Pope Francis on Friday met delegates at an international conference organised by the Vatican's ‘Cor Unum’ aid body, Vatican Radio reported.
The conference ‘Love will never end' was organised to mark the tenth anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s first encyclical on charity, ‘Deus Caritas Est’.
Pope Francis said the message of the encyclical remains timely, especially in the Catholic Church's curre Jubilee year of mercy.
The love which we receive from God and share with others, he said, is “the fulcrum of the history of the Church and of the history of each one of us,” according to Vatican Radio.
The act of charity, the Pope said, is not simply almsgiving to ease one’s conscience, but rather a “loving attentiveness towards the other” and a desire to share friendship with God.
Even if we turn away from God, the Pope told participants, it is in God’s nature to communicate his love and mercy to us.
The mission of charitable organisations is vital, he said, because, it is not with words, but with concrete love that we can make every person feel loved by God.
Living in this spirit of receiving and sharing God's love with others makes Christians more authentic, Francis said, thanking all those working daily for Cor Unum around the world.
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