\nLiberation<\/span><\/p>\n
Rome, September 29, 1984<\/span><\/p>\n Dearest Brothers and Sisters! I wish first 1. I express my great joy for this Looking at your faces, so open, I am grateful to the Lord for all this, who once Continue with commitment on this road so that also through you the 2. Jesus, the To work so that the content of The Christian experience 3. We believe in Christ, dead and risen, in Your presence, ever more numerous and significant My venerated 4. Christ is In so doing, the “Go into all 5. I know that you Bring into the whole world the simple and transparent sign May Our Lady, Mother of God and of the And now I cordially give you my Pope John Paul II<\/font><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Founding of Communion and Liberation Rome, September 29, 1984 Dearest Brothers and Sisters! I wish first of all to thank Msgr Giussani for his introductory remarks, as well as all the others who took part in this introduction. 1. I express my great joy for this meeting with you, … Continue reading Communion & Liberation received a letter from John Paul II 25 years ago<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,8],"tags":[1715],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24897"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24897\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nof all to thank Msgr Giussani for his introductory remarks, as well as all the
\nothers who took part in this introduction.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Luigi](\"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/Luigi%20Giussani.jpg\")
\nmeeting with you, who have come here to Rome to celebrate thirty years of your
\nmovement and to reflect together with the Pope on your history as persons who
\nlive in the Church and are called to cooperate in intense communion, to bring
\nit to mankind, and to spread it in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nso happy on this festive occasion, I experience a deep feeling of joy and the
\ndesire to show you my affection for your decision of faith and to help you to
\nbe ever more mature in Christ, sharing His redemptive love for man. The
\nphotographic exhibition which I was able to admire as I entered the room, words
\n(testimonies, accounts, and songs) that I have just heard have allowed me to
\nretrace, as from within, this period of your life, which is part of the life of
\nthe Italian Church (and not only Italian any longer) of our time. These words
\nhave given me the possibility of seeing clearly the educational criteria of
\nyour way of living in the Church, which imply a vivacious and intense work in the
\nmost varied social contexts.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nagain has made me admire His mystery in you, which you bear and must always be
\nready to bear, with humble awareness of being pliable clay in His creative
\nhands.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nChurch may still more be the environment of the redemptive existence of man, a
\nfascinating environment where every man finds the answer to the question of the
\nmeaning of his life: Christ, center of the cosmos and of history.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nChrist, He in whom everything is made and subsists, is therefore the
\ninterpretative principle of man and his history. To affirm humbly but equally
\ntenaciously that Christ is the beginning and inspirational motive for living
\nand working of consciousness and of action, means to adhere to Him, to make
\npresent adequately His victory over the world.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nthe faith becomes understanding and pedagogy of life is the daily task of the
\nbeliever, which must be carried out in every situation and environment in which
\nthey are called to live. And the richness of your participation in ecclesial
\nlife lies in this: a method of education in the faith so that it may influence
\nthe life of man and history; in the sacraments, so that they bring about an
\nencounter with the Lord, and in Him with the brethren; in prayer, so that it be
\nan invocation and praise of God in authority, so that it be a guard and
\nguarantor of the authenticity of the ecclesial path.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nso understood and lived generates a presence which places the Church in every
\nhuman situation as the place where the event of Christ, “a stumbling-block
\nto the Jews… foolishness for the pagans” (1 Cor l; 23-24), lives as a
\nhorizon full of truth for man.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nChrist present here and now, who alone can change and changes man and the
\nworld, by transfiguring them.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nin the life of the Church in Italy and in various nations in which your
\nexperience is beginning to spread, is due to this certainty which you must
\ndeepen and communicate, because it is this certainty that moves mankind. It is
\nsignificant in this regard, and it should be noted, how the Spirit, in order to
\ncontinue with the man of today that dialogue begun by God in Christ and
\ncontinued in the course of all Christian history, has raised up many ecclesial
\nmovements in the contemporary Church. They are a sign of the freedom of forrns
\nin which the one Church is expressed, and they represent a secure newness,
\nwhich still awaits being adequately understood in all its positive efficacy for
\nthe Kingdom of God at work in the present moment of history.<\/span><\/p>\n
\npredecessor, Pope Paul VI, addressing the members of the Florentine community
\nof Communion and Liberation on December 28, 1977, stated: “We thank you
\nalso for the courageous, faithful, and firm witness that you have given in this
\nsomewhat disturbed period because of certain misunderstandings you have had to
\nface. Be happy, be faithful, be strong and joyful and carry with you the
\nwitness that the Christian life is beautiful, strong, serene, and really
\ncapable of transforming the society in which it is lived.”<\/span><\/p>\n
\nthe presence of God with man, Christ is the mercy of God towards sinners. The
\nChurch, the Mystical Body of Christ, and the new People of God, brings to the
\nworld this tender benevolence of the Lord, encountering and supporting man in
\nevery situation, in every environment, on every occasion.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nChurch contributes to generating that culture of truth and love which is able
\nto reconcile the person with himself and with his own destiny. In such a way
\nthe Church becomes the sign of salvation for man, whose every desire for
\nfreedom she welcomes and values. The experience of this mercy renders us able
\nto accept those who are different from us, to create new relationships, and to
\nexperience the Church in all the wealth and depth of its mystery as an
\nunlimited desire for dialogue with man wherever he is found.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nthe world” (Mt 28;19) is what Christ said to his disciples. And I repeat
\nto you: “Go into all the world and bring the truth, the beauty, and the
\npeace which are found in Christ the Redeemer”. This invitation that Christ
\nmade to all his followers and which Peter has the duty ceaselessly to renew, is
\nalready interwoven with your history. In these thirty years you have been open
\nto the most varied situations, casting the seed of the presence of your
\nmovement. I know that you have put down roots in eighteen nations in the world:
\nin Europe, in Africa, in America, and I know also the insistency with which
\nyour presence is sought in other countries. Take on the burden of this
\necclesial need: this is the charge I leave with you today.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nwell understand the indispensable importance of a true and full communion
\nbetween the various components of the ecclesial community. I am certain,
\ntherefore, that you will not fail to commit yourselves with renewed fervor in
\nthe search for more appropriate ways to carry out your activities in harmony
\nand collaboration with the bishops, the pastors, and with all the other
\necclesial movements.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nof the event of the Church. Authentic evangelization understands and responds
\nto the needs of the individual man because it helps him to find Christ in the
\nChristian community. The man of today has a particular need to have Christ in
\nfront of him, with clarity and evidence, as a profound sign of his birth, life,
\nand death, and of his suffering and joy.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nChurch, guide you constantly on the pathway of life. Knowing your devotion to
\nthe Holy Virgin, I hope that she will be for all of you the “Morning
\nStar,” who will enlighten and strengthen your generous commitment of
\nChristian witness in the contemporary world.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nApostolic Blessing.