Friendship, enthusiasm and faith. The American Pope wins over the Meeting

Dear brothers and sisters!

I am delighted to meet you here in Rimini, in a setting that is dear to you for the commitment, creativity and dialogue that your late-August gathering has been able to inspire for many years. I would like to thank President Scholz and Dr Prosperi for their welcoming remarks. At this historic moment, we understand more deeply the prophecy that, almost half a century ago, was enshrined in the name given to these gatherings: ‘Meeting for Friendship amongst Peoples’. As Saint John Paul II told you, ‘merely uttering these words gladdens the heart: “Meeting”! “Meeting of friendship”! “Friendship amongst peoples”!

‘Words that take on a particular meaning in these often dramatic moments in world history’ (Address at the Third Meeting for Friendship amongst Peoples, Rimini, 29 August 1982). Even today, peace is safeguarded and fostered by people who love to come together and are not afraid to engage with one another. Pope Francis, in his Encyclical "Fratelli tutti", has taught us to cultivate social friendship, which represents the public, dynamic and concrete face of fraternity. Indeed, by recognising one another in the dignity of children of God, we come into contact with what fundamentally unites human beings, beyond all diversity, separation or conflict. We can empathise with one another, listen to one another and become friends, both between individuals and, consequently, between peoples.

Before borders, definitions and institutions, there are always people. This realisation lies at the heart of Christianity: you know this, because you have been taught to read the Gospel as a revelation of God who comes to meet us, as an event, a gaze, an experience, awakening in each of us the desire to be loved and to love. In this way, you have not turned the ‘Meeting’ into a sort of enclave: on the contrary, it has become a crossroads for the Church and for society, a gathering that multiplies encounters and inspires new paths.

We give thanks to the Lord for this living heritage, which bestows upon you a great historical responsibility, within the wider communion of the Church, in the service of a humanity that hungers and thirsts for justice. As the Second Vatican Council taught us, in fact, ‘the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ as well; indeed, there is nothing genuinely human which does not find an echo in their hearts’ (Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes, 1).

Yes, dear friends, this is a time for responsibility, especially for those who have received so much from a millennia-old tradition of faith that has become culture. The various editions of the ‘Meeting’, in fact, have drawn upon the great heritage of the past to find the reasons that commit you today to engaging with art, music, literature, science, economics and every expression of the human spirit. Even the title chosen for this edition, taken from the final line of the Divine Comedy, draws us towards the history of which God is Lord. “The love that moves the sun and the other stars” has not disappeared; it has lost neither its vigour nor its intensity, even though it is a love that willingly remains silent, unlike the noisy forces that shake the earth, the heavens and all creatures. Yes, love moves! ‘He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous’ (Mt 5:45). Thus Jesus describes God’s perfection, revealing the gulf between the generosity of his actions and the narrowness of human thought. Reality is stifled by our calculations and breathes in God’s gratuitousness. It is no coincidence that my Predecessors – Saint John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis – have all pointed to divine mercy as the point of convergence between the Gospel and the ‘new things’ of this dramatic and marvellous age.

Following Jesus Christ in the wake of the tragedies and new beginnings of the 20th century entails, in fact, a clear realisation: evil cannot be fought with evil. As in heaven, so on earth, love is the law of life, the way of redemption, of the crucified Messiah. Against the false realism that rearms minds, words and nations, Catholic culture must today oppose the realism of mercy, according to which there can be no enemies and everyone – even adversaries – are brothers and sisters to be looked in the eye and encountered in truth. Sin exists, of course, but stronger still is the redeeming love of Christ, which commits us to purifying our thoughts, interests, habits, associations, plans, investments – every aspect of life – from all that the culture of power has polluted.

Among you there is no shortage of skills, responsibilities and resources to be put at the service of a genuine conversion of the people. ‘The obsession with preserving one’s own glory, one’s own “dignity”, one’s own influence must not be part of our sentiments. We must pursue the glory of God, and this is not the same as our own. The glory of God, which shines forth in the humility of the stable in Bethlehem or in the dishonour of Christ’s cross, never ceases to astonish us’ (Pope Francis, Address at the Fifth National Conference of the Italian Church, Florence, 10 November 2015). Let us therefore rid our society of suspicion, our culture of arrogance, our education of ideology, our work of the idolatry of profit, and technology and finance of the ‘business of death’. Starting with the organisations we have created and in which we operate, let us expose the unjust power relations that lie at the root of poverty and inequality, of war and environmental disasters. Let us rein in technological development when it becomes pervasive and destructive.

We need courageous pioneers who, by changing their own course, can make the transformation required of us all convincing and credible. Let there not only be those who fan the flames of weariness and despair; let there also be those who rekindle dreams and visions! The two paths are incompatible, for one exploits division, alienation and despair, whilst the other serves the Kingdom of God and his justice. ‘In a world rife with manoeuvres aimed at conquering markets and spheres of influence—often cloaked in reassuring rhetoric and seductive ideological constructs—our hearts feel the need to discover a different plan, one that is wise and benevolent, akin to that which Mary contemplates in the Magnificat, when she proclaims that from generation to generation God’s mercy extends to those who fear him. This plan of mercy continues to unfold throughout history even today, amidst the most rapid and turbulent changes shaped by algorithms and global networks, and becomes the compass for a life lived according to the Gospel in the digital age. At its heart lies the mystery of the Incarnation’ (Encyclical Letter "Magnifica humanitas", 230–231).

