The Church is a universal mother, Pope emphasizes in Regina Caeli address

May 25, 2015

Pope Francis reflected on the Church’s catholicity, or universal nature, during his Pentecost Sunday Regina Caeli address.

“The gift of the Spirit restores the harmony of languages that had been lost in Babel, and prefigures the universal dimension of the mission of the apostles,” the Pope said to the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square. “The universal Church is born, one, Catholic, with a precise, but open identity, that embraces the whole world, without exception. To nobody does Mother Church close the door in the face, to no one! Not even to the most sinful, to no one!”

He added:

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit is poured out continuously, even today, on the Church and on all of us because we go out of our mediocrity and our closing off of ourselves and communicate to the world the merciful love of the Lord.

This is our mission! We too are given the gift of the ‘language’ of the Gospel and the ‘fire’ of the Holy Spirit, in order for us to proclaim the risen Jesus, alive and present in our midst, and warm the hearts of people, bringing them closer to Him, the Way, the Truth and the Life.

 

---

For all current news, visit our News home page.

---

 
Further information:

• Le parole del Papa alla recita del Regina Caeli (Holy See Press Office)
• Zenit translation
• Regina Coeli: Pope appeals for Southeast Asia migrants (Vatican Radio)
• Regina Coeli - 2015.05.24 (Vatican YouTube)