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Pope Urges Families to Invoke St Joseph (6 Nov 1997) - Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II on this day received a group of pilgrims from Wroclaw, Poland, who came-- led by their Bishop Stanislaw Napierala-- to thank the Holy Father for visiting their diocese last summer during the International Eucharistic Congress there.

In his remarks to the group, the Pope recalled that he had dedicated his latest visit to his homeland to the cause of the family. "If the family is the central element of the community of Christ's disciples," he said, "prayer centered of the family is at the same time centered on the entire Church."

The Holy Father invoked the example of St. Joseph, protector of the family and patron of the Church. "The Church always needs the intercession of St. Joseph," he said. "His protection constitutes an effective defense against the dangers that present themselves, and also helps us to keep foremost in our minds the duties we have to undertake the new evangelization."

He recommended that all families should invoke the aid of St. Joseph, on behalf of the Church, to help prepare for the campaign of evangelization which he said must be a part of the celebration for the Jubilee Year.

St. Joseph, the Pope concluded, can also be "the source of a deeper spirituality." He recommended that the pilgrims-- from the parish of St. Joseph in Wroclaw-- should use the example of their patron saint to guide them in developing a "profound interior life."

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