Pope sends message to “Teams
of Our Lady” meeting
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| The Sacrament of Marriage. |
Pope Francis on Friday sent a message of greeting to
participants in a meeting of the International Catholic Movement for Christian
Married Couples in Fatima, Portugal.
At the heart of Pope Francis’ greeting to
participants in the 12th meeting of the “Teams of Our Lady”
which is being held in Fatima from 16 to 21 July is
the message that "The Church condemns sin, because she must tell the
truth, but at the same time she embraces the sinner who recognizes himself as
such”.
The “Teams of Our Lady”, also known by the acronym END, are
a lay movement of conjugal spirituality that was established in France in 1938
on the initiative of a few couples and a priest, Father Henry Caffarel.
The original couples began to gather monthly to deepen their
understanding of the Sacrament of Marriage and to seek a
coherent way to integrate as couples and families into society.
The new movement was formalized in December 1947 and is
currently present in the 5 continents, in 95 countries, with over 13,500 teams,
under the guidance of Maria Berta and José Moura Soares.
It is to them that the Pope's message is addressed. Noting
that the work of the conference is inspired by the figure of the prodigal son,
the Pope exhorts those present to "recognize themselves in this lost son
who returns to the Father who never tires of embracing him” and reaffirming him
with love.
“This is how the Church behaves with sinners, offering them
God's mercy” Pope Francis said.
He exhorted the participants in the gathering to open their
hearts, to look within and recognize that they are sinners with the desire to
be redeemed by the Lord.
Pope Francis noted that Christ's open arms on the cross
"show that no one is excluded from the Father's love or from his
mercy", since Jesus "does not resign himself to losing any of his
children" and that He urges us to go out to seek them.
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