On the morning of June 24th, Pope Francis received all the participants of the 94th session of the Aid Eastern Church Societies. The Pope encouraged the world’s faithful to show concern for the Eastern Catholic Church, which is known as the “living stone of the church”.
(Vatican News Network)At the end of the 94th plenary meeting of the Eastern Church of Aid Societies on June 24, all the participants came to the Vatican to meet Pope Francis. The Pope delivered a speech to the participants. The focus of the topic was to assist the main areas of work of the Eastern Church Societies.
The pope first expressed his satisfaction to see that all participants can come to Rome for the meeting in person. He believes that this is more helpful to the work of “assisting the Eastern Churches”. The Pope said: “We need to meet each other, share our thoughts in a fruitful dialogue, listen to questions and calls for help from many parts of the world, especially from the churches in the countries you serve.”
Then, the Pope turned the topic to Lebanon, specifically referring to the painful incident of the Beirut port explosion on August 4, 2020 that caused hundreds of deaths. The Pope said: “I thank you for your efforts to support Lebanon during this serious crisis. On July 1st, we held a meeting with the leaders of the Lebanese Christian community. I ask you to pray for this and invite others to pray. , Pray that the Holy Spirit will light and guide us.”
The Pope expressed his gratitude to the generous donations from all over the world to support the “assistance of the Eastern Church Societies”. At the same time, he pointed out that donations to the Holy Land in 2020 have been reduced by half compared with previous years. The Pope said: “Although the crisis has prompted us to focus on the most important things, when we see that the streets of Jerusalem are empty due to the loss of pilgrims, we cannot remain indifferent, but express our concern for the local church and people. Specific care.”
Then, the Pope reviewed the ten-year war “stigma” in Syria and millions of calls for help. “These calls for help do not seem to touch the hearts of leaders who have the ability to influence the fate of the people.”
The Pope especially thanks Cardinal Mario Zenari, the Holy See’s ambassador to Syria, and the Holy See ambassadors in Lebanon, Iraq, Ethiopia, Armenia and Georgia who attended the meeting. The Pope praised that their way of life is an important aspect of the church’s testimony. “This helps pastors and believers to focus on the most important mission and helps spread the gospel, because you show that you are particularly concerned about the poor and vulnerable. The face of an exodus as a mother”.
The Pope said that various conflicts have caused many church buildings to be rebuilt or repaired, but we also “first need to care about the injured and dispersed live rocks.”
The Pope expressed his sorrow over the suffering in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where conflicts “also spread to neighboring Eritrea.” The Pope thanked the “Assisting Eastern Church Societies” for their work in Georgia and Armenia. Their work “makes the Catholic community continue to be the symbol and yeast of the gospel life.”
At the end of his speech, the Pope blessed and assisted the participants of the 94th plenary meeting of the Eastern Church.
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