WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service via Catholic San Francisco / Archdiocese of San Francisco
February 8, 2021
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
Vatican City – Pope Francis encouraged members of the Focolare movement to remain open to and in dialogue with the world around them, and to be courageous in confronting problems within their community, particularly in regard to revelations of abuse.
“This approach of openness and dialogue will help you avoid every self-referentiality, which is always a sin; it is a temptation to look at oneself in the mirror,” he said in an audience in the Paul VI audience hall Feb. 6 with member-delegates taking part in the movement’s general assembly.
This self-referential tendency must be avoided by everyone in the church because being “turned inward on oneself,” he said, “always leads to defending the institution to the detriment of people and can also lead to justifying or covering up forms of abuse.”
“Instead, it is better to be courageous and face problems with ‘parresia’ (boldness) and truth, always following the indications of the church, who is a mother, a true mother, and responding to the demands of justice and charity,” he said.
The topic of abuse and safeguarding was part of discussions during the Focolare general assembly Jan. 24-Feb. 7. Co-president Father Jesus Moran Cepedano, who is responsible for moral and disciplinary issues for the movement, was scheduled to give “an ad hoc intervention” during the general assembly as part of a more in-depth discussion, he said in an interview published on the Focolare website Jan. 20.
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