Vatican City, May 10, 2018 / 05:17 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis Thursday paid a visit to two small Catholic communes in central Italy dedicated to living solidarity and promoting ecumenical unity, telling members that their “prophetic” way of living the Gospel must continue with boldness and perseverance.
Speaking to members of the Nomadelfia community and commune, the pope said theirs is “a prophetic reality that proposes the creation of a new civilization, implementing the Gospel as a form of a good and beautiful life.”
Similarly, he told members of the Focolare Movement, which has a Marian spirituality and places an emphasis on ecumenism, that their community is “an illustration of the mission of the Church today, as traced by the Second Vatican Council.”
He told members they should not stay locked inside, but must “go out, to encounter, to take care of, to throw the leaven of the Gospel in the pasta of society, above all where there is most need, where the Gospel is awaited and invoked: in poverty, in suffering, in trials, in the search and in doubt.”
He said “frankness” and “perseverance” – in Greek “parresia” and “hypomone” – were two keywords members should to keep in mind going forward.
Parresia, or frankness, he said, speaks of the “courage and sincerity in bearing witness to the truth” that a disciple of Jesus needs to have, even in prayer.
“Prayer must have frankness, to say things face-to-face,” he said, and, pointing to how Abraham bartered with God to continue lowering the number of righteous people needed to save Sodom and Gomorrah from destruction, told members to “fight with God in prayer.”
Perseverance, he said, means learning to move beyond the difficult situations that life presents and not get bogged down by challenges.
“This term expresses the constancy and firmness in carrying forward the choice of God and of new life in Christ. It means keeping this choice firm, even at the cost of difficulty and opposition, knowing that this constancy, this firmness and this patience produce hope, and hope does not disappoint,” he said.
Referring to the image of the “Maria Theotokos” housed in a shrine in Loppiano, which is the epicenter of the Focolare Movement, the pope noted that “the first disciple of Jesus was his mother,” and told members, most of whom are laypeople, not to forget that “Mary was a laywoman.”
Pope Francis met briefly with members of the Nomadelfia and Focolare communities during a May 10 half-day trip to Grosetto and Loppiano, where each of the movements operate.
Nomadelfia – which in Greek means ‘where brotherhood is law’ – is a small community and commune within the Tuscan city of Grosseto consisting of practicing Catholics seeking to live a life inspired by the events in the biblical book of the Acts of the Apostles.
The community was founded by Fr. Zeno Saltini, who after his ordination to the priesthood in 1931, spiritually adopted as his “son” a 17-year-old boy who had recently left prison.
Saltini continued to welcome more and more troubled and abandoned youth. Eventually, as more young people knocked on his door, the community grew and laywomen came as “mothers” to care for the youth who arrived. Soon couples also began to arrive who welcomed the children and raised them as a family.
The first commune of Nomadelfia was located on the grounds of a former concentration camp in Fossoli following the German occupation of Italy during the Second World War, before later transferring to Grosseto.
There is no private property in the commune; everything is shared, and children who come are required to attend school until the age of 18. Today there are some 5,000 youth who have been welcomed into the Grosseto commune. Many of the couples in the community have welcomed children and youth as foster-parents.
The last pope to visit Nomadelfia was St. John Paul II in 1989, just eight years after Fr. Saltini’s death in 1981.
After arriving around 8a.m. May 10, Pope Francis was welcomed by Saltini’s successor, Don Ferdinando Neri, and the president of the community, Francesco Matterazzo.
He visited the commune’s cemetery and led the community in a prayer at Saltini’s tomb, leaving a stone with his name on it, as other inhabitants of Nomadelfia have done, before visiting the tombs of the first members of the community.
Francis then made his way to the chapel of the main house of the community, where he entrusted two children into the care of two separate families, after which he met with the wider community.
In his speech, Pope Francis pointed to the meaning of their name, Nomadelfia, saying the “law of brotherhood” they live was the life-goal of their founder.
Saltini, he said, understood when he saw abandoned and suffering youth that “the only language they understood was that of love.”
