On the Sunday morning following the pope’s audience with our movement, my husband and I sat down to watch the video of the encounter. Both of us were very moved by it. Quite simply, for me, this was an experience again of being looked at – gazed upon by Jesus. To see Fr. Carrón (and toward the end, Fr. Jose Medina) looked at by the pope and embraced by him was one of the most moving parts of the video for me, because each time I have met the gaze of these two men I have felt truly free, loved, and affirmed in a way that is out of this world—not even my mother can look at me this way.

There was one part of the pope’s speech in particular that was striking to me: “Christian morality is the response, the moved response to the surprising, unexpected mercy–even “unjust” according to human criteria–of One who knows me, knows my betrayals and loves me anyway, esteems me, embraces me, calls me again, hopes in me, expects something of me.”

This morning I awoke filled with sadness in front of my inability to love those who are dearest to me. All morning I have been dominated by my wretchedness. Honestly, I hadn’t thought at all about the fact that just days before the pope granted us this audience. So then, to get a call from a friend asking me to look at this event and what it has to do with me, right now, is precisely a sign of this “unexpected mercy… of One who knows me, knows my betrayals,” and still “…calls me again, hopes in me, expects something of me.”

-Stephanie, Madison, WI



I was filled with gratitude that the Holy Father would speak to us so directly! His gaze upon our movement is a gaze of purity and wonder. His limited association with Fr. Giussani during his life had an impact that remains, an impact for which he is evidently grateful and from which pour words filled with clarity, words and a gaze that wash over us and remind us of who we are, from Whom we come, and to Whom we belong.

Francis pointed again (as Fr Carron incessantly reminds us) to the fact that it is the new life born of the encounter with Christ that is the glue that cements our communion. It is not the works we do together and it is certainly not born from us! It is a great gift of mercy. It is not the movement that has brought Christ to me, no, Jesus was here first. He is always here first!

In the movement, through the charism of Fr. Giussani, I am educated to freedom and guided to the encounter with Christ. I find myself pushed, I feel an urgency born from this experience to go out to serve Christ, present in others—especially those who are marginalized, abandoned, without faith, and disappointed by the Church. I am not the reference point; we are not the reference point. It is Jesus who is the reference point, the center. I do not fully understand what Francis means when he says that all charisms in the Church must be “decentralized,” but I suspect he is speaking of the vertiginous position… the position of finding our path in reality, that Christ is present there, always, and that we will find Him when we “go out” to meet Him!

Papa, I thank you!

–Phil M., Ironton, MN



One of the most striking moments of last weekend’s audience with Pope Francis was when he first drove into the square and the crowd erupted, singing “Ho un amico grande.” I watched the English translation of the audience while I was busy doing many other things—washing dishes, cooking dinner, planning the following day—and when I first heard the song I thought jokingly, “How typical of the Movement, to break into singing in St. Peter’s Square!” But as I watched our Papa greet his flock, it was clear that the words of that song have never been more true.

What a great Friend we have! And it reminded me again of the question that has been with me since Fr. Jose proposed it at last summer’s vacation: “To whom do you belong?” These people, these pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square are the ones to whom I belong, along with the father who greets us so warmly: The people who cannot help but sing in their joy. By no effort of my own, but by the enormous mercy that has been given to me indiscriminately, I can say that I belong to these people. This makes everything that I have to do—work, errands, social events, even taxes—unbelievably more bearable.

-Meghan, Cincinnati, OH



On the second night of the East Coast CLU Spiritual Exercises, we watched Pope Francis’s address to Communion and Liberation. I felt a personal embrace from Pope Francis as I watched him greet my friends in the crowd.

Earlier in the day, Fr. Pietro had given a lesson about the condition of man. He said, “If a person is serious with himself he notices that he is in a position of powerlessness: He is not able to fulfill himself and he cannot be fulfilled by another.” He said that this state of solitude points to our need for the Church and for a companionship that opens us to a relationship with Christ.

