Pope Francis told the members of an organization championing the causes of visually-impaired persons to ensure they are taking proactive and constructive steps to offer trust and hope to the people they serve.
According to a report by the Vatican News, Francis told the Italian Union of Blind and Partially Sighted Persons (UICI) members to proceed with "an ever more constructive and proactive style, as a force that transmits trust and hope."
He also urged them to emulate St. Lucy of Syracuse, their patron saint, who refused to succumb to flattering and threatening words from a judge who tried her during the third century. Instead, Saint Lucy stood by her faith and died for it.
The pope reportedly met the UICI delegation at the Vatican's Clementine Hall on Monday as they welcomed the saint's annual feast on Dec. 13.
'Dying for One's Faith'
Pope Francis said in his talk with the UICI members that Saint Lucy exhibited the Italian people's "traditional religious sense."
"You wanted to do so on the occasion of the liturgical feast of Saint Lucy - which is tomorrow, and tomorrow is also the anniversary of my priestly ordination: I was ordained on Saint Lucy's day - who is the patroness of those affected by disabilities or diseases of sight. I appreciated this choice, because it expresses in a traditional religious sense that belongs to the Italian people, and which is not contrary to the fact that yours is a lay, non-denominational association," the Vatican News quoted Francis saying.
The pope recalled how Lucy of Syracuse chose to die for her faith when she was presented with whether to marry a pagan or die for refusing to do so.
Francis said the saint became martyred during the third-century persecution of Christians orchestrated by Emperor Diocletian. When Saint Lucy refused marriage to a pagan man, historical accounts say persecutors plucked her eyes out, which caused her death.
Francis also told his audience that the saint's gesture exemplified the "highest dignity of the human person consists in bearing witness to the truth, following one's conscience whatever the cost, without duplicity or compromise." He also highlighted the subtle inspiration one can derive from the saint's name.
"This - he said - means being on the side of the light, serving the light, as the very name 'Lucia' evokes," the Vatican News quoted Francis saying.
Pope's Message to Visually-impaired Missionaries
The pontiff acknowledged the constructive nature of UICI as part of Italian society. Francis said such constructiveness is important in light of the "difficult moment" the Italians are going through.
He explained that the Church does not see individuals with visual impairment as liabilities but assets. Francis said Christians do not consider disability as requiring help but as a resource.
The pope told the UICI members that Christians should address any impairment "with the awareness that fragility, assumed with responsibility and solidarity, is a resource for the entire society and ecclesial community." Additionally, Francis said people "need each other," including those with "physical fragilities."
"We all need the help of others to move forward in life, because we are all weak at heart, all of us," he told UICI members.
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