Pope Francis sent a video message on the occasion of the fourth edition of the Mediterranean Meetings, which this year takes place from September 15 to 21 in Tirana (Albania), under the title “Pilgrims of Hope, builders of peace.”
At the beginning of his video, released today by the Press Office of the Holy See, Pope Francis recalled that 10 years have passed since his visit to Tirana and addressed a special message to young people: “they are the future of the Mediterranean region.” .
Receive the main news from ACI Prensa by WhatsApp and Telegram
It is increasingly difficult to see Catholic news on social media. Subscribe to our free channels today:
“We are all pilgrims of hope, walking in search of truth and living our faith building peace. Peace must be built! “God loves all men and makes no distinction between us,” he then highlighted.
Furthermore, he highlighted that “the brotherhood between the five shores of the Mediterranean that you are building is the best response we can offer to the conflicts and indifferences that kill. Because indifference kills,” he stated.
For this reason, he invited the participants to “read the signs of the times” and reiterated that “unity is not uniformity, and the diversity of our cultural and religious identities is a gift from God.”
He also urged them to put at the center “the voice of those who are not heard,” such as the poorest, “who suffer from being considered a burden or a nuisance.”
“I think of those who, often very young, must leave their country in search of a better future. Take care of each other. It is not about numbers, but about people, and each person is sacred; These are faces, whose dignity must be promoted and protected. Let us renounce the culture of fear to open the door of welcome and friendship,” she said.
Later, he invited them to know how to walk “in the footsteps of their martyrs,” since their bravery “is a living testimony that can inspire their commitment to resist all forms of violence that disfigure our humanity, as the twenty-two-year-old did. blessed Maria Tuci.”
Finally, he encouraged them to learn from the Immaculate Heart of Mary “to be tireless pilgrims of hope and to follow the signs of God, so that the Mediterranean recovers its most beautiful face: that of brotherhood and peace. And that it is no longer a cemetery.”
Almudena Martínez-Bordiú
I am a graduate in Journalism and Advertising from the CEU San Pablo University in Madrid. Specialized in religious information in Spain since 2015. I have been a senior correspondent for ACI Prensa and EWTN Noticias in the Vatican for two years and I am currently a European correspondent based in Spain.