Pope Benedict XVI addresses Sts Peter and Paul Association

(June 25.06.2011) “I am so happy that you form an integral part of your parish communities and train your children to belong actively to their parishes”, said Pope Benedict XVI meeting on Saturday the association of Sts Peter and Paul, which was celebrating the 40^th anniversary of its foundation. The Pope thanked them for their active participation in works of charity, using their free-time for the purpose. The members of this association cooperate closely with the religious sisters, daughters of Charity and with the Missionary Sisters of Charity. The history of the Association dates back to 15 September 1970, when Pope Paul VI disbanded various groups of pontifical guards, including the Palatine Guard of Honour established by Pope Pius IX in 1850. Pope Paul's intention was to bring together a qualified group of the faithful of Rome who wished to express their unconditional fidelity to the Apostolic See. Former members of the Palatine Guard were therefore invited to join a new group called the Saints Peter and Paul Association, whose statutes were approved by the Holy Father in 1971. Pope Paul VI intended that the unique and exemplary characteristics of the Palatine Guard should be manifested in the new Association and “preserved, strengthened, adapted and developed” as underscored by Pope John Paul II on the Association’s tenth anniversary. In his discourse on Saturday, Pope Benedict greeted in a special way those who had pronounced their promise of fidelity as new members of the Association. He also commended the new intiative of forming a youth group inspired by the example of the young Italian blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, loving God with all their heart and tasting the beauty of Chritian friendship and serving with great discretion their poorer brothers and sisters. He thanked the Association for the donation of a beautiful Chasuble, on the occasion of his 60^th Ordination anniversary and assuring he would remember them at Holy Mass.