Masses in Italy and around the world

Celebrations for the centennial of Fr. Giussani's birth and the fortieth anniversary of the pontifical recognition of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation.

On the occasion of the centenary of the birth of the Servant of God Fr. Luigi Giussani (1922) and the 40th anniversary of the pontifical recognition of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation (February 11, 1982), hundreds of Masses are celebrated in Italy and around the world, presided over by cardinals and bishops. The manner of participating in the celebrations depends on the Covid regulations in force in each nation, which may vary from city to city.

The intention of the Masses is as follows:
"Let us ask, through the intercession of Our Lady "the living fountain of hope," to personally live and witness every day, in total fidelity to the Church, the responsibility of the charism given by the Spirit of Christ to Fr. Giussani for the benefit of all the holy People of God and of our human brothers and sisters."

Filled with gratitude for the gift of his life, we allow ourselves to remember Fr. Giussani through the words of Pope Francis, Benedict XVI, St. John Paul II and St. Paul VI, which better express who Fr. Giussani is and who we are.

In 2015, Pope Francis said, "I am grateful to Fr. Giussani for different reasons. The first and more personal is the good that this man did for me and for my priestly life, through the reading of his books and articles. The other reason is that his thoughts are deeply human and reach the most intimate yearning of mankind. You know how important the experience of encounter was to Fr. Giussani: the encounter not with an idea, but with a Person, with Jesus Christ [...] Everything in our life, today as in the time of Jesus, begins with an encounter. An encounter with this Man, the carpenter from Nazareth, a man like all men and at the same time different […] Pass on the flame of the memory of that first encounter and be free! Like this, centered in Christ and in the Gospel, you can be the arms, hands, feet, mind and heart of a Church ‘which goes forth’.” (Audience with the movement of CL, St. Peter's Square, March 7, 2015).

In 2007, Benedict XVI remembered Fr. Giussani with these words: "My first thought goes to your Founder, Mons. Luigi Giussani, to whom many memories bind me and who became a true friend of mine […] Through him, the Holy Spirit raised in the Church a Movement, yours, that would witness to the beauty of being Christian in an age when the opinion was spreading that Christianity is a difficult and oppressive way to live. Fr Giussani then committed himself to awaken in youth the love for Christ, ‘Way, Truth and Life’, repeating that only he is the way towards the fulfilment of the deepest desires of the human heart, and that Christ does not save us regardless of our humanity, but through it.” (Audience with the movement of CL, St. Peter's Square, March 24, 2007).

In 2002, John Paul II wrote to Fr. Giussani: "Christianity, even before being a sum of doctrines or a rule for salvation, is thus the ‘event’ of an encounter. This is the insight and experience that you have transmitted in these years to so many persons who have adhered to the Movement. Communion and Liberation, more than offering new things, aims at helping people rediscover the Tradition and history of the Church, in order to express this in ways capable of speaking to and engaging the men of our time.” (Letter to Fr. Luigi Giussani, February 11, 2002).

In 1977, Paul VI greeted a group of Florentine students of CL with these words: “We are very attentive to the affirmations of your program that you are spreading about, of your way of life, of the adherence of young people and new, renewed, and renewing adherence to the Christian and social ideals that the Catholic world in Italy gives you.
We bless you and in doing so we bless and salute your founder, Father Giussani. Be happy, be faithful, be strong, and be glad to spread around you the testimony that the Christian faith is strong, is happy, is beautiful, and can truly transform in love and with love the society in which it finds itself.” (General Audience, December 28, 1977).

Here is an updated list of celebrations around the world. Here are some of them:

Milan, Msgr. Mario Delpini, Feb. 28; Rome, Card. Angelo De Donatis, February 20; Perugia, Card. Gualtiero Bassetti, February 21; Bologna, card. Matteo Zuppi, February 22; Genoa, Msgr. Marco Tasca, February 24; Florence, Card. Giuseppe Betori, Feb. 11; Turin, Msgr. Cesare Nosiglia, Feb. 22; Venice, Msgr. Francesco Moraglia, Feb. 18; Modena, Msgr. Erio Castellucci, Feb. 22; Palermo, Msgr. Corrado Lorefice, Feb. 23; Taranto, Msgr. Filippo Santoro, Feb. 22; Bergamo, Msgr. Francesco Beschi, Feb. 22; New York, Msgr. Christophe Pierre, Feb. 20; Washington DC, Msgr. Mario E. Dorsonville, Feb. 22; Boston, Card. Sean O'Malley, Feb. 23; Moscow, Msgr. Paolo Pezzi, Feb. 25; Madrid, Card. Carlos O. Sierra, Feb. 27; Jerusalem, Msgr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, March 11; Montreal, Msgr. Christian Lépine, Feb. 23; Denver, Msgr. Jorge Rodriguez, Feb. 22; Tunis, Msgr. Ilario Antoniazzi, Feb. 21; Amsterdam, Msgr. Johannes Gerardus Maria van Burgsteden, Feb. 19; Karaganda, Msgr. Adelio Dell'Oro, March 6; Rio de Janeiro, Card. Orani Joao Tempesta, Feb. 22; São Paulo, Msgr. Carlos Lema Garcia, Feb. 13; Bogota, Msgr. Luis Rueda Aparicio, Feb. 26; Caracas, Msgr. Ignazio Ceffalia, Mar. 5; Tokyo, Msgr. Leo Boccardi, Feb. 12; London, Msgr. John Wilson, Feb. 25; Johannesburg, Msgr. Buti Thlagale, Feb. 19; Taipei, Msgr. Thomas Chung Anzu, Feb. 19; Zurich, Msgr. Joseph Maria Bonnemain, Feb. 20; Lugano, Msgr. Valerio Lazzeri, Feb. 15; Vienna, Card. Christoph Schonborn, Feb. 23; Eichstätt, Msgr. Gregor Maria Hanke, Apr. 30; Santiago del Cile, Msgr. Alberto Ortega Martín, Feb. 22; Vilnius, Msgr. Gintars Linas Grusas, Feb. 12; Toronto, Card. Thomas Christopher Collins, March 5; Lisbon, Card. Manuel Josè Clemente, Feb. 22; Prague, Msgr. Tomáš Holub, Feb. 27; Kampala, Msgr. Luigi Bianco, Feb. 19; Stockholm, Card. Anders Arborelius, Feb. 20; Bahia Blanca, Msgr. Carlos Azpiroz Costa, Feb. 15; Luxembourg, Card. Jean Claude Hollerich, March 5; Dublin, Msgr. Diarmuid Martin, Feb. 21; Maputo, Msgr. Piergiorgio Bertoldi, Feb. 20; Mexico City, Card. Carlos Aguiar Retes, Feb. 27; Mauritius, Card. Maurice Piat, March 13; Buenos Aires, Card. Mario Poli, Feb. 18

The CL Press Office