
After the General Audience on Wednesday, the Holy Father met with the officials of the Priestly Fraternity of San Carlo Borromeo who had just held a General Assembly to choose a new Superior-General, don Paolo Sottopietra.
[The fraternity is the priestly arm of the movement Comunione e Liberazione, founded in 1985 by don Massimo Camisasca, who was its Superior-General until he was named last September by Benedict XVI to be the Bishop of Reggio Emilia-Guastalla. The fraternity specifically trains priests to be sent to dioceses abroad which request for long-term pastoral assistance.]
Here is a translation of the Holy Father's remarks:
Excellencies,
Dear brothers,
It is a great joy for me to be with you. I remember very well my visits to the Palazzo Borromeo near Santa Maria Maggiore where I personally got to know Don Giussani Luigi Giussani, founder of C&L, and now proposed for beatification].
I came to know his faith, his joy, his strength and the richness of his ideas. the creativity of faith. A true friendship developed, and so, through him, I also came to know the community of Comunione e Liberazione quite well.
I am happy that his successor is here today, that his great work can continue to inspire so many persons, so many lay men and women, as well as priests and consecrated persons, to collaborate in spreading the Gospel and to the growth of the Kingdom of God.
I also got to know Massimo Camisasca quite well. We would speak of a variety of topics, and I appreciated his creativity in art, his ability to see and interpret the signs of the times, his great gifts as an educator and priest.
I also had the honor to ordain some priests of the Fraternity at Porto Santa Rufina, and so, it has been a pleasure to know that a new priestly fraternity has been growing in the spirit of San Carlo Borromeo, who remains a great model of a Pastor who was truly stimulated by his love for Christ, who sought out the lowliest of people, loved then and thus truly created faith and made the Church grow.
Today, your Fraternity is large, and it is a sign that vocations exist. But we also need to be more open to seek out, to accompany, to guide and help vocations to maturation.
For this, I am thankful to Don Camisasca who did such work as a great educator. Today, education is even more necessary for the truth to flourish, for our development as children of God and brothers of Jesus Christ.
Thanks to God, I have also known for some time your new Superior General, who has also had some contact with my theology. So I am glad that even spiritually and intellectually, I can be with you, and that together, we can reciprocally make our work fruitful.
May the Lord bless you. I thank the Lord for the gift of your Fraternity - may it grow more and deepen its roots ever more in the love of Christ, in the love that men have for Christ. May the Lord be with you.
I give you my blessing, certain that you pray for me and accompany me with your prayers. I thank you all.
