Pope Leo XIV received participants in the Legionaries of Christ‘s general chapter today and encouraged them to be faithful to their charism.

The church attack took place in Bulé; the area has seen recent fighting between the nation’s army and a rebel group, the Convention for the Popular Revolution.

“In this time of intense prayer, we are also invited to practice with renewed commitment the virtue of charity towards the poorest and most in need, with whom Christ himself identifies,” Pope Leo wrote in his message, dated February 11 and released on Ash Wednesday. “Sharing the gifts generously granted to us by the Lord cannot be restricted to a period of the year, a campaign or a few specific actions, but must be a constant attitude that commits us to encountering Christ present in those who have nowhere to live.”

“For the survivors of South Jersey, this day is long overdue and represents a milestone in their journey toward restored justice and the healing and recognition they have long sought and deserve,” said Bishop Joseph Williams.

The settlement came six years after the diocese declared bankruptcy.

“Our world is hurtling toward unsustainable climate conditions that will affect the flourishing of people all over the planet,” Archbishop Shelton Fabre, chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, and Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace, warned on February 17.

“This Lent is an opportunity for discernment and action,” the prelates added. “May we quiet our hearts and enter the solitude of the desert, that we might hear the voice of God and listen to the cries of his children around the world whose livelihoods are impacted by our own actions and lifestyles.”

“Many Christian families, who lived thanks to pilgrimages, now struggle to support themselves,” Father Ielpo wrote on February 18. “Young people find it increasingly difficult to imagine a future here, in their own land ... On Good Friday, as we contemplate the Crucified Christ, we ask you not to forget the Holy Land.”

“May this be our concrete way of doing penance in Ramadan and Lent: concrete gestures of mercy, small, possible for all,” Cardinal Zuppi wrote in his February 17 message. “There the world begins to change and we can make it what God wants: the world of the human family, of all brothers and sisters in the name of the Merciful and Clement God.”

Recalling the Belgian association’s support for the papacy since its 19th-century founding, Pope Leo said that “the Bishop of Rome has received from Christ the task of gathering the faithful people into unity and proclaiming the Gospel of Salvation throughout the earth; and the charism of his Successors implies the sovereign freedom to do so.”

“Yet the proclamation of the Kingdom is hindered in many places throughout the world, and in many ways,” Pope Leo continued. “How important it is, therefore, in the troubled times in which we live, that ‘Peter’ retain his complete freedom to speak the truth, denounce injustice, defend the rights of the weakest, promote peace, and above all proclaim Jesus Christ, who died and rose again, the only possible hope for a reconciled humanity.”

February 22 marks the 95th anniversary of the first apparition of the Merciful Jesus to St. Faustina Kowalska. Since then, a new chapter has begun in the spread of the cult of Divine Mercy through the Chaplet and the painting “Jesus, I trust in You.” May Lent be a time of encounter with Christ through the Sacrament of Penance and the works of mercy. My blessing to you all!

These words of the Pontiff were omitted from the Vatican’s English translation of his remarks.