ADDRESS OF POPE FRANCIS
TO MEMBERS OF THE PAPAL FOUNDATION

Clementine Hall
Friday, 2 May 2014

 

Your Eminence,
Dear Friends,

I offer a warm welcome to you, the members of The Papal Foundation, on the occasion of your annual pilgrimage to Rome.  During this Easter season, Christians throughout the world are united in celebrating the Lord’s victory over sin and death, the dawning of the new creation and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  May the joy of the resurrection fill your hearts with that peace which the world cannot give (cf. Jn 14:27) and may your prayer at the tombs of the apostles and martyrs renew you in fidelity to the Lord and his Church.

Since its establishment, The Papal Foundation has sought to advance the Church’s mission by supporting a wide gamut of charities close to the heart of the Successor of Peter.  I am deeply appreciative of the assistance which the Foundation has given to the Church in developing countries through grants supporting various educational, charitable and apostolic projects, but also for the scholarships which you make available to laity, priests and religious for study here in Rome.  In this way, you help to ensure the training of a new generation of leaders whose minds and hearts are shaped by the truth of the Gospel, the wisdom of Catholic social teaching and a profound sense of communion with the universal Church in her service to the entire human family.

In these momentous days marked by the canonization of two outstanding Popes of our time, John XXIII and John Paul II, I pray that you will be confirmed in the grace of your Baptism and in your commitment to be missionary disciples filled with the joy born of a personal encounter with the Risen Jesus (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 119).  I commend you and your families to the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church, and cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of joy and peace in the Lord.