What was particularly provocative for me was to hear Pope Francis say “centered in Christ and in the Gospel, you can be the arms, hands, feet, mind and heart of an “outward oriented” Church.” It was striking to be in a room full of college students and to hear Pope Francis tell us that we are called to be Christ’s body. This is something very different from what the world tells us. It helped me to see that my solitude not only points to my need to be in relation with Christ, but also to the fact that I want to give all of myself to something other than myself. I am truly grateful for the embrace and guidance of Pope Francis.

-Phil, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC



The first time I read Pope Francis’s address to Communion and Liberation, I was somewhat dismayed. He seemed to be correcting the Movement and I was a bit annoyed at this. However, after reflecting on his words more carefully I found myself in awe of the fact that he is really a father to us, in the same way that my father corrects me when I am falling out of line. Papa Francis was gently bringing us back to the roots of our movement and Christianity: the Encounter with Jesus.

I was personally touched by when he said “Christian morality is the response, the moved response to the surprising, unexpected mercy–even “unjust” according to human criteria–of One who knows me, knows my betrayals and loves me anyway, esteems me, embraces me, calls me again, hopes in me, expects of me.” Because this is what I always forget, he caresses me with mercy, a mercy so totalizing that because of my constant betrayal and distraction I find myself unworthy of it, and often it is difficult to accept. Yet, he continues to offer it. It doesn’t matter if I “get better,” but whether I run back into his merciful arms or not. How beautiful is it that Jesus “knows my betrayals and loves me anyway?” This is true mercy. The kind I need.

-Margaret, a GS student in Minnesota



Two things struck me in the pope’s address. First, that Giussani’s witness changed the pope’s life is both incredible and perfectly understandable for me: incredible because the vicar of Christ himself has been influenced by our own Don Gius; understandable because Francis, like me, is a man, a beggar full of tension toward Christ. He thirsts as I thirst and he found for himself a syntony with Giussani’s words. His heart is like my heart.

Second, it was important for me that he reminded us to keep Christ at the center of our charism. It’s easy for me to think that the only way, the “right” way to follow Christ is in the movement, as if Christ belonged only to us. But instead Francis reminded me that Christ is bigger than any construct—even one as beautiful as Communion and Liberation. Our movement is a good insofar as it allows me to have an encounter with Christ; this is the only way our charism can remain fresh and full of life. So I continue to walk, thankful for this reminder, happy that Pope Francis himself is my companion on this journey.

-Bruno, Fordham University, New York, NY



To be reminded yet again that my “idea” of reality is not reality is a great gift. It is a great grace. A grace I desire to embrace with everything I am. Because I am part of a culture that wants desperately to make me believe that perception is reality. Perception is not reality.

It was the day of the audience, March 7, 2015, and we were in the car heading down to Miami from West Palm Beach: Fr. Michael, Gabriele, and I. This is the de facto fraternity group that helps me to look at everything in light of the Great Love that I have met, the “who” that has happened in my life. And He has happened.

The whole time I was wondering, “Why do we live this way? Do I really want to live this way? Do we live this way because CL is the superior catechetical method?” I am not interested in superior catechetical methods. I want to live. No, I mean that. I just want to live.

And then Gabriele read the text of what Peter said in Rome that morning, the text of the audience: The charism is not the center. We need to decentralize the charism. We need to stop worshipping the ashes. [I thought about how I wished Albacete were still around. Well, he is!] I was so relieved. Jesus is the center. Yes, Jesus. I want to be with Jesus and He comes to me in this friendship, with these two young men and through so many other faces around the world, some of which were in Rome because I could not be. They were there for me. We are together. And Francis is Peter. He is the Vicar of Christ. I have the Pope I need, not the one I imagine in my head.

Then came the text messages. Some with pictures of familiar faces… friends from Spain, Italy, and the U.S. But some of the messages were disconcerting.

“So what did you think of the audience?” writes a friend in Europe.

“I thought it was great, why?” I respond.

“Well, people are saying that he doesn’t like us because he is being hard on us.”

