Christmas messages

Dear friends, dear benefactors. It is with great joy that I join you, on behalf of the members of the Thouret Foundation, to transmit our warmest Christmas greetings. Even though the Word of God invites us to “not dwell on the past and not look back” (Is 43 and Lk 9), we cannot help but observe how extraordinarily gracious this year 2025 has been! If we look at it from the perspective of the Universal Church, how many events and graces have been given to us! The Jubilee of Hope, the arrival of Pope Leo XIV, which in no way overshadows the last months of Pope Francis, his first apostolic exhortation “Dilexi Te” which speaks to us and calls us all, sisters of charity, friends, collaborators, benefactors, volunteers… Without forgetting, for our congregation, the celebrations of the bicentenary of the death of our foundress, Saint Jeanne Antide Thouret, which began on August 24. Let us hope that most of us, wherever we serve, have participated in and benefited from the graces of this special year: the passing through a holy door, the shared reading of the exhortation Dilexi Te, a jubilee pilgrimage, etc. How good it would be to take the time to share with one another our experiences, joys, and blessings received during these special times.

While many of us have been privileged participants and benefactors, how many others around the world have been neither informed, invited, nor benefited? Those commonly referred to as the excluded, those we avoid, the stigmatized and discriminated against whom our societies generate and push to the periphery, without shame. During this year, the Thouret Foundation has witnessed magnificent creativity in action in our various mission locations, enabling many people in disadvantaged situations to also be prominent figures in these major events of the universal church. Thank you, dear donors, whose gifts have made it possible for the poorest among us to participate as well. They have gained greater dignity and hope…

This exceptional gift was added to all the support we have continued to provide on account of your constant and enduring generosity. In the East, Africa, Latin America and even Europe, our sisters on the ground, grateful to your donations, have enabled so many children, young people, families and elderly people to hold their heads high and pursue their professional goals by receiving scholarships, school materials or professional equipment.As Pope Leo so profoundly reminds us in his exhortation Dilexi Te, “Charity impels us to a fundamental revolution in the way we think about mutual assistance and support for the most vulnerable. It must be a genuine weapon of change. For the only logical and genuine form of assistance is to restore dignity and a voice, to give a new meaning to the lives of the voiceless by placing them at the centre of their own plans, until the small flame of hope is awakened and shines within them.

Yes, charity transforms the world; through this dynamic alone, it will change it! For several days now, the season of Advent has been upon us. ‘Blessed season of Advent, you offer yourself to us!’ This is a special liturgical season, when spending time with the little ones and the voiceless, in the fraternal relationship we will have with them, will be the privileged path that will lead us to the Revelation of the real Poor Man, Jesus, God incarnate. It is a liturgical season of hope, which prolongs our journey as ‘pilgrims of hope’. Here and there, our streets, our houses, our courtyards, our doorsteps, our communities… will gradually light up and be adorned with light. May our expectation of the Saviour also gradually deepen within us so that we may fully enjoy this true Light on Christmas Day. May you all have a wonderful Advent and a holy Christmas.

Sr Pascale and all the staff of the Thouret Foundation