Rome, June 30, 2026
Dearest Sisters and young women in formation,
It is with joy that I greet you during this month of grace, in which we have journeyed together with the Apostle Paul. I offer you my most sincere wishes for the Solemnity of St. Paul, which we celebrate together with the entire Pauline Family, and I pray especially that his hymn to charity may resound fully in your communities and in the lives of each one of you.
The heart of the Gospel proclaimed by St. Paul is Jesus Christ himself. The Apostle was convinced that human beings, created in the image of Christ, “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15), can attain their fulfillment through God’s grace. Those who have been crucified and raised with Christ (Rom 6:8; Gal 2:19) are no longer slaves to sin, but, made righteous by God’s grace (Rom 6:18), they become the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit; the very life of Christ is manifest through them (2 Cor 4:10–11) and nothing can separate them from the love of Christ (Rom 8:35).
Our Founder, Blessed James Alberione, inspired by the Apostle, was convinced that “the Pauline spirit is to live and proclaim Christ as Paul did.” For this reason, he ceaselessly exhorted his sons and daughters to place Christ at the center of our lives, allowing Him to live within us and conforming our minds, wills, and hearts to Him.
Even today he encourages us, following the example of Paul who made himself “all things to all people” (1 Cor 9:22), to “strive for love” (1 Cor 14:1) and to “show the love of truth to all,” bringing the Gospel of Christ to all humanity thirsting for truth and justice, so that every person may find in Him the living water (Jn 4:10) and eternal life, which consists in “knowing the Father and the one whom He has sent, Jesus Christ” (Jn 17:3), thereby fully realizing their own humanity.
Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, confirms that this insight of Blessed Alberione is in profound harmony with the Church’s magisterium and continues to offer us, even today, clear and prophetic guidance.
Pope Leo XIV emphasizes that, in the contemporary world, marked by the extraordinary development of artificial intelligence, “human dignity risks being obscured by new forms of dehumanization” (MH 15). For this reason, he invites all Christians to rediscover and take up as their own “the urgent duty to remain profoundly human, lovingly preserving that magnificent humanity given to us and revealed to us in its fullness” (MH 15).
Furthermore, the Holy Father affirms that “this magnificent humanity in Jesus Christ becomes the Way, the Truth, and the Life, opening for each of us the path to growth toward fullness” (MH 1).
Dearest sisters, as we gratefully receive this insight from the Holy Father, let us renew our awareness of our identity and our mission. Like the Apostle to the Gentiles, we are called to safeguard and bear witness to the “magnifica humanitas” revealed in Jesus Christ in a world where humanity sometimes risks losing its deepest identity: that of being created in the image of God, infinitely loved by Him, and called to live the fullness of our humanity in Christ.
“Fully conscious of our prophetic mission and our responsibility toward history, we place ourselves at the service of the Word and offer our time, our energies, and our very lives” (Const. 12) for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
On behalf of the sisters of the General Government, I wish to extend a special greeting to all those who, in various parts of the world, have spoken their generous “yes” in their first profession or perpetual profession, and to the sisters celebrating an anniversary in religious life, giving thanks for the Lord’s faithfulness.
I entrust each of you to the intercession of St. Paul the Apostle and invoke his blessing upon all of you, so that you may grow daily in your conformity to Christ the Teacher and in zel for the Pauline mission.
I invite you to pray with perseverance for the whole world, which is in urgent need of peace and hope.
With affection and in communion of prayer,
Sr Mari Lucia KIM
Superior General
