The Pope highlights the importance of inclusiveness and fraternity in his 2021 Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, stressing that an ever wider \u201cwe\u201d will help renew the human family, build a future of justice and peace, and ensure that no one is left behind.<\/p>\n
Setting the scene for the message for the 107th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Pope Francis explained that in the Encyclical\u00a0Fratelli Tutti,<\/em>\u00a0he expressed concern and hope that once this health crisis passes, \u201cwe will think no longer in terms of \u2018them\u2019 and \u2018those\u2019, but only \u2018us\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n For this reason, said the Pope, \u201cI have wished to devote the Message for this year\u2019s World Day of Migrants and Refugees to the theme, Towards An Ever Wider \u201cWe\u201d, in order to indicate a clear horizon for our common journey in this world.\u201d<\/p>\n Annually, the World Day for Migrants and Refugees is the last Sunday of September. It is a day set aside to express concern and show solidarity for different vulnerable people on the move; to pray for them as they face many challenges and increase awareness about the opportunities that migration offers. This year, it will be commemorated on the 26th of September.<\/p>\n Pope Francis, considering the history of this \u201cwe,\u201d notes that the horizon is \u201calready present in God\u2019s creative plan,\u201d because God created humankind in his image, blessed them, and said to them, \u201cBe fruitful and multiply\u201d (Gen 1: 27 \u2013 28). Thus, \u201cGod created us male and female, different yet complementary, in order to form a ‘we’ destined to become ever more numerous in the succession of generations. God created us in his image, in the image of his own triune being, a communion in diversity.\u201d<\/p>\n However, when we, in disobedience, turned away from God, he wished to offer us a path of reconciliation \u201cnot as individuals but as a people, a ‘we’, meant to embrace the entire human family, without exception.\u201d<\/p>\n The Holy Father then highlighted that in our present time, this \u201cwe\u201d, willed by God, is \u201cbroken and fragmented, wounded and disfigured,\u201d as is evident in moments of great crisis like the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n Our \u201cwe,\u201d – both in the wider world and within the Church \u2013 noted the Pope, \u201cis crumbling and cracking due to myopic and aggressive forms of nationalism and radical individualism,\u201d with the highest price paid by \u201cthose who most easily become viewed as others,\u201d including foreigners, migrants, the marginalised, and those living on the existential peripheries.<\/p>\n To remedy this, Pope Francis stresses that \u201cwe are all in the same boat and called to work together so that there will be no more walls that separate us, no longer others, but only a single ‘we’, encompassing all of humanity.\u201d He, therefore, appeals to the Catholic faithful, and to all the people of our world, \u201cto advance together towards an ever wider \u2018we\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Further addressing all members of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis goes on to emphasize the importance of the commitment to \u201cbecoming ever more faithful to our being \u201ccatholic.\u201d<\/p>\n Pope Francis added that the Church\u2019s universality must be embraced and expressed in every age \u201caccording to the will and grace of the Lord\u201d as \u201cthe Holy Spirit enables us to embrace everyone, to build communion in diversity, to unify differences without imposing a depersonalized uniformity.\u201d At the same time, the Catholic faithful are to work, each in their community, to make the Church become be more inclusive.<\/p>\n \u201cAll the baptized, wherever they find themselves, are by right members of both their local ecclesial community and the one Church, dwellers in one home and part of one family,\u201d Pope Francis said, adding that in the encountering the diversity of foreigners, migrants, and refugees, we have an opportunity to grow as Church and to enrich one another. He also underlined the Church\u2019s call to go out into the streets of every existential periphery, including the migrants, refugees, displaced persons, and victims of trafficking.<\/p>\n \u201cI also make this appeal to journey together towards an ever wider \u201cwe\u201d to all men and women, for the sake of renewing the human family, building together a future of justice and peace, and ensuring that no one is left behind,\u201d Pope Francis said.<\/p>\n He pointed out that we must even now learn to live together in harmony and peace, especially so that \u201cour societies will have a colourful future, enriched by diversity and cultural exchanges,\u201d like the scene on the day of Pentecost when people from different places \u2013 Parthians, Medes, Elamites\u2026Jews and proselytes, heard the Apostles speaking of God\u2019s deeds of power in their own languages.<\/p>\n This, he notes, \u201cis the ideal of the new Jerusalem, where all peoples are united in peace and harmony, celebrating the goodness of God and the wonders of creation.\u201d To achieve this, however, \u201cwe must make every effort to break down the walls that separate us and, in acknowledging our profound interconnection, build bridges that foster a culture of encounter.\u201d<\/p>\n Inviting everyone to \u201cmake good use of the gifts that the Lord has entrusted to us to preserve and make his creation even more beautiful,\u201d Pope Francis reminded all that \u201cthe Lord will also demand of us an account of our work,\u201d in the manner of the nobleman in the Gospel of Luke who summoned ten of his servants and gave them ten pounds, instructing them to do business with it until he returns (Lk 19: 12 -13).<\/p>\n In order to ensure the proper care of our common home, \u201cwe must become a \u2018we\u2019 that is ever wider and more co-responsible, in the profound conviction that whatever good is done in our world is done for present and future generations,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n \u201cOurs must be a personal and collective commitment that cares for all our brothers and sisters who continue to suffer, even as we work towards a more sustainable, balanced, and inclusive development,\u201d the Pope stated. \u201cA commitment that makes no distinction between natives and foreigners, between residents and guests, since it is a matter of a treasure we hold in common, from whose care and benefits no one should be excluded.\u201d<\/p>\n Concluding, Pope Francis recalled the prophet Joel\u2019s prediction that the messianic future would be a time of dreams and visions inspired by the Spirit: \u201cI will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions\u201d (Joel 2:28).<\/p>\n We are, therefore, “called to dream together, fearlessly, as a single human family, as companions on the same journey, as sons and daughters of the same earth that is our common home, sisters and brothers all.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Pope highlights the importance of inclusiveness and fraternity in his 2021 Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, stressing that an ever wider \u201cwe\u201d will help renew the human family, build a future of justice and peace, and ensure that no one is left behind. Setting the scene for the message for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6996\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}