Message from Pope Francis to Catholics in Germany

This Tuesday, May 29, the Vatican released the message that Pope Francis wrote on the occasion of the 103rd Day of German Catholics, which is celebrated from May 29 to June 2 in the city of Erfurt.

At the beginning of his message, the Holy Father indicated that the “tragedy of man” lies in his distrust in God: “in that he does not do what pleases God, but follows his own path.”

In this sense, he lamented that “man no longer uses creation according to the Creator’s intentions, but rather abuses and mistreats it for his own selfish ambitions for power and profit.”

Later, he specified that many people “from very diverse cultural and ideological backgrounds” perceive that “something is wrong in man and in the world, that we cannot simply continue as we have been until now, that a conversion is necessary, an effective and new orientation.”

Along these lines, he stated that “the mission of Jesus consisted of this new orientation of man towards God, and with it also in a renewal and restoration of his relationship with his brothers and sisters, with creation and, no less important, with himself.” ”.

According to Pope Francis, “the peace that Christ brings becomes visible when he gives men a new hope, a future in difficult times: to the marginalized, to the sick, to those entangled in sin.”

In this way, he stressed that “Christ called injustice by its name and condemned inequality.”

To restore divine order, the Pontiff continued, “Jesus not infrequently disrupted the logic and order of human values, and this is particularly evident in the Sermon on the Mount.”

For this reason, the Holy Father encouraged Catholics in Germany to “raise their gaze toward the Cross” and stressed that “the peace of Christ is born from love and dedication.”

“We Christians are called to carry out his mission: like him, we want to give new dignity to abandoned and marginalized people and make them feel that they are not alone.”

But also, he continued, “we want to commit ourselves to public and political life, so that they have better living conditions and, above all, to give a voice to those who are not heard.”

Pope Francis reiterated that “without justice there can be no peace” and noted that in Europe and other parts of the world “fundamental human rights appear to be threatened,” mainly due “to growing anti-Semitism, racism and other ideologies that tend toward extremism and the violence”.

For the Holy Father, “the numerous moral, social, economic and political crises that we are going through are all interconnected.”

“Concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, protection of life and family, defense of the dignity of all human life, as well as external and internal peace go hand in hand” , quoted below.

The Pontiff insisted that “the problems concern everyone and can only be solved together. And for this, a broad dialogue is necessary, ideally with many voices at all levels of social, economic and political life.”

Likewise, he expressed the need to promote ecumenical dialogue, while affirming that “the man of peace has a future.”

“This certainty is a warning and an encouragement for us. Let us pray for peace. Let us also pray for each other, so that the strength of the Holy Spirit fills us with hope and joy,” said the Holy Father.