43rd Meeting of the General Governments of the Pauline Family
and representatives of the Aggregated Institutes and the Pauline Cooperators
FINAL MESSAGE
The Pauline Family:
a cart that runs, resting on four wheels
To us, members of the Pauline Family
Here we are, having gathered once again as scheduled from 9 to 12 January 2026 in Rome, where we experienced days of prayer, reflection, listening, discernment, the sharing of the Word, and fraternity, guided by a metaphor dear to us, which reminds us that each wheel finds its meaning within the whole and the diversity of Charisms.
Re-reading our journey
In this time of communion, we re-read the heritage of Blessed James Alberione as a “Twofold history,” composed of great riches of grace and human struggles. Through the wheels of Prayer, Study, Apostolate, and Poverty, we wove together the stories marked by limitations but also by shoots of newness. We recognized that our mission often entrusts to us “A thorn in the heart” (AD 26), a precious stimulus that urges us toward ever greater fidelity.
Not by chance, Pope Leo XIV, at the conclusion of the first session of the Extraordinary Consistory on 7 January 2026, citing his predecessor, stated: “The world in which we live, and which we are called to love and serve even in its contradictions, demands from the Church (and we, dear Pauline brothers and sisters, are living members of the Church!) the strengthening of synergies in all areas of her mission. Precisely the path of synodality is the path that God expects of the Church of the third millennium.” Under this vision, we must think of our imminent future as a journey to be undertaken together, since ‘unity attracts and division scatters’ (Pope Leo XIV, 7 January 2026).
Dwelling in fraternity
As a Family, we rediscovered that our spirit is the soul that unites us into one heart (Acts 4:32: “One heart and one soul”), making our communities a reflection of Paradise here on earth.
In this atmosphere of communion, we reaffirmed that being a Family means cultivating close spiritual, intellectual, and apostolic collaboration, to be built and strengthened day by day, and that dreaming together transforms the ideal into a reality: when we share life, we enrich ourselves and those around us.
We are the Cart
Synodality and the sharing of life helped us to understand more deeply that the Cart is made up of each one of us. God is the Lord of history: “It is He who guides it, directs it, and leads it, according to His design of love” (Wis 11:24).
As Blessed James Alberione reminded us: “God is the first Operator; we are His instruments” (AD 19).
Toward a shared mission
Grateful for the Centenary of the Pauline presence in Rome, we look to the future with a common and shared sense of responsibility. What we have lived must not remain a mere memory, but must be realized as a call to concrete choices and to more evangelical relationships.
We wish to give continuity to the dreams of Don Giacomo Alberione, certain that he accompanies our work in the light of the one lamp of the Pauline Family: Jesus, Master and Shepherd, Way, Truth, and Life.
May his Charism, in which each of us finds our own place, inspire us to walk united as brothers and sisters, so that the Cart may continue to run in harmony, in the service of the Gospel and of our time.
These have been days abundantly blessed: one single heart shared among brothers and sisters.
A good journey to all!
Rome, 12 January 2026
The participants of the 43rd Meeting
