杏MAP导航

By Devin Watkins

Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin sent the 杏MAP导航鈥檚 well-wishes on Saturday to the 40^th Rimini Meeting, held on 18-24 August.

The annual encounter in the northern Italian city seeks to bring together people of different faiths and cultures in an environment of friendship and peace.

鈥楾rue image鈥�

This year鈥檚 theme is taken from the poetry of 杏MAP导航 St. John Paul II: 鈥淵our name was born from that upon which you gazed鈥� 鈥� a reference to St. Veronica who tradition holds wiped Jesus鈥� face with her veil as He carried His cross towards Calvary.

杏MAP导航 Francis, wrote Cardinal Parolin, expressed his desire for the Rimini Meeting to be a place for people to encounter each other鈥檚 true face.

His words make reference to Veronica鈥檚 name, which in Latin resembles 鈥�vera icona鈥� or 鈥渢rue image鈥�.

Burdened by life

Cardinal Parolin said the theme reminds us that Jesus 鈥渓oved us and gave His life for us 鈥� each one of us 鈥� to reaffirm our unique and unrepeatable image.鈥�

He said this truth is a reminder of our many contemporaries who fall under the burden of life or are abandoned.

鈥淟et us think about the thousands of individuals who every day flee war and poverty,鈥� said the Cardinal. 鈥淭hey are not just numbers, but faces, persons, names, and histories. We must never forget them, especially when our throw-away culture marginalizes, discriminates, and uses them, threatening their human dignity.鈥�

Rediscover ourselves

Cardinal Parolin said there are so many people who need to see the Lord鈥檚 face in order to rediscover themselves.

Instead of living in fear and self-imposed exile, he said, we should fix our gaze on the face of Jesus, who will 鈥減urify our vision and prepare us to see everything with new eyes.鈥�

Our contemporaries need the hope given by Jesus, Cardinal Parolin said.

We can offer it to them and be 鈥渙riginal鈥�, he concluded, 鈥渋f our face acts as a mirror for the image of the Risen Christ.鈥