In a video message to the US National Catholic Congress on Hispanic Ministry – going down in Washington, DC – Pope Francis invitations members to mirror on the must be Christians who can create bridges in all sectors of society.
By Linda Bordoni
Pope Francis has once more seized the chance to name on humanity to alter its mindset and to plan for peace.
Addressing members in a Catholic National Congress on Hispanic Ministry, he notes that we live an “absurd time in which, without having yet come out of a pandemic that has afflicted all humanity with great suffering and sorrow, we find ourselves in the midst of the suffering and tragedy of a war.”
The Congress, entitled Raíces y Alas 2022 [Roots and Wings 2022], has been convened from 26 to 30 April on the theme “Prophetic Voices: Being bridges for a new era”.
“You have chosen a good theme,” the Pope says, inviting members to be actors in remodeling mindsets of conflict into “mindsets and plans of peace.”
“We all think with mindsets of war. It is existential Cainism. Brotherhood is for all, and it is made manifest in mindsets that change the life of families, communities, peoples, nations, and the world,” he says.
Building bridges
The Pope goes on to ask believers to mirror on the must be “Christians who transform the structure and who can create bridges in all sectors of society, illuminating thought, so that it may lead to actions that can bring peace and unity at all levels, starting from our families and communities.”
“I ask you to be bridges,” Pope Francis concludes earlier than imparting his apostolic blessing, “to create bridges, to pray and work for peace, and not to forget to pray for me.”