Because of this, the priest was able to identify a unique type of society “where there is no space for isolation or solitude, but the principle collaboration between different families is in force, where the members recognize their brothers in faith.”
Francis also pointed to the care shown toward the elderly in the commune, who even when in poor health are not abandoned, but are supported by the entire community.
“Continue on this path, incarnating the model of fraternal love through visible works and signs in the many contexts where evangelical charity calls you,” the pope said, telling members that when faced with a world that is often hostile to Christ and his Church, “do not hesitate in responding to the joyful and serene witness of your lives, inspired by the Gospel.”
After his brief visit to Nomadelfia, Pope Francis made another short stop in Loppiano, heart of the Focolare Movement launched by Chiara Lubich in 1943 as a means of spiritual and social renewal.
The movement, which places an emphasis on universal brotherhood and ecumenical unity, and promotes a Marian spirituality, is currently present in 182 countries around the world.
Although the movement was established by a Catholic, it embraces and welcomes members of other religions who do not necessarily share Catholic beliefs. Focolare has around two million Catholic members as well as thousands of members from other Christian churches and religious traditions, including Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus.
After arriving to Loppiano, the pope immediately went to the shrine of “Maria Theotokos,” where he sat in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and prayed in front of the image of the Mary the “Theotokos” – the “God-bearer” or “Mother of God” in Greek.
In an audience with members of the movement in the sanctuary’s churchyard, the pope responded to three questions on how to live a life of true charity amid modern challenges; how academic and formational entities can grow and build new forms of leadership in society, and what the mission of Focolare is in the New Evangelization.
Speaking of frankness and perseverance, Pope Francis said these qualities mean “to have a heart turned toward God, believing in his love so that his love casts out every false fear, every temptation of hiding oneself in a quiet life, in respectability or even in a subtle hypocrisy.”
“One must ask the Holy Spirit for frankness – always united to respect and tenderness – in bearing witness to the great and beautiful works that God has done in us and in our midst,” he said, and encouraged members to be honest and sincere in their relationships, but to avoid sowing discord and murmuring through gossip.
As he often has in the past, Francis called a gossiper a “terrorist” who “destroys the community, destroys the Church, and also destroys oneself.”
He also stressed the need to persevere amid modern challenges, saying perseverance is a sign of God’s love. “which precedes us and renders us capable of living with tenacity, serenity and positivity,” as well as a sense of humor, “even in the most difficult moments.”
In order for the community to go forward, it also needs memory, he said, because it “allows you to go forward and bear fruit. If you don’t have memory, the tree won’t bear fruit because it doesn’t have roots.”
Speaking of the numerous centers for education and formation run by the movement, the pope urged them to give the entities “a new momentum, opening them to even more vast horizons and projecting them to the frontiers.”
A special emphasis, he said, should be placed on the courses that connect children, older youth, families and people from different vocations.
In terms of the movement’s role in the New Evangelization, Pope Francis said that at 50 years old, the life of the Loppiano community is just beginning in terms of their service in announcing the Gospel, which requires “humility, openness, synergy and the ability to risk.”
“We need men and women – young people, families, persons from all vocations and professions – to trace new paths to follow together,” he said.
Francis then said the big challenge in this regard is to have a “faithful creativity,” which means being faithful to their charism while also being open to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, courageously interpreting new paths forward.
Discernment is necessary for this “faithful creativity” to be successful, he said, adding that :we are all called to be artisans of communitarian discernment. This is the path so that also Loppiano can discover and follow, step by step, but path of God in service to the Church and to society.”
[…]
They won’t touch the Doctrines of the Church, they will just allow you to develop a work around based on your concrete circumstances and your own discernment. A false mercy.
I think it important to recognize that the Church can never be welcoming to everyone. This sounds so nice; but, the reality is there are those will never conform to the will of God. We can welcome sinners, but not those that revel in sin and simply want the Church to accommodate them.
Secondly, it is vital to recognize that, at best, radical gender ideology (the best term to identify LBGTQI+) is a several mental illness. When there is conflict between one’s perception of their sexuality and their physical sex, physical sex is reality. The conflict is a delusion.
