Pope Francis: Society needs example of reciprocal love among Christians
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received bishops who support the Focolari Movement on
Thursday and stressed the importance of fraternal co-existence for the Church and
its members. Noting that the theme chosen by the Focolari Lay Movement for their
meeting this year is “reciprocal love among the disciples of Christ” the Pope explained
how the message contained within this theme is a powerful evangelizing tool for the
Church.
He told the bishops that today’s society has a great need for the
witness of an lifestyle which displays the novelty of that commandment to love one
another, given to us by Christ. This testimony, The Pope continued, helps give birth
to the desire to be involved in the great network of communion which is the Church.
When a person realizes that reciprocal love between Christians is possible and is
capable of transforming inter-personal relationships, he or she feels drawn to discover
or to rediscover Christ.
Pope Francis quoted from the apostolic letter of Blessed
John Paul II who wrote about the great challenge of making the Church the home and
the school of communion. The Pope said living out that challenge is vitally important
for the effectiveness of all evangelizing efforts. It also helps us to be more capable
of embracing the ecumenical path and that of inter-religious dialogue.