Let us pray that a spirit of dialogue, encounter, and reconciliation emerge in the Middle East, where diverse religious communities share their lives together.

In the Middle East, concord and dialogue among the three monotheistic religions is based on spiritual and historic bonds. The Good News of Jesus, risen out of love, came to us from these lands. Today, many Christian communities, together with Jewish and Muslim communities, work here for peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness. Let us pray that a spirit of dialogue, encounter, and reconciliation emerge in the Middle East.

God, offers creation to men and women as a precious gift to be preserved.

Tragically, the human response to this gift has been marked by sin, selfishness and a greedy desire to possess and exploit..

The environment itself is endangered: something good in God’s eyes has become something to be exploited in human hands. Deterioration has increased in recent decades: constant pollution, the continued use of fossil fuels, intensive agricultural exploitation and deforestation are causing global temperatures to rise above safe levels.

We have caused a climate emergency that gravely threatens nature and life itself, including our own...

I strongly encourage the faithful to pray in these days...

It is also a season to reflect on our lifestyles, and how our daily decisions about food, consumption, transportation, use of water, energy and many other material goods, can often be thoughtless and harmful...

This too is a season for undertaking prophetic actions.

Many young people all over the world are making their voices heard and calling for courageous decisions...The young remind us that the earth is not a possession to be squandered, but an inheritance to be handed down. They remind us that hope for tomorrow is not a noble sentiment, but a task calling for concrete actions here and now. We owe them real answers, not empty words, actions not illusions...

The forthcoming United Nations Climate Action Summit is of particular importance. There, governments will have the responsibility of showing the political will to take drastic measures to achieve as quickly as possible zero net greenhouse gas emissions and to limit the average increase in global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius with respect to pre-industrial levels...

May God, “the lover of life” (Wis 11:26), grant us the courage to do good without waiting for someone else to begin, or until it is too late.

Let us pray this month that politicians, scientists and economists work together to protect the world’s seas and oceans.

Oceans contain the bulk of our planet’s water supply, and also most of the immense variety of living creatures, many of them are threatened for various reasons.

Creation is a project of love given by God to humanity.

Our solidarity with the “common home” is born from our faith.

Let us pray this month that politicians, scientists and economists work together to protect the world’s seas and oceans.

Let us pray that families, through their life of prayer and love, become ever more clearly “schools of true human development".

Let us leave a world with families.

Let us care for our families, because they are true schools for the future, spaces of freedom, and centres of humanity.

And let us reserve a special place in our families for individual and communal prayer.

Let us pray that families, through their life of prayer and love, become ever more clearly “schools of true human development”.

Let us pray that those who administer justice may work with integrity, and that the injustice which prevails in the world may not have the last word.

The decisions made by judges influence the rights and property of citizens.

Their independence should keep them safe from favouritism and from pressures that could contaminate the decisions they have to make.

Judges must follow the example of Jesus, who never negotiates the truth.

Let us pray that those who administer justice may work with integrity, and that the injustice which prevails in the world may not have the last word.

Let us pray that priests, through the modesty and humility of their lives, commit themselves actively, above all, to solidarity with those who are most poor.

I would like to ask you to look at the priests who work in our communities.

They are not perfect, but many give it their all until the very end, offering themselves with humility and joy.

They are priests who are close to the people, ready to work hard for everyone.

Let us be thankful for their example and testimony.

Let us pray that priests, through the modesty and humility of their lives, commit themselves actively, above all, to solidarity with those who are most poor.

Let us pray this month that the Church in Africa, through the commitment of its members, may be the seed of unity among her peoples and a sign of hope for this continent.

The ethnic, linguistic, and tribal divisions in Africa can be overcome promoting unity in diversity.

I want to thank the religious sisters, priests, laity, and missionaries for their work to create dialogue and reconciliation among the various sectors of African society.

Let us pray this month that the Church in Africa, through the commitment of its members, may be the seed of unity among her peoples and a sign of hope for this continent.

Let us pray for doctors and their humanitarian collaborators in war-torn areas, who risk their lives to save the lives of others.

The presence of doctors, nurses, and other health care workers in war-torn areas is a sign of hope.

They are wise, valiant, and good-hearted people who, following their vocation, work under extremely dangerous conditions.

Let us pray for doctors and their humanitarian collaborators in war-torn areas, who risk their lives to save the lives of others.

Let us pray that Christian communities, especially those who are persecuted, feel that they are close to Christ and have their rights respected.

It might be hard for us to believe, but there are more martyrs today than in the first centuries.

They are persecuted because they speak the truth and proclaim Jesus Christ to this society.

This happens particularly where religious freedom is not yet guaranteed.

However, it also happens in countries where, in theory and on paper, they protect freedom and human rights.

Let us pray that Christian communities, especially those who are persecuted, feel that they are close to Christ and have their rights respected.

Document on “Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” signed by His Holiness Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahamad al-Tayyib

Faith leads a believer to see in the other a brother or sister to be supported and loved. Through faith in God, who has created the universe, creatures and all human beings (equal on account of his mercy), believers are called to express this human fraternity by safeguarding creation and the entire universe and supporting all persons, especially the poorest and those most in need.....It is a document that invites all persons who have faith in God and faith in human fraternity to unite and work together so that it may serve as a guide for future generations to advance a culture of mutual respect in the awareness of the great divine grace that makes all human beings brothers and sisters.....

The logo of this journey depicts a dove with an olive branch. It is an image that recalls the story – present in different religious traditions – of the primordial flood. According to the biblical account, in order to preserve humanity from destruction, God asked Noah to enter the ark along with his family. Today, we too in the name of God, in order to safeguard peace, need to enter together as one family into an ark which can sail the stormy seas of the world: the ark of fraternity.

The point of departure is the recognition that God is at the origin of the one human family. He who is the Creator of all things and of all persons wants us to live as brothers and sisters, dwelling in the common home of creation which he has given us. Fraternity is established here at the roots of our common humanity, as “a vocation contained in God’s plan of creation”.[1] This tells us that all persons have equal dignity and that no one can be a master or slave of others.

Excerpt from Founder’s Memorial Speech (Abu Dhabi)

Monday, 4 February 2019

Today’s media environment is so pervasive as to be indistinguishable from the sphere of everyday life. The Net is a resource of our time. It is a source of knowledge and relationships that were once unthinkable....

It is easy to forget the fundamental equality existing among us: that once we were all slaves to sin, that the Lord saved us in baptism and called us his children. It is easy to think that the spiritual grace granted us is our property, something to which we are due, our property. The gifts we have received from God can also blind us to the gifts given to other Christians. It is a grave sin to belittle or despise the gifts that the Lord has given our brothers and sisters, and to think that God somehow holds them in less esteem. When we entertain such thoughts, we allow the very grace we have received to become a source of pride, injustice and division. And how can we then enter the promised kingdom?

You young people have, in the Virgin Mary, a reason for joy and a source of inspiration.

Take advantage of the World Youth Day in Panama to contemplate Christ together with Mary. We will pray the Rosary together for peace, each of us in our own language.

And ask for strength to dream and to work for peace.

Let us pray that young people, especially in Latin America, follow the example of Mary and respond to the call of the Lord to communicate the joy of the Gospel to the world