Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!

With today's meeting we begin to reflect on the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes, by which the Second Vatican Council sought to explore a fundamental theme, namely the relationship of the Church with the contemporary world. Saint John XXIII, already in his opening address of 11 October 1962, wished to distance himself from the "prophets of doom" who criticized modern times. Hence the task entrusted to the Council Fathers of discerning "the mysterious designs of Divine Providence" in contemporary human events.

Three years later, the promulgation of Gaudium et spes recognized in such discernment an essential element of the nature of the Church, describing its pastoral character as constitutive. This is not naive optimism, but a renewed fidelity to the Mystery of Christ who, by becoming incarnate, chooses to share our life. The conciliar Constitution opens by declaring that the Church makes her own "the joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted".

It is a sharing that calls us to abandon all passivity and indifference before the events that occur, before history and the lives of people, especially before the rapid and profound change we experience today. It is not possible to remain disinterested spectators; rather, we must listen with the heart, allow ourselves to be challenged, become involved. With Christ and sustained by the strength of his Spirit, believers are called to take upon themselves the difficulties of their brothers and sisters, especially those who are crushed by injustice, discrimination and violence. Indeed, only in sharing and commitment is it possible to arrive at adequate responses.

In this sense, closeness to humanity opens the way to a deeper reading of events and of Revelation itself and, in the same perspective, Gaudium et spes recalls the "permanent duty of the Church to scrutinize the signs of the times and to interpret them in the light of the Gospel". This conciliar Constitution has therefore called the Church to a permanent commitment of conversion, to bear witness that she is moved by "no earthly ambition", but "seeks this alone: to carry on the work of Christ himself under the lead of the befriending Spirit".

It is not, in fact, a merely moral disposition. Pope Francis reminded us that for the Church "the option for the poor is a theological category before being a cultural, sociological, political or philosophical one". We are called to discover Christ in the poor, to lend them our voice, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to understand them and to welcome the mysterious wisdom that God wishes to communicate to us through them.

Christian sharing commits us to take charge of reality and also to unmask the contradictions that characterize the personal and social life of the contemporary world: for example, a scientific and technological progress that offers ever new possibilities, but only to some; or a clearer knowledge of the "laws of social life", accompanied however by uncertainties "about the direction to give it"; or again, a greater availability of "wealth, resources and economic power", which unfortunately leaves "a large part of the world's population still tormented by hunger and poverty"; or a shared awareness that the future of the planet is at stake and, at the same time, the inability to renounce selfish consumption and the illusion that war is an effective way to build peace.

In a time marked by profound changes, from which worrying imbalances arise, the Church is called to serve the human being, listening to and welcoming the deepest questions of the heart and the yearnings that dwell within it, pointing to Christ as "the key, the centre and the goal of all human history". Therefore, in the Church, at every level, in every age, the merciful kenosis of Christ must be realized, who "did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself".

Dear brothers and sisters, may joy and hope – gaudium et spes – be the distinctive traits of a Church that proclaims and bears witness to the Gospel, making herself close to the women and men of our time.

--- Greeting to Italian-speaking pilgrims ---

I extend my cordial welcome to the pilgrims of the Italian language, in particular to the parish groups: I exhort everyone to model their lives on the Gospel in order to be sowers of Christ's love in society. My thoughts go, finally, to the young people, the sick and the newlyweds. Tomorrow we will celebrate the memory of Pope Saint Gregory the Great, whose body rests in Saint Peter's Basilica. He is called "the Great" for his exceptional activity as a pastor in times that were very difficult for society and the Church: a "greatness" that drew strength and vigour from a living faith in Christ. May his example arouse in each of you a renewed and intense trust in God, source of grace and hope for the whole world. My blessing to you all!