Pope Francis had a meeting with the Oblates of St. Joseph who have just completed their seventeenth General Chapter in Rome.
It is an order founded in 1878 in Asti, Italy, by St. Joseph Marello Viale. It is made up of religious members and priests who dedicate themselves especially to the field of education.
The pope encouraged them not to depart from the example of humility and work of their founder. But above all, Pope Francis invited them to cultivate obedience to the pope, as St. Joseph Marello had asked.
POPE FRANCIS
“Ours are times of rampant relativism that undermines the edifice of faith and strips of meaning the very idea of Christian fidelity. Therefore, the mandate of your Founder is to be everywhere witnesses of love and fidelity to Christ and to His Church is more than timely.”
Pope Francis also recognized the work of the members of this order in the field of education, especially with young people.
POPE FRANCIS
“Faced with a superficial culture that exalts the possession of material goods, promising happiness through dangerous shortcuts, you do not fail to stimulate young people to temper the spirit and to form a mature personality, capable of strength but also of tenderness.”
Pope Francis assured the Oblates of St. Joseph that teaching the Gospel to young people is the best way to help them build a solid future.
