Pope at Sunday audience: imagine a world without nuns
CWN - February 03, 2014
"Imagine a world without nuns," Pope Francis challenged his Sunday public audience on February 2. "It is unimaginable!"
Calling attention to the 18th Day of Consecrated Life, the Pope asked "what would happen if there were no nuns in hospitals, no nuns in missions, no nuns in schools."
In his reflection on the day's Gospel reading, which retold the story of the presentation of Jesus in the Temple, the Pope said that the incident is "an icon of the giving of their lives by those who, through a gift of God, take on the typical traits of Jesus, chaste, poor, and obedient." While all Christians are consecrated to God through Baptism, he said, religious take on a special role:
Totally consecrated to God, they are totally consigned to their brethren, to bring the light of Christ there where the darkness is densest and to spread His hope in the hearts of the disheartened.As he concluded his Angelus audience the Pope offered his support to Italian pro-life groups who were represented in the crowd in St. Peter's Square. The Pontiff said that everyone has a moral obligation to respect and promote the dignity of human life, "especially when it is fragile and in need of attention and care, from the womb until its natural end on this earth."
Pope Francis closed his remarks by extending his sympathy to the people of the Tuscany region, who have experienced flooding in the wake of heavy rains.
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