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During the Angelus on Sunday morning, 21
October, Pope Francis invited the thousands of faithful gathered in Saint
Peter”s Square to pray so that the new generations may “not lack the
announcement of the faith and the call to cooperate in the mission of the
Church”.
On the day the Church was celebrating World
Mission Day with the theme “Together with young people, let us bring the Gospel
to all”, the Pontiff drew a parallel with the ongoing Synod on
Youth. He explained that “by listening to them and engaging them we discover
many witnesses of young people who have found in Jesus the meaning and joy of
life. And they have often encountered him thanks to other young people, who
have already participated in this, his company of brothers and sisters that is
the Church”, he added. Pope Francis then turned his thoughts to the “many
Christians, men and women, lay people, consecrated people, priests, bishops,
who have spent their lives and are spending them still today far from their
homelands, proclaiming the Gospel. May
our love, our gratitude and our prayers be for them”. He then invited the
faithful to recite the Hail Mary.
During his greetings at the end of the
Angelus, the Holy Father mentioned the beatification of the Jesuit Tiburzio Arnáiz Muñoz, Founder of the
Missionaries of the Rural Parishes, that had taken place one day earlier in
Malaga, Spain. He also made reference to “Share the Journey”, an initiative of
Caritas Internationalis, led by the President, Cardinal LuÃs Antonio Tagle,
with several bishops and people from various countries around the world. “You
have made a brief pilgrimage to Rome, to experience the desire to walk
together, thus learning to know one another better. I encourage this initiative
of “sharing the journey”, which is being promoted in many cities and which can
transform our relationship with migrants”, the Pope said.
While earlier commenting on a Bible passage
from the Gospel of Mark which tells the story of when the brothers James and
John ask for a privileged place beside Jesus, Pope Francis took the opportunity
to highlight that in the Church the “way of service is the most effective
antidote against the disease of seeking the first places”.
