Acta Francisci Pp. 1027

cile per voi leggere la loro anima; forse sarete messi alla prova dalle loro

diversità. Sappiate, comunque, che possiedono anche risorse da condividere.

Perciò accoglieteli senza paura. Offrite loro il calore dell'amore di Cristo

e decifrerete il mistero del loro cuore. Sono certo che, ancora una volta,

questa gente arricchirà l'America e la sua Chiesa.

Dio vi benedica e la Madonna vi custodisca! Grazie!

III

Ad Sodales publicorum legatorum Curiae Statuum Foederatorum Americae Septentrionalis, Vasintoniae D.C.*

Mr. Vice-President, Mr. Speaker, Honorable Members of Congress, Dear Friends,

I am most grateful for your invitation to address this Joint Session

of Congress in "the land of the free and the home of the brave". I would

like to think that the reason for this is that I too am a son of this great

continent, from which we have all received so much and toward which we

share a common responsibility.

Each son or daughter of a given country has a mission, a personal and

social responsibility. Your own responsibility as members of Congress is to

enable this country, by your legislative activity, to grow as a nation. You

are the face of its people, their representatives. You are called to defend

and preserve the dignity of your fellow citizens in the tireless and demand-

ing pursuit of the common good, for this is the chief aim of all politics. A

political society endures when it seeks, as a vocation, to satisfy common

needs by stimulating the growth of all its members, especially those in si-

tuations of greater vulnerability or risk. Legislative activity is always based

on care for the people. To this you have been invited, called and convened

by those who elected you.

* Die 24 Septembris 2015.