Passion and Perseverance: The Keys of the Mission

The Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, Card. Kevin Farrell, and the Under-secretary, Dr. Linda Ghisoni, spoke during a greeting to participants at the online meeting on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the International Forum of Catholic Action (IFCA), which took place on November 26 and 27, 2021.

On the theme "Catholic Action - Catholic Passion" - proposed by Pope Francis on the occasion of the II International Congress of the International Forum of Catholic Action, on April 27, 2017 -, the event brought testimonies that conveyed encouragement to so many lay men and women, children, young people, adults and families to welcome and live their vocation in fullness, in service to the local Church, with the assisting priests, with the Pastors, in communion with the Pope and the universal Church.

Sharing a thought on the words "passion" and "catholic," the Prefect explained, "Passion gives life, energy, feeling and "color" to the things we do, making them easier to accomplish and also more effective. [...] Passion, understood in the Christian sense, is awakened precisely when 'we feel responsible for someone' (Pope Francis, Address during the meeting with the authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps, Bratislava, September 13, 2021), that is, when we become aware that we ourselves have the task of making someone happy who has been entrusted to us."

On the word "catholic," the cardinal mentioned that "it means 'according to the whole' or 'according to the totality.' [...] The Church is truly a place of salvation 'according to the totality,' that is, precisely in a catholic way, without leaving out any aspect of the truth that Christ has revealed and without excluding any person."

Continuing the greetings, Dr. Linda Ghisoni recalled with gratitude the significant experiences she was able to have during her adolescence in Catholic Action Youth.

Reflecting on the aspect of the call to a universal commitment as Christians, Dr. Ghisoni said: "In all activities, therefore, in all age groups in which the commitment of Catholic Action has declined, we are called today to live with renewed awareness the tension of the universality of the Church in the particular, in that precise portion of the People of God in which we live, aware that we are witnesses of the Gospel, we are apostles and that with our daily commitment, faithful, punctual and concrete, we contribute to oxygenate with universal breath, the portion of the Church and society in which we are dropped."

"I wish all Catholic Action movements to continue with 'passion' and perseverance in their apostolate at the service of the mission of the Church and human society", concluded the Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.