This afternoon, in the Hall of Blessings, the Holy Father Leo XIV received in audience the members of the Community of Villa Nazareth.

The following is the address delivered by the Pope to those present during the meeting:

Address of the Holy Father

Thank you! Thank you, everyone!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
Peace be with you!

(Introductory address by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin)

Dear brothers and sisters, good evening and welcome!

I greet His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and I thank him for his words of welcome and of introduction to the fine institution of Villa Nazareth, as well as His Excellency Monsignor Claudio Maria Celli, the priests and religious present. I greet the representatives of the various components of Villa Nazareth – the Holy Family of Nazareth Foundation, the Domenico Tardini Community Association, the Domenico Tardini Community Foundation – and the students of the College, witnesses to a journey that has seen this community grow and change, as charity demands, to respond over time to the ever-changing needs of youth formation. I would like to recall, at the start of this meeting, some significant figures from your history: Cardinal Domenico Tardini, the Founder; Cardinal Antonio Samorè, his first successor; and Cardinal Achille Silvestrini, a fruitful and authoritative interpreter of the original project; but our gratitude also goes to the many students, former pupils, friends and families who have made a valuable contribution.

Villa Nazareth was established in 1946, after the end of the Second World War, as a sign and tool of education and peace. The Founder had understood that, in order to promote lasting peace, it was necessary to form the young, making them leaders in doing good, giving them adequate tools to live out Gospel values in the family, in their studies, in their leisure time and in their professional lives. For this reason, he established at Villa Nazareth a wide-ranging educational programme – spiritual, intellectual and moral – with the specific aim of making this opportunity accessible to those who, though rich in talent and good will, lacked the necessary means to access a course of study.

Villa Nazareth aims to offer educational programmes inspired by a profound Christian and human ethos, with a specific method: the communal journey, guided by expert formators and realised through the involvement of all, in accordance with the Apostolic Constitution Veritatis gaudium (cf. no. 4).

I know how much, and in what way Cardinal Silvestrini was a teacher and guide on the formative journey of so many of you, and how his teaching still inspires many projects carried out by the Villa Nazareth community. Your educational programme, which ultimately contains the guidelines for the human and spiritual journey of each of you, draws on certain biblical icons: may they always be a source of inspiration for your actions! In particular, the Gospel episode of the Washing of the Feet and the parable of the Good Samaritan help us to understand what the lifestyle of a disciple of the Lord should be: we are called not to be served but to serve, attentive to every man or woman we meet on our path, so as to offer concrete gestures of love.

In this perspective, it is good to remember what Pope Francis wrote: “We become fully human when we become more than human, when we let God bring us beyond ourselves in order to attain the fullest truth of our being” (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium, 8). In effect, as I wished to emphasize in the recently published Encyclical, “what saves humanity is not enhanced self-sufficiency, but a relationship that liberates, a communion that transforms” (Magnifica humanitas, 128). Today humanity finds itself “facing a pivotal choice: either to construct a new Tower of Babel or to build the city in which God and humanity dwell together … where the dignity of every person is safeguarded, justice is promoted and fraternity is made possible” (ibid., 1). And these two icons remind us of how to work in order to respond to the challenges before us.

In light of all this, however, I would like to highlight and encourage one final aspect of your work: the aim of making Villa Nazareth a centre and a forge of Christian thought, where the convergence of the intellectual, moral and economic efforts of men and women belonging to different generations and walks of life contributes to the deepening, growth and spread of a culture ever more enlightened by the teachings of the Gospel.

On the occasion of the visit for the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the Community, Saint John Paul II encouraged you to assimilate and transmit that Wisdom which “purifies, completes and brings to fulfilment the noblest endeavours of human intelligence and industry, freeing them from the bondage of pride and the logic of domination, and opening them up to the perspective of love and service” (Address to the Community of Villa Nazareth on the 50th anniversary of its foundation, 8 June 1996).

Pope Benedict XVI, a few years later, reiterated the invitation to Villa Nazareth to “teach its young people to make courageous decisions through an approach of openness to dialogue and with reference to reason, purified in the crucible of faith” (Address to the “Domenico Tardini Community”, 11 November 2006). And, recalling the conversation between the deacon Philip and the Ethiopian, narrated in the Acts of the Apostles (cf. 8:26-40), he added: “It is important, therefore, that someone be beside those who are on their way and proclaim to them ‘the Good News of Jesus’, as Philip did. Sketched here is the ‘diakonia’ which Christian culture can carry out in helping those who are searching to discover the One who is concealed in the Biblical passage, as well as in the events of every person’s life” (ibid.); and he concluded, “No culture can be satisfied with itself until it discovers that it must be attentive to the real and profound needs of the human being, every human being” (ibid.).

These appeals are more relevant than ever today, at a time when young people have access to wonderful opportunities and means of knowledge and growth, yet they also have a great need for guidance and direction, above all to bring harmony between mind and spirit, between faith, study, vocation and life.

For this reason, I too echo the words of my Predecessors, urging you to continue your work with renewed vigour. I warmly thank all of you – formators, students, associates, alumni, friends – for the good with which you enrich the Church and society every day.

I entrust you to Mary, Mother of Wisdom and Star of our path, whilst I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing to you all.

Thank you.