The hope of fraternity
Publish date 05-05-2023
“Today we have the opportunity to thank the Lord together for the Sermig, which is a kind of large tree grown from a small seed. Such are the realities of the Kingdom of God"
Pope francesco
«It takes someone whose heart is firmly rooted in the Gospel. We need a community of faith and prayer that keeps the fire burning for everyone"
Pope francesco
It seems that in these meetings scattered over the years, evoked by the words of four popes, the face of what Charles Peguy called the "childhood virtue" emerged, hope, always sought after and always found in every gesture of welcome to the other.
Because only when hope becomes a fact is fraternity born, the true name of the Church.
And only then do dreams come true, those of Paul VI, of John Paul II, of Benedict XVI, of Francis... the dreams of God. "Spes contra spem", said another master of Sermig, Giorgio La Pira.
Especially in these days of terrible war, we cling to hope. The one that does not disappoint, as St. Paul writes to the Romans. Because hope is Jesus himself.
Meetings with four popes mark the path of the word hope in the adventure of Sermig
he left for Rome to speak to the pope of his love for the Church.
“Your Holiness, young people don't like this Church. They feel far away."
Paul VI's response was: «I too think the same things but often Christians don't
they listen to me. I hope that from Turin and Piedmont,
land of saints, may a revolution of love be born".
with these words: «We live among many abbreviations, among many acronyms:
some bring us fear, but there are also some that bring us hope…
Here, one of these is Sermig:
today we live under this abbreviation:
Sermig: and it brings us hope!».
at the first stone of the Maria Madre del church
Youth of the Arsenale della Pace of Turin,
where the icon of the Madonna of the three hands is kept.
That third hand of Mary is for us a sign of hope,
because she envelops today's young and tired people.
January 7, 2023. Pope Francis:
«Sermig is called a “fraternity of hope”.
But the reverse can also be said, that is, "the hope of fraternity".
The dream that animates the hearts of Sermig's friends is the hope of a fraternal world.
It is the "dream" that I wanted to relaunch in the Church and in the world
through the encyclical Fratelli tutti”»…
By the editorial team
"In audience with Francis"
NP February 2023