"Religious, with their prayer, poverty, and patience, are essential to the Church's mission.

Religious, monks, and nuns, as well as consecrated lay people, because of their personal relationship with Jesus Christ, offer their lives for the Gospel.

I am thankful for their lives, spent so close to families, to refugees, to the elderly, to the poor, to children...

More than ever, with the challenges of today's world, we need your complete dedication to proclaiming the Gospel in every corner of the world.

Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of missionary enthusiasm, and let us pray that consecrated religious men and women may bestir themselves, and be present among the poor, the marginalized, and those who have no voice.