January 4, 2024 / 05:55 AM
Pope Francis highlighted the value of fraternity as a “ferment of peace” especially necessary in the existential peripheries during a private meeting with a dozen young French people from the Missionary Brotherhood of Cities.
“I invite you to generously live fraternity in the midst of the neighborhoods, to an openness of hearts, hands, ears, for a sincere welcome. Fraternity is the ferment of peace that the peripheries need: it allows each person to feel welcomed as they are, where they are,” said the Pontiff.
During his address, Pope Francis encouraged these young people who collaborate with parishes in marginal neighborhoods in the urban environments of France to show “the presence of a compassionate God, a God who wants to express himself and act through your gestures, your words. , of your simple presence.”