(ANS – Vatican City) – Newly ordained Salesian priest Fr Pierre Jabloyan, from Aleppo, was one of the three young consecrated persons who put questions to Pope Francis yesterday morning, 17 September, during the audience that the Pontiff gave to the 5000 and more young consecrated persons gathered in Rome these days to celebrate the Year of Consecrated Life.

By Fr Ivo Coelho,

General Councillor for Formation

Fr Pierre asked the Pope to say something about his own vocation. At the end of his question, the Pope surprised everyone by asking: “Where are you from?” – leading to a very emotional moment, when Pierre said he was from Syria.

Fr Guido Errico, SDB had sent a note to the Pope to let him know that there were several young Salesians from Syria among the participants, and the Pope began his audience, in fact, by acknowledging their presence and remembering the martyrs of our time.  "I would like to start with a thought for our martyrs of Iraq and Syria, our martyrs of today. Maybe you know many of them or perhaps only a few ... A few days ago, in the square, an Iraqi priest came over and gave me a small cross. It was the cross held in his hand by the priest who was beheaded for his refusal to deny Jesus Christ. I carry this cross the here... (next to his heart).”

The extensive replies of the Pope to the questions put to him by Fr Pierre and Sisters Jacinta Mary and Sara revolved around three key words: prophecy, closeness and memory.

Prophecy and the ability to dream are the opposite of rigidity, and formation needs to encourage the ability to dream. Rigidity is a form of egoism, and Jesus has hard words in Mt 23 about the rigid people of his time who considered themselves more righteous than the others. Along with this, there is the inability to forgive, which is another great sin of community life. And gossip, the pope said, makes it difficult to forgive. Gossip is terrorism: it is throwing a bomb on the good name of others.

Speaking about closeness, the Pope thanked women religious for their witness. Saying he was a bit of a feminist, he said that women religious were icons of the motherhood of the Church and of the motherhood of Mary, and that they should never let go of their maternity, which is a great way in which they bring Christ and the church to people.

And memory: the first disciples never forgot their first encounters with Jesus. The pope recalled how, way back in 1953, he entered into a church, made his confession, and came out a changed man. What was it that fascinated him about Jesus? It was his closeness: Jesus never left him alone, even in his sinfulness.

The Pope ended with two more words: narcissism and adoration. Adoration is the opposite of narcissism, and consecrated people should learn to adore, and not only to pray.

Published 18/09/2015