Pope Francis advises Polish Church to 'reach out to the peripheries'

Our Lady of Czestochowa

Pope Francis met with Polish bishops at the conclusion of their Ad Limina visit on Friday. He told them the Church in Poland has great potential of faith, prayer, charity and Christian practice. Noting that their meeting comes just ahead of the canonization of Blessed John Paul II, the Pope stressed the need for unity among all the bishops to work for the common good of the Church and its people.

Pope Francis spoke with the Church leaders about the positive signs of faith in Poland today, but he also urged them to pay particular attention to the increasing numbers of divorced and separated families, urging the bishops to make sure such people do not feel excluded from the Church. He said it’s important to support young couples preparing for marriage and to seek new ways of helping them to appreciate both the joyful and the difficult moments of their life together.

Looking ahead to the next international World Youth Day which will be held in Krakow in 2016, the Pope said young people in Poland are well formed in their faith through Catholic schools. However he stressed it’s important to remember that religion is not something abstract, but rather a living relationship with the God of love. He encouraged young people to live their faith through groups or associations based on the Word of God and the liturgy, but also on community life and missionary witness.

Speaking of the large numbers of Polish priests working both at home and abroad, Pope Francis said it’s vital to continue praying for new vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life, especially for the women’s congregations which have seen a significant drop in recent years.

In priestly ministry, the Pope said, "the light of witness can be obscured or hidden under a bushel if there is a lack of missionary spirit, of the wish to go out to the peripheries, with an ever-renewed missionary conversion to seek or encounter those who await Christ's Good News. This apostolic style also demands a spirit of poverty, of abandonment, to allow freedom of proclamation and sincere witness to charity".

Finally the Pope urged the bishops to care especially for the poor, the unemployed, the sick and the those with no one else to care for them. Despite the ongoing development of the Polish economy, he said the Church must be’ imaginative in its charity’ and remain close to those in need, including the large numbers of Polish people who’ve emigrated in search of a better life abroad.

Source: VIS