What a waste of time
Are we listening to God? Are we listening to Christ, the Word of God? This seems more an exercise in rebellion clandestinely masquerading as a kumbaya collabrarive. We’re to love, serve and adore God. Re-imagining the Church will just lead to more identity crisis.
It seems like a replay of the 1970’s, Mark.
I suppose the good news is that those who lived through and adopted the culture of the 1970s will become fewer in number with the passing of time. They also have mostly not reproduced themselves, so they will have less influence on future generations.
But meanwhile they appear to be causing as much trouble as possible.
God is in charge of His Church and our job is to be faithful and vigilant.
So true, so true. I think when this gaggle of ghastly souls have crossed the threshold, we will see the barren landscape they left us and mourning will be our lot for 3 to 5 generations.
At our moment in human history the centripetal forces are winning, and it makes profound sense for the perennial Catholic Church to assemble its members. The alternative being that they will all be sucked into the orbit of some global ideology or another.
What’s new since the Reformation?…today, from “sects” to sex, and a unisex priesthood, and a pluralistica-sex post-morality. Just look at this word-game “mess!” Homophobia is out, and unspoken heterophobia is in! And, we now can all look forward to, what, reports, proceedings, outlines, and summaries! All provisional, or course.
Hurray for Gutenberg and his spawn–in just six centuries a devolution from interchangeable type to interchangeable genetalia!
Yours truly had expected that the generous year of reflection between “synods” would enable a rich harvest of sober “discernment” by everyone, even and especially outside of the favored, predictable, and encysted 450. But why hope for such longer-term divine intervention as almost at Nineveh?
And why should theologians even stoop to the level of pseudo-theologians, when the real game is not theological at all, but rather sociological, psychological, organizational, and ideological? Butt, now with the relief of instant gratification by the Keystone Cops?
Chastiphobia is in. Diane Montagna has a nack for embarrassing the bishops by asking obvious and straightforward questions. I would love to see her ask why there is so much difficulty in addressing traditional Catholic concepts of personal virtue such as chastity, unless that’s considered too “backwardist”.
Centrifugal!
I’m starting to hate the D-word.
Seems peculiar that there is this obsession over homosexuality. Regular church attendance has plummeted. If their are a billion Catholics and not even half of them keep the Sabbath, why not put the emphasis on this. Jesus knew where to cast His net and where to shake the dust from His sandals.
Hmm. Interesting.
Apparently the synodolers are in charge of what the Holy Spirit has in store for this synodaling event.
Either that, or they aren’t really planning on waiting for the Holy Spirit to act at all.
In that case, they will just get out their Holy Spirit ventriloquist’s dummy and speak for it, expecting faithful Catholics to fall into line behind whatever ungodly travesties they come up with.
The pronouncement, “The Holy Spirit says,” should, therefore, not be taken at face value.
Brineyman,
We only know that the Holy Spirit speaks definitively through the Ecumenical Councils due to history.
Synods, on the other hand, don’t claim any such authority of themselves. They only have authority to the degree that they reflect the Ecumenical Councils and Tradition. For anyone to say that a synod is an act of the Holy Spirit merely because it is a synod is arrogant and a megalomaniac
Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, the synod’s relator general, said in August 2022 that the synod “is not meant to change doctrine, but attitudes.”
I think this is the nub. It’s the equivalent of the mission of higher education for the last 50+ years: take the young people from hard-working homes (and their parents’ tuition money) and twist their minds into knots, so that they return home to attack “the patriarchy,” traditional values, convention, and ultimately truth itself. How many families hardly recognised their children after even a few semesters? Their “attitudes” had been utterly altered.
It was that generation in the pews that shouted down Humanae Vitae with contempt, and has since shown a mocking attitude towards all vestiges of both traditional doctrine and liturgy. First the attitudes, and then the virtual brickbats set on demolishing the very foundations of Holy Mother Church. A very telling statement!
You’ve captured in a nutshell the sorry, misguided experience of my “Baby Boomer” generation, Genevieve, many of whom invoke “personal experience” as the ultimate norm of discernment and authority.
