Vatican City, Feb 18, 2017 / 11:52 am
The Christian mission today means facing new challenges with simplicity, holiness, and openness to God, Pope Francis told an audience with the Marian Fathers on Saturday.
"Many still await knowledge of Jesus, the sole Redeemer of man, and many situations of injustice and moral and material hardship challenge believers," the Pope said Feb. 18. "Such an urgent mission requires conversion at personal and community levels. Only hearts that are fully open to the action of grace are able to interpret the signs of the times and to hear the calls of humanity in need of hope and peace."
The Pope told the Marian Fathers that their apostolate is a "vast field" constituted by "the urgent need" to bear witness to the gospel before everyone without distinctions.
The Pope received members of the Congregation of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception on Saturday morning in the Vatican's Consistory Hall. The congregation, present in 20 countries, is holding its general chapter in Rome from Feb. 5-25.