On Saturday, a full day of meeting and conference, at the initiative of Pope Francis organized by the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum" and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America on the theme "The communion of the Church: Memory and Hope for Haiti five years after the earthquake", was held at the Vatican, attended by a delegation of 11 Haitian led by Cardinal Chibly Langlois, Bishop of Les Cayes.

Pope Francis received all the participants of this meeting. In his speech, he did not hide that "much work remains to be done." He also recalled the three fundamental pillars on which is based all that is being done and will be done in Haiti: the human person, ecclesial communion and the local church.

"Our first concern must be to help the man, every man, to live fully as a person," first of all the Pope explained, "There is no real reconstruction without reconstruction of the person as a whole ...] every person in Haiti have what it takes from the material point of view, but at the same time to live their freedom, their responsibilities and their religious and spiritual life [...] humanitarian and pastoral action must be the concern of the integral good of the person."

Then, the Pope returned to the charity "that permeates all life and removes all these barriers of individualism, which prevent us to meet." He invited bishops, charisms and charitable institutions to "strengthen all methodologies for working together." For Pope Francis "charity is truer and more incisive when it is lived in communion."

Continuing that this "testimony of evangelical charity" is only effective "when supported by a personal relationship with Jesus in prayer, in listening to the word of God and the sacraments." This is why the Pope invited all the clergy of Haiti to arouse the among the faithful "A renewed commitment to Christian education and in the in joyful and fruitful evangelization."

Concluding that "it is in these conditions that Haiti will recover."

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-12909-haiti-religion-pope-francis-convene-a-conference-on-haiti-in-the-vatican.html

Thumbnail : Pope Francis and Cardinal Chibly Langlois, Bishop of Les Cayes

HL/ PI/ HaitiLibre