VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis on Thursday, 7 November, received some four hundred members of the Italian army, members of the Transport and Material Corps, which is responsible for transporting military equipment and providing material. As the Pope noted, it is service that gives dignity to a person and, in a sense, brings people to Christ, who came to serve and not to be served.
The Audience for the Italian Army Corps was held on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the proclamation of Saint Christopher as its patron, on 4 November 1954 by the Venerable Pope Pius XII. Pope Francis remarked that he himself also holds St. Christopher in high esteem: "I always wear the medal of Saint Christopher to help me go forward".
"I am delighted that the military corps has asked for the high patronage of a saint-martyr who gave his life to bear witness to Christ. This means, above all, to recognize that there is no vocation or condition of life that does not need grounding in true values and does not need God's protection. It can be said that the more a given vocation is concerned with saving or losing life, bringing support, help and protection, the more it needs to maintain a high code of ethics and inspiration that draws from above".
To have a patron and to be proud of him is to commit oneself to a style of action that puts the dignity of each person, who is the image of the Creator, first and foremost, the Pope continued. That is, a style that is characterized by the defense of the weakest and those who are threatened, whether by wars, natural disasters or pandemics.
"Honouring your patron also means recognising that the skills, sense of duty and dedication of each of you are certainly necessary, but that in addition to all this, you must also ask from heaven for that complement of grace which is necessary to enable you to fulfil to the best of your ability the missions you undertake. In short, it means recognizing that we are not omnipotent, that not everything is in our hands and that we need God's blessing."
The Pope thanked the Italian armed forces for their support of citizens and local and territorial authorities in various moments of emergency, such as earthquakes, floods, pandemics, and for their participation in peacekeeping missions.
"The precise, well-coordinated and continuous performance of all these activities has an apt name: service. It means making oneself available to the common good, sparing no energy or effort, not backing down in the face of danger in order to accomplish a task that often leads to saving lives and may mean sacrificing one's own safety. Service gives us dignity. What is your dignity? I am a servant: that is great dignity!"
In this respect, the Pope added, it is significant that many men and women do not leave the Transport and Material Corps after their active service, but decide to join the National Association of Italian Carriers. As volunteers, they then offer their help to the community, which shows that the disposition to serve has become a natural habit among them, as a normal feature of their existence, which cannot be discarded from one day to the next, but on the contrary must be graded according to the age and condition of each individual, since anyone, at any age, can contribute his or her share and continue to serve.
"Christopher means "one who brings Christ". When you commit yourself daily and spare no effort for the functionality of your departments; when you go to the aid of populations tested by natural disasters or armed conflicts, you carry, sometimes without knowing it, in a certain sense, the style of Christ who came to serve and not to be served: this is Jesus who passed through this land, benefiting and healing all".
At the end of the meeting, the Pope said a prayer with which the Italian Army Corps addresses its patron, St. Christopher: "Almighty and eternal God, protect and bless the service we render to our brothers and sisters, and give us the ability to use our means also to help and save those in need."
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