Pope Leo XIV received participants in the general chapter of the Daughters of St. Paul, founded by Blessed Giacomo Alberione and Venerable Tecla Merlo.
“In this cultural and ecclesial winter we are going through, do not be afraid to risk and to continue your journey,” Pope Leo advised the religious sisters in yesterday’s audience, which took place in Consistory Hall of the Apostolic Palace. “Look at the ardor of Saint Paul, his tireless joy in proclaiming Christ even in the midst of difficulties and persecution.”
The Pope encouraged the sisters of the 110-year-old institute to “look up and immerse yourselves.” He explained:
- “Look up, so that you can be impelled by the Holy Spirit. Your vocation and your mission come from the Lord, let us not forget.”
- Immerse “yourselves in, inside situations, because an upturned gaze is not an escape but, on the contrary, must help us to have the same compassion as Christ, who divested himself for us, descended into our flesh, lowered himself so as to enter the abysses of wounded humanity and to bring us the love of the Father.”