Pope Francis sends well-wishes to
Rimini Meeting
Pope Francis greets participants in a friendship meeting
taking place in the Italian city of Rimini, and urges them to show the Lord’s
face to their contemporaries who are burdened by life.
By Devin Watkins
Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin sent the Pope’s
well-wishes on Saturday to the 40thRimini Meeting, held on 18-24
August.
The annual encounter in the northern Italian city seeks to bring
together people of different faiths and cultures in an environment of
friendship and peace.
‘True image’
This year’s theme is taken from the poetry of Pope St. John
Paul II: “Your name was born from that upon which you gazed” – a reference to
St. Veronica who tradition holds wiped Jesus’ face with her veil as He carried
His cross towards Calvary.
Pope Francis, wrote Cardinal Parolin, expressed his desire
for the Rimini Meeting to be a place for people to encounter each other’s true
face.
His words make reference to Veronica’s name, which in Latin
resembles “vera icona” or “true image”.
Burdened by life
Cardinal Parolin said the theme reminds us that Jesus “loved
us and gave His life for us – each one of us – to reaffirm our unique and
unrepeatable image.”
He said this truth is a reminder of our many contemporaries
who fall under the burden of life or are abandoned.
“Let us think about the thousands of individuals who every
day flee war and poverty,” said the Cardinal. “They are not just numbers, but
faces, persons, names, and histories. We must never forget them, especially
when our throw-away culture marginalizes, discriminates, and uses them,
threatening their human dignity.”
Rediscover ourselves
Cardinal Parolin said there are so many people who need to
see the Lord’s face in order to rediscover themselves.
Instead of living in fear and self-imposed exile, he said,
we should fix our gaze on the face of Jesus, who will “purify our vision and
prepare us to see everything with new eyes.”
Our contemporaries need the hope given by Jesus, Cardinal
Parolin said.
We can offer it to them and be “original”, he concluded, “if
our face acts as a mirror for the image of the Risen Christ.”
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