How fortunate – indeed, blessed – believers are to have as grounds for hope Christ’s promise and guarantee that he has overcome the powers of darkness that beset his followers in history, and that he is with his Church always.
Perhaps if they repented of their fallen desires the homosexuals would feel less excluded.
I have no problem if the wish was for further discernment about the sources, psychological, spiritual, physiological, whatever, of such desires, that would lead in an interesting direction and might bear good and lasting fruit. But I don’t think that’s what they are aiming at. Perhaps the Holy Spirit will turn the request in a better direction if there are a few at the synod who have the insight and gumption to take the request and spin it other than the north Europeans would like.
Hey, Mark, what are you suggesting?
That the synod speak to absentee fatherhood, derailment by early sexual experimentation, a unisex and corrupt porn culture, tragic self-rejection because of childhood sexual abuse, an erased distinction between predispositions and acting out an aggressive and tribal lifestyle–or maybe the synod-like ambiguity admitted by the bisexual and conflicted Andre Gide? As portrayed by a biographer:
“[Gide] emphatically protests that he has not a word to say against marriage and reproduction (but then) suggests that it would be of benefit to an adolescent, before his desires are fixed, to have a love affair with an older man, instead of with a woman. . . the general principle admitted by Gide, elsewhere in his treatise, that sexual practice tends to stabilize in the direction where it has first found satisfaction; to inoculate a youth with homosexual tastes seems an odd way to prepare him for matrimony” (Harold March, Gide and the Hound of Heaven, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1952).
Might has well ratify the smoke of Satan by society simply rolling with the oxymoronic gay “marriage” and, then within the Church, stir up a “mess” and bless it!
And write a theological report about keeping in step! Move along folks, there’s nothing to see here.
“No one wants to depart from the Church’s teaching” (Card Grech). Translation, unfortunately we must accommodate the changing values of our world. Clamor for greater discernment of Church teaching on sexuality, pressure from gate crashing [?] ‘invitees’ German Synodaler Weg leaders Bishops Georg Bätzing and Franz-Josef Overbeck prompts the wisdom of Card Hollerich that the Synod “is not meant to change doctrine, but attitudes”. Further wisdom from nuncio Card Christoph Pierre, that “synodality is not a disguise for changing doctrine, but a way of being Church.” Confident in their heresy that we can faithfully believe and in good conscience act otherwise. Gospel Amoris Laetitia says so.
There we have it, the voices of error have exhumed their deathly vapor for the Church to obediently inhale and be damned. If there are any questions please send them. The Vatican is well prepared with stock responses. Resist, and you break your relationship with the Church. Although the question arises, How can the Mystical Body of Christ, the doctrinally faithful loyal to Christ resist itself?
The theme includes a controversial question on “what concrete steps are needed to welcome those who feel excluded from the Church today because of their status or sexuality.”
Do men or women “feel” excluded by virtue of being men and women? Because those are the only two categories of sexuality.
Agree with the need for better discernment as a critical need of our times – a discerment that focuses on the graces of the Immaculate Conception – the blessed event in the life of the human parents of Bl.Mother , whose line was protected and purified for that purpose,which is the history of the Chosen people . The conception of Bl.Mother taking place in a mystical holy manner which would have been our Patrimony too if not for The Fall , to have brougt forth holy children . Making a false god out of carnal passions as the scourge of our times .Holy Father likley has foreseen a need for more balance in the teachings of St.John Paul 11 which many handled in an unintended manner even to the point of negating the fallen aspects , thus having added to the idolisation of sexuality , instead of focusing more on need for sacredness in the realm and not knowing how to help in the struggle for chastity .
Allowing the Holy Spirit to let persons be so immersed in the memory of the Nativity – a mystical event, Lord likley walking out of the womb of The Mother into the hands of the Mother, in a space filled with Light, obscuring all else , like at the miracles of the Red Sea and Jordan , an event without any pain or related mess – may the Holy Spirit surprise The Church with such a gift – after all , there are mystics who go for years without food other than the Eucharist !
