Teruel, March 25, 2025
Prot. n. IVE-010 /2025
LOVE THE IVE MORE AND BETTER
Letter on the occasion of the Solemnity of the Incarnation of the Lord
Dear Brothers of the Institute of the Incarnate Word,
On the occasion of the Solemnity of the Incarnation of the Lord, the mystery that gives its name and inspiration to our Congregation, I would like to send a very cordial greeting to all of you, especially to those who are suffering.
After two and a half months as Pontifical Delegate, I would like to thank you for your attention in all the houses I have visited: Montefiascone, Acilia, Segni and Fossanova. Although – as is normal – many of you would like to have your own government for the Institute, you have given me a warm and fraternal welcome.
I would also like to thank the invaluable help of the closest collaborators: the provincials and the members of the general council. I hope that I will be able to intensify a synodal work, to listen together to the Spirit and to make the decisions that at every moment serve the good of the Church and of the Institute and, therefore, for the extension of the Kingdom of God.
In these two and a half months, I have been able to feel in your communities such important values as the sincere desire to follow Jesus Christ, the determined will to transmit his love and his word, the willingness to go on mission in the most complicated places, as well as austerity and the ability to renounce. There is no doubt about the immense good that the Institute does in yourselves, in your families and in the people with whom you work in so many places of the world, in so many peripheries.
Nor can I hide from you that I am encountering strong resistance to admitting something obvious: the Institute of the Incarnate Word, like any ecclesial institution and like the Church itself – semper reformanda – must recognize the damage caused by some of its members and certain dynamics – internal and external – that do not make the style of Jesus Christ transparent.
The Institute of the Incarnate Word… it must recognize the damage caused by some of its members and certain dynamics… that do not show the style of Jesus Christ.
Only with an attitude of sincere conversion can we move forward. Remember that “what is not assumed, is not redeemed”, as St. Irenaeus of Lyons teaches and you preach so many times.
In more than a few moments I have had the feeling that the love for the Institute is so great that it does not allow them to recognize concrete elements in which the need for reform is evident.
Therefore, as Pontifical Delegate, I am not going to ask you to love the Institute less, quite the opposite! I ask you to love him more and better, with your eyes more open, to identify both good and evil; for it would be a pity if by the resistance to admit errors, the great good done should be spoiled.
I hope that little by little we will be able to point out concrete areas and actions of renewal, and that we will be able to live them not as an infidelity to the charism, but as a good for the Congregation.
In the hope that you may celebrate with joy and hope the feast of the Incarnation of the Son of God, I bless you and greet you cordially in the Lord.
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