This morning, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father received in audience the Carabinieri of the Province of Rome.

The following is the greeting addressed by the Pope to those present at the audience:

Greeting of the Holy Father

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Peace be with you!

I am pleased to welcome you who serve to maintain order and security in the metropolitan area of Rome and in the surrounding province.

It has given me a great deal of pleasure to learn that last year’s Jubilee, despite being particularly demanding, was an enriching experience for you, on both a human and a professional level. I thank the Lord for this. Indeed, it was the same for all of us who live in Rome: we were edified by the witness of so many pilgrims.

And I think of the dawn of Christianity in this city, when the Good News of Jesus began to circulate in various circles, including the army: a new way of living and thinking, a God who is love, mercy, forgiveness; a fraternity among all men and women that transcends every social and ethnic difference.

Dear friends, you are military personnel and you know well what hierarchy, command and obedience mean. We also use these words in the Church, transformed by the newness of the Gospel. And, similarly, the Gospel, throughout the centuries, has permeated the structures, criteria, and ways of acting and thinking of the civilizations where it penetrated; it did so not with a violent revolution, but with a peaceful transformation, from within, through consciences, the conversion of hearts. In this way the Gospel has brought the meaning of God and of humanity everywhere: absolute respect for life and for the human person, along with the worship of God, and Him alone.

So let us reflect: is this not what can and must happen in every age, even in the world and in Rome today? And in this way, and we have confirmation of this at the highest level of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church: in Vatican Council II, in the teachings and the examples of the Popes. We are called to rediscover the essence of the Christian message and the style of the early Church, in order to embody them in our very different, and much more complex world. But “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever” (Heb 13:8).

Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for the service you provide, especially around the Vatican and in the city of Rome. I hope that you will always carry it out with a clear conscience, faithful to the principles and rules of the Carabinieri, and, as Christians, faithful to the Gospel, which fills every intention and every action with Christ’s charity.

I entrust you to the protection of Mary, Virgo Fidelis, and I cordially bless every one of you, your families, and your work. Thank you!

[Blessing]