You have come from various places by air, by bus, by ship and by train, and most probably you are a little tired after travelling, specially those who have come from far.  However, I am sure that your youthfulness and the joy of coming together make up for the fatigue.  And so I warmly welcome you and those who accompanied you to the Eternal City.

As you know only too well, our encounter is occasioned by the Jubilee which the Jesuits are celebrating this year 2006, recalling three personalities of extraordinary holiness.  I have asked the entire Society of Jesuits to promote initiatives which would become occasions of encounter and spiritual renewal.  It gives me great pleasure today to express my satisfaction to the organizers of this event.

Today’s event is one which brings out clearly the universal character of the Society of Jesus which was so from its very beginning.  The three first companions were, in fact, from different countries of Europe just like you are: Ignatius from the Basque country, Francis Xavier from Navarre and Peter Fabre from Savoy.  They were brought together first by their studies at the Sorbonne University in Paris, and subsequently by the vision (ideal) of serving Christ, of serving the Church and  of serving the entire human family.  They too, before they encountered Jesus did not care for half measure because they had great ambitions.  But after encountering him they came to know how to put everything at the service of Jesus and his Kingdom, making of him their life-project.

According to the mind of the organizers of this encounter, the name Saveriadi itself focuses clearly on the remembrance of Francis Xavier, not so much because he in his youth was a great sportsman, but because he was a great “missionary”.

It is known that Francis Xavier, in order to announce the Gospel to those who had not heard it, on his own travelled more than fifty thousand kilometres in the space of about ten years, using the means available then, such as walking, on horse back, by ship, facing all kinds of dangers and deprivations.  It is enough to think that during his time, one out of two ships did not arrive at its destination.  When the destruction did not come because of a storm at sea or from pirates, the task was accomplished by the epidemics that spread on board the ships.

The young Francis faced all these dangers because he had come to know Jesus.  Xavier did not desire anything else in his life than that a greater number of men and women of his time could encounter Christ, and discover that only the love of God could make them truly happy.  Thus he became an untiring instrument in God’s hands to carry the tender love of God to the human family, even to those who were far away and forgotten.

Following in the footsteps of our three Companions, you too have a mission to fulfil.  You are sent to the various cities where the competitions take place: San Pellegrino Terme, Padua, Turin, Rome, and Palermo.  Thanks to you, these cities will become a “global village” and with your presence you will bear witness to the fact that there is only one community: the human family.

In these Saveriadi your “mission” is a public one.  You will be clearly visible in these cities where you will be staying: in the sports arenas, in the grand-stands of the squares, in the conferences and celebrations, visiting places filled with historical and cultural significance,  encountering other young people, and meeting administrators and tour guides.  Among yourselves and with everyone you encounter you will live the “Mission” which in the first place is friendship, hospitality, or in one word: Sharing.  This is the spirit of every missionary, and this was the spirit of Xavier.

For young people like you all I could only wish for is that you share yourselves, as you are.  Those whom you encounter in the various cities, would certainly come to see you perform in sports, but I am sure that they also expect from you a witnessing to your joyful youth, done through your involvement in the competitions, and your witnessing to mutual respect, to the team spirit, to loyalty, waiting to see how you help one another, fraternal acceptance among persons who come from various countries and continents, the dialogue that overcomes the difficulties posed by language, the capacity to enter into relationships with deep trust, the ability to be silent and to listen to one another and to God, the simple atmosphere of celebration, which you young people know how to create when you are together.

While the sports competitions are taking place you are called upon to give and to receive hope and trust in a “new world” which is being born, a world which is being awaited by the men and women of our time, and awaited by God himself.  You are the ambassadors of a new humanity, a new world, the world of Christ.

 When your “mission” is concluded, you will return to Rome within a week.  The crowning moment of this new appointment will be the distribution of awards, but it will turn out to be an occasion for the sharing of experiences of each one, thereby discovering that you are a community.

That is not all!  From Rome each one of you will return to your homes much richer.  The shared experience of friendship among all the peoples during these days in Italy, occasioned by the sports, will give you a new understanding of yourselves and of humanity.

As you return home, we hope that your dreams, your life-project would have a scope as wide as the world and including others, so that you would “act locally and think globally”.  It is hoped that your “mission” would totally transform your life, will continue in your surroundings, in your schools.  Love knows no frontiers.  To the one who loves, believes and hopes, wherever he or she may live, the world is not big enough and one life is not long enough to love.

On our part we wish that the Saveriadi become not only a magnificent arena for exercising your sports, but also a gymnasium of “humanity” and through the example and the intercession of Ignatius, Francis and Peter, you would continue to grow in life, and become continuously more and more “men and women for others and with others” in the footsteps of Jesu Christ, and thus give a helping hand to God to create a “Civilization of Love” which he and the entire human family is waiting for.  Amen

Sunday 2 July 2006

                                                            Holy Mass for the opening of the Saveriadi

                                                            In the Church of St Ignatius in Rome

                                                            Presided by Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach

                                                            Scripture Readings.       Wis. 1, 13-15; 2,23 – 24

                                                            Psalm 29, 2 & 4, 5 – 6 & 12a and 13b

                                                            R. I shall praise you Lord, for you have                                                                                                          rescued me

                                                            Mk 5, 21 – 43 (or short form 21– 24, 35b – 43)