Pope Francis has desired that the city of Rome be “an environment open to all pilgrims of hope” during the jubilee that the Italian capital will host in 2025, while expressing that the perspective of a fraternal world “It is not ideology”, but “Jesus, the incarnate son” of God.
This is what the pontiff expressed this Tuesday, December 31, during the liturgical services of the ‘Te God‘in thanksgiving for the year that is ending, held in St. Peter’s Basilica, and attended by thousands of people, as reported Vatican News.
In his homily, the Pope recognized the challenges experienced by Rome in this last year, marked by numerous works leading up to the Jubilee, and he thanked the mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, for this. “Rome is called to welcome everyone so that everyone can recognize themselves as children of God and brothers among themselves.“, he stated, in reference to the work aimed at preparing the city to receive pilgrims from all over the world.
“Tonight is a time for wise reflection, to consider that all this work, in addition to the value it has in itself, had a meaning that corresponds to Rome’s own vocation: its universal vocation,” he added.
“This vocation could be expressed like this: Rome is called to welcome everyone so that everyone can recognize themselves as children of God and brothers among themselves,” the pope concluded.
Recalling his encyclical ‘Fratelli tutti’ (Brothers all), the Pontiff pointed out “the hope of universal brotherhood” as one of the ways of interpreting the motto chosen for the Holy Year, describing as “nice” the fact of thinking that Rome has become in these months “a construction site for that purpose.”
“Prepare to welcome men and women from all over the world, Catholics and Christians of other confessions, believers of all religions, seekers of truth, freedom, justice and peace, all pilgrims of hope and fraternity”, added the Holy Father.
In this sense, he stressed that this perspective is not an empty ideal, but a concrete call to transform human coexistence: “The hope of a fraternal world is not an ideology or an economic system, nor is it technological progress, but Jesus, the incarnate Son who shows us the way”.
Francis urged “to walk together, as pilgrims of hope, along the path of fraternity.”
Francis concluded the last Mass of the year by highlighting that “if filiation is fully assumed, recognizing God as Father, then the feeling of being brothers and sisters comes.” In addition, he invited us to pray to God to grant “the strength to move forward, to advance in our pilgrimage in the coming year.”
(With information from Europa Press and EFE)
