(OSV News) -- Pope Leo XIV said Aug. 24 that recognizing Jesus in the face of each person with disabilities helps to advance society.
In a meeting with the Marsodeto Federation, a Spanish nongovernmental organization that supports people with cerebral palsy and intellectual disabilities, the pope reflected on the importance of discovering "in the face of each person, Jesus Christ himself."
The pope thanked the federation for its dedicated work with the disabled, which he acknowledged involves much hidden work that "no one sees and that only God can reward."
"Through your work, you can bear witness, in a special way, to what we hear in the Gospel: ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me’ (Mt 25:40)," Pope Leo said in Spanish.
"Being able to recognize, in the lives of the weakest and most vulnerable, the gaze of Christ that challenges us, is something that helps us grow as a human and Christian society," the pope emphasized.
Father Marcelino Casas Puente founded the Marsodeto Federation in 1980 with a dream that "no family with a person with an intellectual disability should ever be left without support."
Today the federation serves more than 2,600 people. Pope Leo highlighted how this work puts into concrete action how "the love of Christ impels us toward our brothers and sisters (cf. 2 Cor 5:14), and the charity and concern with which we respond to its promptings are the proof of our faith."
Members of the federation traveled from Toledo, Spain, to Rome on a pilgrimage to mark 45 years of the institution's mission.
Solidarity, the defense of human dignity, and complete inclusion are values the pope highlighted that mark the federation's approach to working with people with intellectual disabilities and cerebral palsy.
Pope Leo entrusted the Marsodeto Federation to the protection of Mary, praying that she will accompany the group in its ongoing work.
"May she encourage you in moments of greatest difficulty and help you always to keep your gaze fixed on the Lord, so that your Federation may continue to be a true point of reference for both the Church and society," he said.
