#AC150 Futuro Presente

Our meeting with Pope Francis, which we all looked forward to with joy and gratitude, has had to be postponed to Sunday 30th April. Times, procedures and contents of the meeting will remain the same: it will be a beautiful morning of celebrations, reflections and prayers.

Yesterday, in fact, we were informed that due to unforeseen and pressing commitments, Pope Francis will not be able to be present in Saint Peter’s Square on the 29th to celebrate and pray with us. We are really grateful to him for having decided immediately to be with us the following morning.

We realize that this postponement could create some inconveniences and hardships for some of you, especially for those dioceses which will have to reorganize their transport and hospitality arrangements. Precisely because of this, we have decided to let you know about the new date for the meeting immediately, soon after it was fixed. We all looked forward to the meeting with Pope Francis with joy and gratitude, so we have welcomed this change in programme, with great openness and with a spirit of collaboration, something which Catholic Action has always done during its one hundred and fifty years of existence of friendship and closeness, especially with the Holy Father.

The National Centre is at your service to make the participation of all members easier and to help you overcome any eventual difficulties. We will do our best, especially in the case of those dioceses which had already booked the ‘pilgrims’ kit’ and have had to change the number of registered participants. We have also thought of giving more time to all the dioceses to review their lists, especially because of those, who could not attend on Saturday, and the postponement to Sunday (followed by a holiday) made it easier for them to attend. So, to give more time to dioceses to contact its members, we have decided that the new closing date for booking will be the 20th April and the contribution for those, who book by this date, will remain 8 euro.

Finally, allow us to share a more personal note with you: we were greatly touched by the immediate openness of the Holy Father and the Holy See to fix the new appointment without delay. For us, this is a clear sign of the esteem and attention which CA enjoys. Now is the time for us to bring out that inborn ability of feeling that we are “a big family” so as to overcome the unexpected and be even more united.

We therefore give you an appointment for the 30th April, in Saint Peter’s Square. We look forward to seeing you all there!

Rome, 17 March 2017

Matteo Truffelli – National President
+ Gualtiero Sigismondi- General Ecclesiastical Assistant

---

Communication by the CA National Presidency
Catholic Action accompanies Pope Francis in his coming trip to Egypt with prayers and is looking forward to meeting him in Saint Peter’s Square on the 30th April