Fray Carlos Alberto Trovarelli, Superior General of the Franciscans Conventuals, begged this June 13, feast of San Antonio de Padua, to intercede for all before God, and thus continue on the path of faith and hope of San Francisco de Asís.
This was indicated by Trovarelli in the Solemn Mass held this Friday at the Basilica of San Antonio de Padua in Italy, a few days after General Chapter of the Order would re -elected him in office in which it will serve six more years. The 62 -year -old friar is the first Argentine to serve in that position.
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“The figure, life and testimony of San Antonio confirm that we are on the right way. He himself was a pilgrim, born in Lisbon (Portugal), his first pilgrimage went to Coimbra, then to Morocco, then to Sicily, then to the rest of Italy and this area of Padua,” recalled the Argentine friar before the civil and ecclesial authorities present.
In San Antonio de Padua, the Superior General continued, “we want to be on the right way, the one that San Francisco taught us: to have straight faith, the certain hope and perfect charity.”
“Let us ask San Antonio to intercede for us before the Lord so that our hearts and minds, and the decisions and elections we make have the anointing of Christian hope and the seal of charity, because in love hope becomes very concrete,” he encouraged.
The Christian hope
Fray Trovarelli said later that “hope, we know well, it is not a superficial optimism but a gift from God, from above. From God comes faith, love, charity and hope are a gift from above.”
Having hope, he said, “it is not alienating or denying the problems of life, but seeing everything through the Easter of Christ, it is to weigh all our life through God, from his arms that sustain us.”
“He, God, is our hope, is based on Christ’s victory over death. This is the moment in which everything has changed. Christian hope does not prevent the effort of every day, our effort in history or reality, but that everything fills it with meaning. From a new sense that comes from above,” said the friar.
The superior general also said that “there is nothing that is not illuminated by the sun (God), by hope. It offers a long breath without suppressing the mystery of the disease, pain, suffering, of the cross or death itself, but all this remains full of the meaning of God.”
The Christian hope, he highlighted, “is the safe force that in the midst of injustice and wars, makes us choose, as Christians and believers, the fair, timely place, where we must be, also in our families and communities.”
“Welcoming hope means recognizing that our life depends on something that we cannot build. It comes from God,” he added.
To conclude his homily, the superior Franciscano said that “our life must continue to grow, especially in holiness. May San Antonio help us to follow this itinerary with the germ of new life.”
San Antonio procession in Padua
After the solemn mass, a large number of faithful participated in the traditional procession of the image of San Antonio through the streets of Padua.
More than 60 institutions linked to the Catholic Church and civil society participated in it, which showed great fervor.
As part of the celebrations, the blessing of the PAN of San Antonio was also made, which is given to the most needy people.
Walter Sánchez Silva
I am husband since 2008. With my wife we have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before birth. Since I joined ACI Press in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Colonia, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the family’s synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Sinodality, in 2023. I follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers the persecution of the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as the ecclesial news in the region.