POPE FRANCIS, EUROPE, COLUMBANUS
THANK YOU POPE FRANCIS
The light of the Risen Christ illuminates the orphaned world of Pope Francis who passed away in the very days of Easter that he announced until his last breath.
We of Colombanus read in these events a message of hope for humanity and for each of us, for the Church and for society, served by him with the tireless heart of a Pastor and Father.
After Pope Benedict, who spoke more than any other pontiff about Saint Columbanus, Francis was the pope of firsts and surprises. It was the first time that a pope spoke about Saint Columbanus in Ireland, in his native country. He did so during his apostolic journey in 2018 on the occasion of the World Meeting of Families, in Dublin, when in the homily of the final mass in Phoenix Park he focused on the task of bearing witness to the Good News, “not easy
“Yet the challenges that Christians face today are, in their own way, no less difficult than those faced by the earliest Irish missionaries. I think of Saint Columbanus, who with his small band of companions brought the light of the Gospel to the lands of Europe in an age of darkness and cultural dissolution. Their extraordinary missionary success was not based on tactical methods or strategic plans, no, but on a humble and liberating docility to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. It was their daily witness of fidelity to Christ and to each other that won hearts yearning for a word of grace and helped give birth to the culture of Europe. That witness remains a perennial source of spiritual and missionary renewal for God’s holy and faithful people.
Of course, there will always be people who resist the Good News, who “murmur” at its “hard words”. Yet like Saint Columbanus and his companions, who faced icy waters and stormy seas to follow Jesus, may we never be swayed or discouraged by the icy stare of indifference or the stormy winds of hostility».
A long aside in the homily that brought a solid model of testimony to the attention of families. But the most appreciated message was the one to the participants of the 25th Columban’s Day, gathered in the Cathedral of Piacenza. Signed by his own hand, it was delivered only the day before to the Bishop of Piacenza-Bobbio, Mgr Adriano Cevolotto and had a great echo in the press and in the mass media for the theme of Europe addressed.
In acknowledging the commitment to promote knowledge of Saint Columbanus and his legacy as a wealth for today, both in the ecclesiastical and civil spheres, he expressed himself as follows: « This aim might appear unrealistic, given the vast difference between the Europe of today and that of the sixth and seventh centuries, and between our way of life and the model proposed by the holy abbot and his companions. Yet, it is precisely this contrast, this difference, which makes the witness of Saint Columban’s message especially provocative and indeed attractive to us, immersed as we are in practical materialism and a type of neo-paganism. The Irish monks of those days became pilgrims and missionaries precisely in order to re-evangelize large areas of a continent where the first fruits of Christianity were at risk of being lost. Together with the work of reclaiming and cultivating those territories, they also made outstanding contributions to the fields of spirituality, learning and ethics. In this way, like the Benedictines elsewhere, the life and labours of the Columban monks proved decisive for the preservation and renewal of European culture».
He concluded with a warning, which today sounds like his testament to us, his legacy to collect: «In our own time, then, we need to draw nourishment from the vital “lymph” of the Gospel, lest the continent’s ecclesial and civil communities lose their identity and sink into a bland globalization, constantly at the mercy of the prevailing powers, but instead discover ways to express their faith and culture with creative fidelity to their rich traditions. In this way, they will be able to contribute to building up a Europe made up of peoples who live harmoniously, side by side, preserving their distinctiveness, yet open to encounter and dialogue with other cultures in our world”.
A pope who was apparently more Latin American and less European but who knew how to surprise with his gestures and his interventions, who he encouraged with his recommendations that were always incisive and destined to leave a mark, with his trips to the Old Continent when he recalled its identity and responsibility in the world. How can we forget the speech he gave in Luxembourg in September 2024 on the construction of a united and supportive Europe or in November 2014 to the European Parliament focused on the link between dignity and transcendence. Thank you Pope Francis for your efforts to wake up a humanistic Europe, champion of human rights, democracy and freedom but now tired and aged, not fertile and vital, where the great ideals that inspired it seem to have lost their attractive force of life.
Happy Easter with an eye on Carlow for the 26th Columbanus Day where I hope many of us will meet again.
Mauro Steffenini
Friends of St Colombanus for Europe