Pope Francis meets 500 members of the Emmanuel Community

By Sr Bernadette Mary Reis, fsp

Addressing a group of members of the Emmanuel Community, the Pope said he was happy to welcome them on the occasion of their annual meeting. He also took the opportunity to thank them for their fidelity to him, to tell them of his appreciation for their missionary efforts around the world, and to encourage them to persevere.

New Public Clerical Association

Pope Francis also made reference to the August 2017 creation of a separate Public Clerical Association for the priests of the Emmanuel Community. The Pope said that he hopes that the new structure, which was necessary because of “numerous priestly vocations” to the community, will “strengthen the profound communion between the states of life which you have experienced for more than 40 years.”

Manifest the Father’s Mercy

The Pope encouraged the Emmanuel Community to remain faithful to their charism of making God present especially through Eucharistic adoration. He encouraged them to make the manifestation of the Father’s Mercy the center of their “proclamation of the Good News”. Such a proclamation “needs to be proposed with new enthusiasm through a renewed pastoral ministry, so it can touch the hearts of people and stimulate them to find once again the path leading them back to the Father.”

What is the Emmanuel Community?

The Emmanuel Community is an International Association of the Faithful, made up of approximately 11,500 people from various walks of life: diocesan priests, consecrated men and women, and lay missionary volunteers. They are called to reveal the presence of God with us (Emmanuel). They were founded in 1972 by Pierre Goursat and Martine Laffitte who were members of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.