Pope tells Merdecdarian Friars to "accompany prisoners"

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has encouraged Mercedarian Friars to pursue in their mission to accompany the poor, especially the prisoners.

Celebrating the eighth centenary of their Order, Pope Francis addressed the General Chapter of Our Lady of Mercy gathered in the Vatican for the occasion, and reminded them to follow in the footsteps of Christ by “joining the prisoner.”

The Order, founded in 1218, is an international community of priests and brothers who serve in schools, prisons, hospitals, and foreign missions. They have shown special concern for Christian prisoners, helping them return to their home countries, and today they work with the most marginalized.

In his address, the Pope recalls the Order’s accomplishments of work with prison inmates as more than an “exhibition of the past.” Remembering their past, he says, allows them to both asses their achievements and confront the challenges that humanity poses in the new world.

“May this chapter be a privileged occasion for a sincere and fruitful dialogue that will not remain in the glorious past, but examine the difficulties, hesitations, and errors encountered on that path,” he says. “The real life of the Order must be sought in the ongoing effort to adapt and renew itself, in the effort to give a generous response to the real needs of the world and the Church.”

Pope Francis also calls upon the Oder to act as prophets: “The prophet is a messenger, an anointed one, who has received a gift of the Spirit for the service of the holy People of God. You have also received a gift and have been consecrated for a mission that is a work of mercy: to follow Christ carrying the good news of the Gospel to the poor and to prisoners.”

In order to move forward in the image of Christ, the Pope explains we must be vigilant, persevere in prayer, and cultivate our inner lives. These are the “pillars that sustain us,” he says.

The Pope concluded his message inviting the members of the Order to “go to the peripheries,” where they will continue to encounter the marginalized suffering from poverty and exclusion: “We must become small, join the prisoners, in the certainty that it not only fulfils our purpose of redeeming, but also allows us to find our true redemption, because in the poor and the prisoners we recognize our Redeemer.”

(from Vatican Radio)

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