This is the request that Pope Francis expressed this morning in a meeting with the members of the Prayer League of Blessed Emperor Charles for peace among peoples. "The challenges of our times require the collaboration of all men of good will."
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Taking part in the Pope's efforts for peace through prayer and personal commitment. This is the request that Pope Francis addressed this morning to members of the Prayer League of Blessed Emperor Charles for peace among the peoples in Rome for the annual international assembly.
An assembly, said Francis, "is placed in the context of the centenary of the peace initiative undertaken by Pope Benedict XV and, among the political leaders, supported solely by Blessed Emperor Charles, in the strong desire to put an end to the massacre of the First World War".
The goals of the Prayer League - seeking and observing the will of God, engaging in peace and justice, expiating the injustice of history - were, as it were, the Pope continued - the recurring motive in the life of Blessed Charles as a statsman, as husband and father of family and as a son of the Church. By committing to God's will, he accepted the suffering and offered his life as a sacrifice for peace, always sustained by the love and faith of his wife, the Servant of God the Zita."
"The challenges of our times require the collaboration of all men of good will and, in particular, prayer and sacrifice. I therefore invite you to keep your promise to take part, with prayer and personal commitment, in the Pope's many efforts in favor of peace. Without the support of the prayers of the faithful, Peter's Successor can not fulfill his mission in the world. I also count on you."
Charles, the last emperor of Austria, born in 1887, as head of state joined the initiative of Benedict XV against the "useless massacre". Exiled to the island of Madeira, in the last days of his life he knew poverty and accepted the disease as a sacrifice for the peace and unity of his peoples. He died on April 1, 1922, with his gaze turned to the Blessed Sacrament. This is the motto of his life: "My whole commitment is always, in all things, to know as clearly as possible and to follow the will of God, and this in the most perfect way."