ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO MEMBERS OF THE JOHN PAUL II FOUNDATION

Clementine Hall
Saturday, 25 April 2015

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I welcome you, members and friends of the John Paul II Foundation. I thank Cardinal Ryłko for introducing our meeting and I thank everyone for the commitment you make in carrying out the initiatives of the Foundation and safeguarding its spirit. Also, heartfelt thanks for this painting of the Merciful Jesus.

The canonization of Pope John Paul II has given new impetus to your work, at the service of the Church and of evangelization. It has made him, if possible, even more universal, as is universal the worship which the People of God now render him. You offer a valuable contribution so that the spiritual legacy of this holy Pontiff may continue to make fruitful the great field of the Church and to sustain her journey in history.

I thank you in particular for the educational initiatives that you carry out for the young people. Indeed, John Paul II always had great love for young people and special pastoral care for them. You are instrumental in ensuring that his charism and his fatherhood continue to bear fruit.

You also offer to priests and lay people precious opportunities to enrich their formation, in order to be more prepared to accompany the communities with regard to the cultural and pastoral challenges of our time. For this purpose you are also able to draw from the rich magisterium of social doctrine which John Paul II left us, and which shows itself more current than ever. Suffice it to think of one of the key words of his magisterium, which is “solidarity”. A word which one may have expected to wane, but which in reality today preserves all of its prophetic power.

For this reason it is important that, first in the “network” of the Foundation’s Circle of Friends, you live this solidarity among you, continuously nourishing it with Christian fraternity, enlivened in turn by prayer and docility to the Word of God. May the Virgin Mother Mary, to whom John Paul II consecrated all of his life and his Pontificate, obtain this for you.

I thank you, beloved ones, for this visit. I bless all of you and your service, and I ask you to please pray for me.