Pope Benedict meets with Circolo San Pietro

(22 Feb 08 - RV) Pope Benedict XVI met on Friday with the Circolo San Pietro, a charitable organization dedicated to assisting the Holy Father in his work.

The Circolo San Pietro was founded in Rome in 1869 by a group of young men from the Roman nobility. It’s motto is “Prayer – Action – Sacrifice”, and for over 100 years it has dedicated itself to the service of the Pope, especially in serving the poor of the city of Rome. The organization also help with liturgies at St. Peter’s, and provides spiritual formation for its members.

Pope Benedict greeted its members on Friday, the Feast of the Chair of Peter.

He thanked them for their help, and reminding them of their ecclesial vocation, saying that when they help the city’s poor, they are the arms of the Pope, the bishop of Rome.

He reminded them to do their acts of charity in the spirit of the Gospel, doing them because of the call of Christ, and recognizing the face of Christ in all those they serve. He told them to remember those daily gestures of kindness which can show the face of Christ to all those they meet, especially those going through the trials of life.

He quoted his encyclical Spe Salvi, in which he wrote that one should take up the suffering of one’s neighbours so that it becomes their own, because it has now become a shared suffering, though, in which another person is present, this suffering is penetrated by the light of love.

The Pope concluded his discourse by thanking the Circle for their contributions to the See of Peter which help the Holy Father in his works of charity around the world.

We have this report...