On Saturday, Pope Francis encouraged followers of a global Catholic movement to foster harmony and devotion to the Church, particularly in trying times.
Love the Church always. Respect and preserve the harmony within your “fellowship.” When speaking to Communion and Liberation on Saturday at the Vatican, the pope urged them to avoid division and conflict since they “play into the hands of the wicked one.”
In his address to more than 50,000 members of the ecclesial movement, he emphasized that “even tough times may be periods of grace, and renewal.”
For the meeting with Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square on October 15, followers of Communion and Liberation travelled from more than 60 nations.
Father Luigi Giussani, a theologian and public thinker who created Communion and Liberation, was celebrated on the occasion of his 100th birthday. Giussani passed away in 2005, and in 2012 his case for beatification was launched.
President of Communion and Liberation Davide Prosperi welcomed everyone to the gathering on Saturday, and two member testimonials followed.
Prosperi replaced Father Julián Carrón, who stepped down as president of Communion and Liberation in November 2021 as a result of Vatican reforms that limited the tenure of office for heads of global pious organizations.
Since its founder’s death in 2005, the 72-year-old priest has presided over the global brotherhood.
Following the passing of the organization’s founder Father Giussani, Pope Francis stated in his address that the movement had been going through a transitional time that had been “not at all easy.”
He also addressed the movement’s “moment of crisis.” Francis added, “We must appreciate Father Julian Carrón for his efforts in steering the movement throughout this time and for maintaining the rudder of communion with the papacy.
But even in the context of such a significant ecclesial movement as Communion and Liberation, from which the Church and I expect for more, much more, he said, “there has been no lack of major issues, divides, and undoubtedly even a poverty.”
In response to concerns regarding administration, the Holy See named a special delegate in September 2021 to supervise Memores Domini, the lay consecrated branch of Communion and Liberation.
The pope remarked, “Opportunities of crisis are occasions to recapitulate your exceptional history of charity, culture, and mission; they are times to make a critical assessment of what has constrained Father Giussani’s charism’s ability to bear fruit.” In view of the present ecclesial situation, as well as the demands, sorrows, and aspirations of modern humanity, “they are periods of regeneration and missionary relaunch.”
He emphasized that “crisis creates for progress. It shouldn’t be reduced to conflict since fighting destroys.
He advised the movement to avoid wasting time with “gossip, distrust, and hostility” and to promote unity among difference. Please don’t waste time, he urged.
The pope also addressed the originator of the movement’s charism, career as an educator, and devotion to the Church.
At Father Giussani’s burial, Benedict XVI, who was then Cardinal Ratzinger, said that the priest “always maintained the sight of his life and heart set on Christ.” He remembered these comments. He came to see that Christianity is an encounter, a love story, and an experience rather than an intellectual system, a collection of dogmas, or a kind of moralism.
You are aware, Francis added, that finding a charism always involves coming into contact with actual people. These individuals serve as testimonies that help us become closer to the Christian community, or the Church, which is a bigger reality.
“The contact with Christ is still alive in the Church. All charisms are preserved, fostered, and enhanced in the Church, he stated. We are all called to act as intermediaries for others’ encounters with Christ, after which we should let them go and not tie them to us.