Pope: Vatican Postal and Telephone Services promote spread of Christian message

By Vatican News

Pope Francis thanked employees of the Vatican Post Office and the Vatican Telephone Service for the work they do, which he said goes far beyond “the small territory and the small population” living in the Vatican City State.

The Vatican and the Holy See, he said, “recognize the important function of the means of communication and of international bodies that encourage communication.” Through the work of the postal and telephone services of the Vatican Pope Francis said, many people are able to “reach” the Pope; and similarly, the Pope is able to reach out to people throughout the world.

The service of telephone and postal employees, he said, helps to “create bridges between different cultures, religions, and societies.” Additionally, they “guarantee the sharing of feeling and ideas; contribute to promoting mutual understanding and collaboration between countries of the different continents; and facilitate the exchange” not only of physical goods, but especially of “their respective spiritual and cultural values.” In this way, he said, “the postal and telephone services of one of the smallest countries in the world promote the spread of the Christian message.”

Finally, Pope Francis noted that many of the employees work directly with people, and remarked on the importance of the example of their “simple but incisive Christian witness.” Working in the Vatican, he said, constitutes “an extra commitment to cultivating one’s faith,” even outside of the workspace. In particular, he invited all those present, along with their co-workers, “to ensure that every one of your families is a ‘little church,’ in which faith and life intertwine in the unfolding of both the joyful and sorrowful event of every day life.”