Movements in the history of the Church

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

1.The love of God the Father, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all!
With these words I greet all of you who are participating in the international meeting of Movements and new ecclesial Communities, which is being held in Speyer. I extend special greetings to His Excellency Bishop Anton Schlembach, who generously welcomed you in his diocese, to His Eminence Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, and to the other Bishops and priests, friends of the Movements, who are accompanying you during these days. Cordial greetings also to the promoters of the meeting: Chiara Lubich, Andrea Riccardi and Salvatore Martinez.
You decided to meet together, representatives of various Movements and new Communities, a year after the meeting organized by the Pontifical Council for the Laity in St. Peter’s Square, on the vigil of Pentecost 1998. That event was a great gift for the entire Church. In an atmosphere of fervent prayer we were able to experience the presence of the Holy Spirit. It was a presence made tangible by the “common witness” which the Movements gave of profound understanding and unity while respecting the diversities of each one. It was a significant epiphany of the Church, rich in charisms and gifts which the Spirit never ceases to bestow.

2. Each gift of the Spirit, as you well know, calls upon our responsibility and must necessarily be transformed into a task to be faithfully accomplished. In fact, this is the main reason for your meeting in Speyer. By listening to what the Spirit is saying to the Churches (cf. Apoc. 2:7) at the vigil of the Great Jubilee of the Redemption, you want to assume directly and together with the other Movements the responsibility of the gift received on that May 30, 1998.
The seed, scattered in abundance, cannot be wasted; rather, it must produce fruit within your communities, in the parishes and diocese. It is beautiful and it gives joy to see how the Movements and new Communities feel the need to converge in ecclesial communion, and how they strive through concrete actions to share with one another the gifts received, to support one another in difficulties and to cooperate in facing together the challenges of the new evangelization. These are eloquent signs of that ecclesial maturity which I hope will increasingly characterize each component and expression of the ecclesial community.

3. Throughout these years I have noticed the important fruits of conversion, of spiritual rebirth and of holiness which the Movements bring to the life of the local Churches.
Thanks to the dynamism of these new ecclesial aggregations, many Christians rediscovered their vocation rooted in Baptism and they dedicated themselves with extraordinary generosity to the evangelizing mission of the Church. For many it has been the occasion for rediscovering the value of prayer, while the Word of God has become their daily bread, and the Eucharist the center of their lives.
In the encyclical Redemptoris missio I called to mind, as a new development occurring in many Churches in recent times, the rapid growth of “ecclesial movements,” filled with missionary dynamism: “When these movements humbly seek to become part of the life of local Churches and are welcomed by Bishops and priests within diocesan and parish structures,” I wrote, “they represent a true gift of God both for new evangelization and for missionary activity in the proper sense of the term. I therefore recommend that they be spread, and that they be used to give fresh energy, especially among young people, to Christian life and to evangelization, within a pluralistic view of the ways in which Christians can associate and express themselves” (n. 72).

I sincerely hope that the Speyer Meeting will be for each one of you and for all your Movements an occasion for growing in the love of Christ and his Church, according to the teaching of the apostle Paul, who encourages us “to earnestly desire the higher gifts” (1 Cor. 12:31).
I entrust the work of your meeting to Mary, Mother of the Church, and I accompany you with my prayers, while to each one of you and to your families I impart a special Blessing.

From the Vatican, June 3, 1999