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MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
SIGNED BY THE CARDINAL SECRETARY OF STATE,
TO MARK THE 64th INTERNATIONAL MILITARY PILGRIMAGE TO LOURDES
[24-26 May 2024]
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To the participants
in the International Military Pilgrimage
LOURDES
On the occasion of the 64th International Military Pilgrimage,
His Holiness Pope Francis is in spiritual communion with all of you,
who come from different backgrounds. He gives thanks to God for this
annual meeting at the blessed Grotto of Massabielle, which enables
you to forge bonds of friendship, to share the human and spiritual
riches that each of you brings, to share moments of joy, and to find
in common prayer and exchange the strength needed to overcome the
trials, anxieties and loneliness that you often experience in the
course of your various commitments.
May you strengthen your conviction that love is stronger than
hatred and division, and that you too are called to play an
irreplaceable role for the common good and the service of peace in
the world.
Your pilgrimage is the conclusion of a triptych proposed by Saint
Bernadette. On 2 March 1858, the Virgin Mary entrusted her with the
following mission: “Go and tell the priests that a chapel should be
built here and that people should come here in procession”. That
people should come in procession: it was an urgent call to set
out on a journey. First and foremost, to God, but also to our
brothers and sisters, to build a more united and fraternal world.
The pilgrimage is an opportunity for everyone to renew their
baptismal commitment, to encounter Christ, in particular by
listening to His word, receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation and
taking part in the Eucharist. This spiritual pause at Lourdes is a
time to rethink your military vocation from the perspective of
faith, and of the love that every Christian must cultivate towards
his brother, even his enemy.
The pilgrimage is also a faith experience that helps us discover
the beauty of walking together, supporting each other and reaching
out to others. It allows you to be close to your sick and wounded
comrades-in-arms and to care for them - especially in this place
where the sick are so present - and to bring God's Mercy to the
military world. May this take the form of genuine, simple and humane
gestures that reveal the tender face of our God. May you live this
out not only at Lourdes, but wherever you are sent, bearing witness
to the Gospel among your fellow soldiers.
Dear soldiers, the Pope invites you to stand up and walk with
courage and perseverance. Be military men and women who stand tall
and proud to honour your uniform, your motto and your homeland, but
who are also aware that you are part of a single human family, a
family that is divided and wounded, but which Christ came to redeem
and save through the power of love, not the violence of arms. Be
“sentinels of peace”, as Saint John Paul II said (cf. Angelus,
23 February 2003). The world needs you, especially at this dark
moment in our history. We need men and women of faith who are
capable of putting weapons at the service of peace and brotherhood.
The Holy Father Francis entrusts to God’s mercy all the
servicemen and women who have lost their lives in the service of
their country or in international operations to defend peace. He
invokes a particular abundance of graces on all those present at
Lourdes and their families, as well as on the soldiers engaged on
various fronts, on mission to preserve peace far from their country
and those who are wounded and suffering. He imparted to all a
paternal Apostolic Blessing.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin
Secretary of State of His Holiness
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Holy See Press Office Bulletin, 25 May 2024 |
