To Dear Father Enzo Bianchi, Founder of the Monastery of Bose

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the foundation of that Monastic Community, I associate myself spiritually to your thanksgiving to the Lord for these years of fruitful presence in the Church and in society, through a particular form of community life, which arose in the wake of the guidelines of Vatican Council II.

Its simple beginning became a significant mission that has fostered the renewal of religious life, interpreted as Gospel lived in the great monastic tradition. Within this current of grace, your Community has distinguished itself in the commitment to prepare the way of unity of the Christian Churches, becoming a place of prayer, of encounter and of dialogue among Christians, in view of the communion of faith and of love for which Jesus prayed.

I wish to express my appreciation especially for the ministry of hospitality that distinguishes you: the reception of all without distinctions, believers and non-believers, the attentive listening of all those seeking encounter and consolation; the service of discernment for young people in search of their role in society. The fruits produced by your work of faith and love are so many and most known only by the Lord.

In face of the contemporary challenges, I encourage you to be increasingly witnesses of evangelical love, first of all among yourselves, living genuine fraternal communion, which represents the sign, before the Church and society, of the life to which you are called. May the elderly of the Community encourage the young people and the young people take charge of the elderly, precious treasure of wisdom and perseverance. Thus you will also be able to live with greatness of heart also with others, especially with the poorest in hope. Continue to be attentive to little ones, to the least, to pilgrims and strangers: they are the most fragile members of Jesus’ Body.

May this anniversary date be a moment of grace for each one of you, a time to meditate more intensely on your call and your mission, entrusting yourselves to the Holy Spirit to have the firmness and courage to continue in the way with trust. I accompany you with prayer so that you can persevere in the initial intuition: may the sobriety of your life be a luminous testimony of evangelical radicalism; may fraternal life in charity be a sign that you are a house of communion where all can be received as Christ in person.

With these sentiments, while I ask you to pray for me, I send my heartfelt Apostolic Blessing to you, to the Prior of the whole Monastic Community, as well as to the guests, the friends and all those that share your charism.

Fraternally,

From the Vatican, November 11, 2018