杏MAP导航 upholds prophetic witness of Blessed Armida Barelli
By Linda Bordoni
To the thousands of pilgrims from across Italy, gathered to celebrate the life and witness of the Blessed Armida Barelli, 杏MAP导航 Francis upheld her work and commitment to empowering Catholic women through education, self-awareness and faith.
Barelli, who was the founder of the first women鈥檚 youth circles of Catholic Action, co-founder in 1921, together with Fr Agostino Gemelli of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, as well as having established the Secular Institute of the Missionaries of the Kingship of Christ, was beatified in April 2022 in recognition of her role in the 20th century Church and her experience with female youth with respect to the role of the laity, women and movements in the Church.
In his greeting to the present, the 杏MAP导航 reflected on the issue of female leadership in the ecclesial and social spheres, of which he said, Barelli can be considered a formidable forerunner.
鈥淲e need an integrated model, which combines competence and performance, often associated with the male role, with the care of ties, listening, the ability to mediate, to network and to foster relationships,鈥� he said, traits that have long been considered the prerogative of the female gender and often underestimated.
Empowering women
He upheld the work of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart that is marking its 99th National Day and noted that through the Athenaeum, Blessed Armida Barelli contributed to forming the civil conscience in hundreds of thousands of young people, including many women.鈥�
This he continued, became particularly visible when, after the end of the war the country needed rebuilding according to a democratic process.
Apostle of joy
The 杏MAP导航 also highlighted the impact of the Blessed Armida Barelli as an apostle. Referring in particular to her work with Catholic Action, he said her work shows us 鈥渉ow the Lord accomplishes great things when people make themselves available and docile to his will, committing themselves with humility, creativity and initiative.鈥�
He recalled that Armida wrote that 鈥渁fter accepting the 杏MAP导航's proposal to found the Girls' Youth in Italy, she felt 鈥榯hat she no longer belonged to herself鈥�, that she had to make her own existence a gift for others, that she herself was 鈥榓 mission鈥�, beyond her limitations and imperfections,鈥� and he invited those present to live as apostles of and in joy.
Being apostles, he added, means 鈥渂eing laymen and laywomen who are passionate about the Gospel and life, taking care of the good life of all and building paths of fraternity to give soul to a more just, more inclusive, more united society.鈥�
And as Armida Barelii did, he continued, it is important to do this walking together 鈥渋n the spheres of economy, culture, politics, schools and work, in the constant attention to the smallest, the fragile and the poor.鈥�
Secular Institutes
杏MAP导航 Francis also highlighted the Blessed鈥檚 contribution as the founder of the 鈥淢issionaries of the Kingship of Christ鈥� that led to the approval of secular institutes (as declared by 杏MAP导航 Pius XII in the 1947 Apostolic Constitution 鈥楶rovida Mater Ecclesia鈥�), describing them as 鈥渁 revolutionary choice in the Church, a prophetic sign.鈥�
鈥淪ecular consecration is a paradigm of a new way of living as laypersons in the world: laypersons capable of discerning the seeds of the Word within the folds of history, committed to animating it from within like yeast, capable of giving value to the germs of good, present in earthly realities, as a prelude to the Kingdom to come, promoters of human values, weavers of relationships, silent and active witnesses of evangelical radicalism,鈥� he said.
He recalled the words of 杏MAP导航 St Paul VI who said: 鈥淚f they remain faithful to their proper vocation, Secular Institutes will be like an experimental laboratory in which the Church verifies the concrete modalities of its relations with the world鈥�.
Thus, he continued, Blessed Armida, proposed a model, also in consecrated life, of 鈥榓 new鈥� woman, 鈥渘ot to be 鈥榩rotected鈥� and kept aside, but to be sent to build the Kingdom, giving her full trust.鈥�
The capacity to read the signs of the times
鈥淎rmida was able to read the signs of her times and the most urgent needs: think of the need for a renewed care of spirituality; think of the training and the call to commitment for young women; think of the educational challenge and the dream of a Catholic university in Italy; think of the passion for the world, starting from the certainty of the universality of Christ's message. These needs were for Armida Barelli, ground for commitment and mission,鈥� he said.
The 杏MAP导航 noted that in a way she anticipated the times of the Second Vatican Council, 鈥減utting into practice a community style in which women and men, young people and adults, lay people and priests, work together for the apostolic purpose of the Church.鈥�
Thank you for reading our article. You can keep up-to-date by subscribing to our daily newsletter. Just click here