Dear friends, the unadorned beauty of this Mystery calls for us to take ‘the educational risk’ of which Don Giussani spoke to you. He realised that ‘the educational method most capable of doing good is not one that thrives on an escape from reality, in order to affirm the good in isolation, but one that thrives on the promotion of the good in the world’. And he insisted: ‘In the world’ means in engagement with reality as a whole, a risky engagement, if you wish to call it that; but it would be better to say ‘challenging’. Brothers and sisters, let us now take on this responsibility, which is a commitment to Christ and a commitment to our world! Dear young people, there are so many of you here, quite a few as volunteers. You are a sign that the future is a promise, not a threat! Many no longer believe this, both among adults and among young people.

Silently, however, «l’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle» still inspires hope. I felt this deeply amongst your peers in Lebanon, Africa and Spain. Love moves, urges, rouses from lethargy, inspires new vocations and calls us to take risks. Put yourselves out there! Open yourselves to a true catholicity, extending your bonds beyond any overly narrow sense of belonging. Let the Movement, the groups and the communities be a springboard from which you can plunge into the whole of reality. Resist anything that would seek to distance you from your brothers and sisters of different cultures, sensibilities and backgrounds, especially the poorest. Instead, go out to meet everyone! In every corner of the world, particularly on the margins and amongst those who suffer, you will find those who are already ready to build the civilisation of love.

Do not allow anyone to belittle this word, which is the very name of God: ‘God is love’ (1 John 4:16). In love there is never coercion or indoctrination; never seduction, deception or recruitment. Love exists only in freedom, in genuine encounter, in the generous gift of self. Dear young people, today the world seems astonished by your commitment to Christ, by the attraction you feel towards Him and His Word, by your belonging to the Church. That you are Christians is a surprise to many today! Yet, without fanfare, ‘through you the word of the Lord resounds’ (1 Thess 1:8). St Paul wrote this to the very young community in Thessalonica. And he continued: ‘Your faith in God has spread everywhere, so that we do not need to speak of it’ (ibid.).

It is not a question of numbers, although it is moving to see thousands of your peers seeking Baptism in societies considered among the most secularised in the world. It is a question of freedom: truth is found only in freedom. We are coming to understand this ever more clearly, amidst historical circumstances that rekindle the most human questions and an infinite longing for meaning, justice and peace. Thus, a certain loss of influence – which we adults may have feared and fought against – was meant to reveal to us that we can hold the power of the Gospel in greater esteem: the bonds it forges, the logic it kindles, and the life it brings forth. As my Predecessors have repeatedly stated, ‘the Church does not proselytise. Rather, she grows through attraction’.

It is the attraction to a way of inhabiting the world, about which Don Giussani provocatively asked: ‘Can one live like this?’.[4] As early as the second century, however, the anonymous author of the Letter to Diognetus recognised that Christians ‘set themselves a marvellous and, undoubtedly, paradoxical way of life’ (V, 4). Of course, we must admit that we carry this treasure ‘in earthen vessels’ (cf. 2 Cor 4:7) and that the credibility of our personal and communal witness is often marred by our limitations and sin. But it is the Lord who always lifts us up again, both as individuals and as a community! Dear friends, always love the Church! Love and preserve the unity of the ‘community’ through which Christ has reached you and draws you to himself. As Pope Francis told you on the occasion of the centenary of your founder’s birth, ‘even difficult times can be moments of grace and can be moments of rebirth. Communion and Liberation was born precisely at a time of crisis, namely 1968. Subsequently, Don Giussani was not daunted by the periods of transition and growth within the Fraternity, but faced them with evangelical courage, trust in Christ and in communion with Mother Church’ (Francis, Address to the members of Communion and Liberation, 15 October 2022).

Well then, dear friends, it is precisely amidst the turmoil of this changing era, in this world torn apart by multiple crises, that we can rediscover ‘the “spiritual flavour” of being the People of God, gathered from every tribe, language, people and nation, living in different contexts and cultures […] still on a pilgrimage through time and already in communion with the Church in heaven’ (16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Final Document, no. 17).

In recent years, we have rediscovered the synodal and missionary dimension of our being the Church, which calls us first and foremost to learn to listen to one another. The gift of listening is something which, I believe, we all recognise, but which has often been lost in certain sectors of the Church. We must continue to discover just how precious it is, beginning with listening to the Word of God, listening to one another, and listening to the wisdom we find in men and women, in members of the Church and in those who are seeking the truth, but who are not yet, and perhaps will never be, members of the Church’ (Address to participants at the Jubilee of the Synodal Teams and Participatory Bodies, 24 October 2025). It is a journey that also calls for the renewal of every association and ecclesial movement. I invite you, both within the Communion and Liberation Movement and in the particular Churches to which each of you belongs, to experience this journey of walking together: each person listens, allows themselves to be transformed by the faith of others, and together, under the guidance of the shepherds, new insights mature, further steps are taken, and courageous acts of obedience to the Holy Spirit are made.

Synodality is not the name of a process, but the very nature of a people who, through friendship and encounter with others, feel they belong to God alone. Thus, authority is transformed into service, which honours diversity and fosters harmony. In these troubled times, this approach is a true sign of the times. Let us bear witness that every charism is for the common good, that every treasure multiplies when shared, and that every fear can be overcome: we must make this tangible, credible and desirable. You will be able to do this, dear friends, following in the footsteps of your founder, by fostering unity amongst yourselves, with those called to lead the Movement, with the Apostolic See which has recognised you, and with the Successor of Peter. May the Holy Spirit teach us to live in communion. May He grant us a taste for it, an appreciation of it, and hope in it. May that Love ‘which moves the sun and the other stars’ continue to guide us, dear brothers and sisters.

Thank you