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Be close to the Lord and his people, pope urges missionaries
Sep
VATICAN (SE): “Do not be passive in the face of the dramas that many of our contemporaries live, but rather play your part in the struggle for human dignity and respect for the fundamental rights of the person,” urged Pope Francis when he met with Claretian missionaries at the Vatican on September 9.
Addressing participants in the congregation’s general chapter in Rome, the pope also stressed the importance of prayer as the foundation of effective missionary work.
“Your apostolate must always be that of being close to the people. Be burned by his love, do not be passive, fight for the basic rights of the people,” he said during the audience with around 100 participants representing over 3,000 missionaries working in 70 countries around the world.
The XXVI General Chapter of the Claretian Missionaries—officially known as the Missionaries, Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary—was celebrated in Rome from August 15 to September 12 with the theme, Rooted and audacious. Father Alberto Rossa, assistant parish priest of Epiphany Parish, Mui Wo, was present at the chapter.
On August 30, Father Mathew Vattamattam was re-elected superior general of the religious community of priests and brothers founded in Spain in 1849 by St. Anthony Mary Claret.