Pope Francis received members of Caritas of the Diocese of Toledo (Spain) at the Vatican. The Holy Father referred them as “instruments of evangelization” through the universal language of charity.
At the beginning of his speech from the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father stressed his commitment to the service of charity, which takes on the “challenge of being a driving force for change within society by spreading the spirit of charity and justice.”
He also stressed that the members of this body of the Catholic Church awaken “in all those who have good will a more fraternal conscience.”
In this way, he stressed that they are not only “an example of civic spirit and philanthropy, but they become instruments of evangelization, through the universal language of works of charity.”
For the Pontiff, charity is “a language that everyone can understand, written with the testimony and effort of all Caritas workers, committed to Jesus Christ and his Gospel.”
This lofty goal is achieved, according to the Holy Father, “through the artisan work of each of those responsible for social and charitable action.”
To this end, he stressed that it is necessary to have “a human and spiritual formation that allows them to solidly confront social problems, which are always changing, in the light of the Social Doctrine of the Church.”
In this regard, he asked that we never “forget the spirit of collaboration and synodality with all the pastoral realities that make up the whole of the diocesan Church.”
Pope Francis urged them to continue forward in this effort, “always learning from Christ, in the living book of prayer, from reading his Word, from living the sacraments, from listening attentively to the voice of their Pastors and their presence in the Eucharist and in those they serve.”
“Be teachers of this wisdom that the world so badly needs,” the Holy Father concluded.
In 2022, Caritas allocated a record sum of more than 450 million euros to the development of its projects within Spain and to international cooperation actions in third countries, especially in Ukraine, which represents an overall increase of 13.4% compared to the previous year.