VATICAN - At the Angelus prayer the Pope recalls the painful situation of refugees: “may people who live away from their own country feel that the Church is a homeland where no one is a stranger”

Monday, 20 June 2005

Vatican City (Fides Service) - On the occasion of World Day for Refugees 20 June promoted by the United Nations Organisation with the theme "the courage to be a refugee ", Pope Benedict XVI devoted his short address before the midday Angelus prayer on Sunday 19 to the painful situation of men, women and children forced to abandon their homeland to escape difficulties and dangers. “The Christian community is close to all who live in this painful condition- the Pope said -, it strives to sustain them and demonstrates in different ways its interest and love in the form of concrete actions of solidarity so that people far from their own country feel that the Church is a homeland where no one is a stranger.”
The Holy Father also emphasised the close bond between the Eucharist and caring for those in need: “Those who with faith nourish themselves with Christ, assimilate his style of life which is a style of service and particularly to people who are the weakest and most disadvantaged... may the Year of the Eucharist we are living help diocesan and parish communities to revive this capacity to reach out to the many sorts of poverty in our world”. Lastly the Pope asked Most Holy Mary “who with her spouse St Joseph and the boy Jesus experienced the anguish of exile” to intercede for the men, women and children living in the conditions of refugees “that on their path they may encounter acceptance and understanding”.
Greeting various language groups the Pope mentioned a Eucharistic Congress in Warsaw, Poland and solemn closing Mass “during which three sons of that noble nation were beatified: Ladislaw Findysz, Bronislaw Markiewicz and Ignatius Kłopotowski. I hope this significant ecclesial event will serve to strengthen a spirit of fraternal reconciliation, essential foundation for building communion among those who partake at the same table of Christ”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 20/6/2005; righe 24, parole 319)


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