The Pope reminds us that we are not the center. That our way of doing things is not the center of the cosmos, rather that Jesus is the center of the cosmos. And we whine and say he doesn’t like us. He doesn’t like us? Right. That’s it. He doesn’t “like” us…. The reaction is proof that the admonition was needed. We need to grow up. The Holy Father is asking me to grow up. I am grateful.

-Esmeralda, West Palm Beach, FL



Here in Ann Arbor we have a small and very new community. Half of us have been following CL for a long time and the other half of us are just beginning a relationship with the movement. As a community and for myself individually, the Audience with Pope Francis was an invitation to take seriously the life of CL on the journey with Christ and the value of following the charism in a new place. The words of the pope’s address opened up a series of important questions: Where does the encounter take place in my life? When has this mercy been evident for me? Does following CL facilitate or distract from my relationship with Christ being at the center?

This has been a great opportunity to make a judgment and affirm once again that I meet Christ now and experience the newness that springs from His mercy precisely in staying with these people and following the movement.

More than anything, though, I am moved by the affection that Francis showed for each of us in the simple gesture of sharing a brief moment of life with us, by accompanying us on our journey, and by warning of the dangers that lie ahead.

-Mark, Ann Arbor, MI



I am embarrassed to say when I saw that the Pope was meeting with us, and I knew I wouldn’t be going, I thought, “well I’ll read it when it comes out,” and I did not live a great expectation in front of this upcoming gathering.

The day of the meeting with Pope Francis, I was with Holly and Franz. They were both overflowing with joy, and had stayed up to watch the audience on television. Franz told us about the group of men that the Pope meets with at the end of the video. He said they were prisoners who have been working with members of the charism on landscaping projects outside of a prison near Padua. Over time friendships have formed, and they were able to receive permission to attend the audience with Pope Francis.

When I watched the video myself, this is what moved me. I saw this group of men huddled with a respectful but informal joy around the Pope, as if he was their brother. I saw the Pope’s happiness and I understood, “This is what it is to be human: to give everything and to live as brothers.” I asked forgiveness for my indifference, for the lack of desire for my own true happiness. I asked the Lord to forgive me for living my own version of the Movement, which leads to ashes. I thank the Lord for the gift of the concrete historicity we live in the Church and I thank Him for showing me the concreteness of His Face.

-Marcie, Crosby, MN



For me, Pope Francis’ encounter with the movement is a fulfillment of the task given to Peter by Jesus to confirm the brothers in the faith (Luke 22:32). His care for those who follow Christ through this movement is a confirmation, a strengthening, of my faith. The attention he pays to the movement strengthens my recognition of the Mystery at work through those people who identify with Fr. Giussani and his conception of life.

The most striking thing the pope said regards Christ as the center of all reality. If Christ is at the center of everything, then he is also at the center of this mysterious reality of my sin. Even the mere possibility that this is true amazes me! Even the terrible tragedy of my betrayals of the One who loves me is not wasted. Right there, in my sin, is where I encounter Christ. What hope for the journey! To know that this journey that we are invited to make is defined by Christ and his mercy, even though it is a journey marked by my failures and infidelities, fills me with hope.

I strive to follow the movement in a cultural context in which most people have no idea what CL is or what a “movement” is. The Pope says I do not need to worry about labeling myself as “CL”; this also means I do not need people to identify me with CL. This is a help and correction. As we seek to live the missionary dimension of the charism here in north Florida, the temptation is to do a bunch of “self referential” gestures to explain what CL is and to promote this “group”. But instead, the Pope has challenged me to allow my encounter with the movement to be a firm ground to stand on which allows me to look out at all of reality, at others, especially those who are far from the church and disappointed by the Church, to listen to their questions and have a real dialogue. The point of belonging is not to promote this group.

The point of belonging is that this friendship makes me able to engage with all of life and with those from all walks of life in a meaningful way. Thank you, Pope Francis, for the challenge to not be self-referential.

-Fr. James, Pensacola, FL