While intense feelings or drive are natural, Christians know they must be tamed and channelled toward what is good, Pope Francis said.
The virtue of fortitude, “the most ‘combative’ of the virtues,” helps a person control their passions but also gives them the strength to overcome fear and anxiety when faced with the difficulties of life, the pope told visitors and pilgrims at his weekly general audience on 10th April.
Continuing his series of talks about virtues, the pope quoted the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions.”
Fortitude “takes the challenge of evil in the world seriously,” he said, and that is increasingly rare “in our comfortable Western world.”
Picture: Pope Francis begins his weekly general audience with a prayer in a windy St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, 10th April 2024. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)