Dear Friends,
At 3:10 a.m. on February 22nd, Feast of the Chair of St Peter,
the Lord called our dear Fr Giussani.
Sure in the hope of the Resurrection, through intense pain at
this separation, in Christ's embrace we more than ever acknowledge
as father him, who now contemplates the Presence, so dear to him,
of Jesus Christ, whom he taught to know and love throughout his
whole life as the total consistency of all things and of every
relationship.
Entrusting us all to our Lady, "the living fount of hope,"
we ask all the communities to celebrate the Eucharist. Thankful
for the life of Fr Giussani, let us ask that his faith, hope and
charity become more and more our own.
For the Presidency,
Julián Carron
Fr. Giussani's funeral
was held in the the Duomo, the Cathedral of Milan on Thursday
24th February, 2005. More than 40,000 people were present, about
10,000 inside the Cathedral and another 30,000 in the Piazza outside.
Italian television transmitted a live broadcast of the funeral
which was attended by the Prime Minister of Italy and many members
of the Italian parliament.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation of the
Doctrine of Faith and Papal Representative, and Cardinal Dionigi
Tettamanzi, Archbishop of Milan, presided over the funeral mass.
At the beginning of the mass a message from the Pope was read
by Archbishop Rylko, President of the Pontifical Council for the
Laity. We include the full text of the Pope's message here as
well as the homily of Cardinal Ratzinger and the intervention
of Fr. Carron, the leader of Communion and Liberation.
Ireland
