Pope Francis has received participants in the general chapter of the Order of Ministers of the Infirm, also known as the Camillians, after their founder, St. Camillus of Lellis (1550-1614).

The “style of life and apostolate of yours, dedicated especially to the service of the sick and to the weak and elderly, seems to me to combine well two essential dimensions of the Christian life: on the one hand the desire for an outgoing and tangible witness to others, and on the other the need to understand oneself according to the canons of evangelical smallness,” the Pope said in his address.

“I therefore invite you to draw ever anew from the lifeblood of the Beatitudes, to take, with meekness and simplicity, the good news to the poor and least of today’s people,” he added.