Pope Francis, in a meeting with members of the Secular Institute of the Missionary Priests of the Kingship of Christ, emphasized the importance of secularity in the life and ministry of priests.
The meeting was part of the Institute’s 70th-anniversary celebrations, where members also presented the Pope with plans for a new training center in Burundi, according to Vatican News.
During the audience, Pope Francis clarified the distinction between secularity and secularism. Secularity, he stated, is not synonymous with secularism but is a dimension of the Church’s mission to serve and bear witness to the Kingdom of God in the world.
He emphasized that the Church and every baptized person are in the world and for the world but not of the world.
The Pope praised the Secular Institute’s approach to living out their secular vocation, highlighting their adherence to the Franciscan charism.
He commended them for being formed for “humble, available, and fraternal service” and living according to the model of the kingship of Christ, emphasizing generosity and solidarity with the poor and excluded.
“May we be in solidarity with, and friends of, the people, apostles of kindness and truth, so that the Gospel might become the heart of the world,” said Pope Francis.
The Secular Institute of the Missionary Priests of the Kingship of Christ was founded in October 1953 in the Church of San Damiano in Assisi.
