Pope Leo XIV with the participants in various General Chapters (@VATICAN MEDIA)
Pope to women religious: The world needs generous women
In an address to consecrated women taking part in their
General Chapters and a group of Carmelite nuns from the Holy Land, Pope Leo XIV
praises religious women who respond to God’s call, and highlights the witness
of Discalced Carmelites in the Holy Land, with their constant prayers for
peace.
By Christopher Wells
On Monday, Pope Leo XIV received a group of Discalced
Carmelite Sisters from the Holy Land, as well as members of the Sisters of
Saint Catherine, Virgin and Martyr; the Salesian Missionaries of Mary
Immaculate; and the Sisters of Saint Paul of Chartres, who are in Rome for
their respective General Chapters.
Taking inspiration from the common trait of “courage” that
marked their foundations, Pope Leo offered a reflection on a verse from the
book of Proverbs: Who can find a valiant woman? Her price is far greater than pearls.”
Fidelity from Christ
The answer, he said, is found in the history of their
congregations, in the many “strong and courageous … extraordinary women” who
initially answered God’s call and who paved the way for later generations who,
“following Christ, poor, chaste, and obedient, continued the work, at times
even to the point of martyrdom.”
Pope Leo recalled the fidelity – which comes from Christ and
is rooted in “asceticism, prayer, devotion to the Sacraments, and intimacy with
God and His Word” – that forms the basis of their consecrated lives, whether
contemplative or active.
If, in an “immanentist” world, this seems like an
other-worldly “spiritualism,” the works of the various Congregations, due
entirely to “the strength that comes from God,” show their relevance in the
world.
The Holy Father went on to encourage the religious to
embrace humility, placing their strength in Him, and remaining close to God
precisely in order to return to the sharing in the work of God in daily life.
The world needs generous women
That dynamism, the Pope said, can be seen in the founders
and earliest members of their respective congregations – Regina Protmann, Marie
Gertrude of the Precious Blood, Marie-Anne de Tilly (with Father Louis
Chauvet), Saint Teresa of Avila, and the hermits of Mount Carmel – all
“intimately united to God, and therefore consecrated to His service and to the
good of the whole Church.”
This, Pope Leo said, “is the legacy you have received, and
which makes your presence here so significant.”
And he insisted, “Indeed, in our day, too, there is a need
for generous women.”
The witness of the Carmelites
Before concluding his address, Pope Leo singled out the
Discalced Carmelite Sisters of the Holy Land, highlighting their “watchful and
silent presence in places sadly torn apart by hatred and violence,” their
“testimony of trusting abandonment to God,” and their “constant prayers for
peace.”
“We all accompany you with our prayers,” he said, “and
through you, we, too, draw near to those who suffer.”
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