176 behalf of the poor (i.e. soup kitchens, distribution of clothing, etc.), particularly in our missions or in Eastern European regions. I did not do any close research in this matter nor a list, but it seems that we have precious little stricto sensu causes for the poor. Taking to heart, John Paul II’s appeal for the Marians to go out to “the new poor,”18 the General Chapter of 1993 undertook an obligation to “respond to the needs of the poorest,”19 so that we may “be apostles of Divine Mercy under the maternal and loving guidance of Mary.”20 The new poor of today are, among others, the addicts, the abandoned, the old and the sick. Our concrete response to JP II’s appeal was the Licheń Center for the Family and the Addicts. Then we created a hospice at Tykocińska Street in Warsaw (Fr. Dziedziul is assigned to carry out this work only), and now we are opening a new hospice at the Marian Shrine in Licheń. This is a step forward, but it’s only a beginning. We are in charge of several shrines, where various actions promoting human dignity and support for the needy ought to be organized. On October 19, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI made a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii. There are dozens of charitable centers and institutions associated with this famous Italian Shrine of the Blessed Mother. In his homily, the Pope praised those initiatives and said that the shrines ought to be “citadels of love.” The Licheń Shrine is going in this very direction; The Divine Mercy Shrine in Brazil has been spending too much time preparing for it; and I don’t know what is being done at the Shrine in Stockbridge (U.S.A.). A new impulse for an ever more intense and better organized service for the poor is provided by the Divine Mercy devotion accepted by our Congregation as a new aspect that enriches our charism. “Be for everyone apostles and witnesses of The Divine Mercy,”21 a seriously ill John Paul II wrote to us from the Gemelli Clinic. Do we truly fulfi ll this commandment? Do we do the proclaiming only or do we accomplish concrete works of mercy in the service for the poor and people in need? Examining our rich legacy of service for the poor, one cannot help but notice that this fi eld of our work has shrunk considerably. Do we feel unprepared? Are we afraid? What do we fear? Taking risks? Obviously, it’s easier and less risky to move exclusively within the sphere of the devotees. Do we lack volunteers for this work? Do we lack courageous decisions from “the brass”? Is this infl uenced by the type of basic formation that we run? In the face of the poverty and the enormous social problems of his time, Fr. Matulewicz cried out: “Give me 18 John Paul II to the Marians on June 30, 1987. 19 General Chapter 1993, Obligations taken on by the Chapter, no. 2. 20 JPII to the Marians, June 22, 1993. 21 JP II’s Address to the General Chapter of 2005, from the Gemelli Clinic, March 10, 2005.
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