The mystery of women not recalling labor pains ,? also meant to recall the graces of the Immaculate Conception as the antidote for the challenges faced in marriages such that , the higher ,super natural Love would enfold the couples often enough in a life of holiness and purity , chastity to be cherished as a blessed gift, persons set free from feeling need for the polluting use of ABCs ; fear about overpopulation to vanish , vocations to abound ; instead of homophobia many who are afflicted in the realm would be delivered of such and their own often subtle , hidden envy and hatred towards parents and others who are seen as standing in their way of the unfulfilled appetites which in turn magnifies the fears and anger and complaints with related efforts to turn things upside down !
O Mary , conceived without sin , pray for us who hace recourse to thee , pray for those who do have recourse to Thee, esp. the enemies of The Church .
May the Holy Spirit bring many surprises into all lands such that the sword of the Spirit would pierce all hardened hearts to help look at each other with her own tender Love as the time of the Reign of the Divine Will . FIAT !
“Holy Father likley has foreseen a need for more balance in the teachings of St.John Paul 11 which many handled in an unintended manner even to the point of negating the fallen aspects , thus having added to the idolisation of sexuality , instead of focusing more on need for sacredness in the realm and not knowing how to help in the struggle for chastity.”
Having read nearly everything by both John Paul II and Francis, I can confidently say, “No, not the case.”
If the Church is going to descend into one gigantic Oprah Winfrey show, I want a new car out of this. As a Catholic I suppose I’m like an audience member. Oprah once had a show where she surprised everyone in the audience with a new car. Let the God of surprises make mine a crimson red Corvette with a pearl white racing stripe.
It does go whizzing by….the boomer imagination in overdrive. I’m going to be looking out for you.
If the Roman church submits to these disgusting changes, I am hopeful the Eastern orthodox church will not. It may be our church of last resort. Certainly a church which gives an OK to homosexuality will not be financially supported by me. Nor, I suspect, by many others. It would seriously be off the track of truth at that point, and everything it teaches will be suspect. One would imagine going in this direction would be impossible after all the sex abuse cases ( mostly homosexual) had forced so many dioceses into bankruptcy. Sadly, it would seem not.
As a same-sex attracted Catholic, I feel comforted and supported by reading comments like the ones on this article that affirm what Sacred Scripture and Tradition has always taught about homosexuality and which I have to battle against every single day, rather than the heretical and false-compassion fueled messages liberals and the Synod are giving off about the subject, which actually make me feel disillusioned, unwelcome and rejected.
Jon, reading your comment was helpful to me. I saw myself in the knowledge that I approach our Savior as a broken, sinful man. The sin is irrelevant; it is knowing how sinful I am that separates me from Christ. It is his grace and mercy that wipes away my sins and, through his perfect sacrifice, I may be enabled to enter into his abode whole and unblemished.
Let all put aside all conversation on the type of sin we each bear, and humbly continue to acknowledge that we have all sinned and seek forgiveness always. Let us commit ourselves to holiness and to righteous living. Let us continually sing the praises of our King and the joy of his love and his mercy.
The Church must change the outdated teachings. It must show its readiness to adapt to the changed situations and times. We are not in 10th century. We must conduct further study to understand more about the LGBTQ persons and their insecurities. The Church must devote more time and energy to study them. The Church never in the past accepted the existence of LGBTQ persons or seriously considered them or accepted them to include in the Church. This policy must end for the Church’s own good.
One way to make the Church more welcoming for anyone would be for priests to be available far more frequently to hear confessions at regular times during a week, and without the need to make special requests. Particular attention should be paid to the hearing of confessions before, rather than after, mass. In this way it may be possible for a habit of receiving communion to grow up to combat future temptations. Ideally, it would also establish a relationship between priest and penitent within which it would be possible to deal with whatever special problems might stand in the way of future progress.
The oldest trick of human rationalization is to take an accepted moral practice and distort it into its exact opposite. When I heard Francis start throwing around his abuse of the word “discernment”, which traditionally means to choose between two goods and seeking the aid of prayer, like a young person making a career decision, I knew Francis was giving license to tell the Catholic world you can do whatever you desire just so long as you convince yourself God gave you His rubber stamp.