Andrea Tornielli, editorial director of the Dicastery for Communication, wrote a reflection for the 80th anniversary of Venerable Pius XII’s encyclical letter Mystici Corporis Christi (Of the Mystical Body of Christ, 1943).
In the encyclical, Pope Pius XII taught, “Let this be clearly understood, especially in these our days: fathers and mothers of families, those who are godparents through Baptism, and in particular those members of the laity who collaborate with the ecclesiastical hierarchy in spreading the Kingdom of the Divine Redeemer occupy an honorable, if often a lowly, place in the Christian community, and even they under the impulse of God and with His help, can reach the heights of supreme holiness, which, Jesus Christ has promised, will never be wanting to the Church” (n. 17).
Tornielli commented, “Today, perhaps more than was true 80 years ago, it is to the daily and hidden witness of fathers and mothers of families that the mission of witnessing to the faith is entrusted.”
“By redesigning the structure of the Synod and opening it up to the effective contribution of the laity alongside that of the bishops, Pope Francis continues to deepen an awareness that comes from afar and that had as its cornerstone the Second Ecumenical Vatican Council,” Tornielli concluded.