The XXV Social Pastoral Day in Buenos Aires (Argentina) was celebrated by the letter of Pope Francis. The Pope expressed concern about “the growth of polarizations and extremisms that prevent construction.”
The Holy Father warned about the global context of war, the nuclear threat, the recent pandemic and its consequences, the ecological and migratory crisis, and added to this the local realities.
“I am concerned about the growth of polarizations and extremisms that prevent us from building and coming together in a common ‘we’,” the Pope said.
“There are many conflicts that retreat into trenches, so often ideological, prevent solving,” he added.
The Holy Father then warned that “polarization corrodes all attempts at solutions and the only thing it installs is despair and disbelief.”
For this reason, he considered it urgent to “discern the present and make the effort to imagine a possible future”, a task that has been carried out for 25 years in the days of Pastoral Social in Buenos Aires.
This year, the activity took place on Saturday, November 12 with the motto “The Nation as a community of destiny”, with the aim of reflecting together “to build a more just and fraternal society”.
Pope Francis highlighted the problems that are addressed in the Day, “an attentive ear to current issues, the possibility of stopping to pray, reflect and evaluate.”
Along these lines, he recalled that the commitment “does not only consist of actions or promotion and assistance programs”.
What the Spirit mobilizes, he clarified, “is not an overflow of activists but above all a creative and respectful attention that has learned to recognize the other as a brother.”
The Spirit, he stressed, “mobilizes us to live the prophecy of fraternity.”
Finally, he called for “recovering our capacity for dialogue, that is, getting closer, listening, getting to know each other and recognizing each other to find points of contact that help us transcend.”
Likewise, he reiterated his call for a culture of encounter, a lifestyle and citizenship “that tends to form that polyhedron that allows for many facets without losing unity.”
“The place of hope is the here and now, and it is reserved for those who are not afraid to accept, as the Lord told us, that wheat and tares grow together,” he specified.
Without this perspective, he assured, “it will be very difficult to promote any action and venture that you want to promote, as indicated in this year’s call: Argentina as a community of destination.”
The Pope ended his message by encouraging those present to continue on that path in which “you do not go alone”.
“Remember that you are sons and daughters of a history and of a Church that is glorious for being a history of sacrifices, of hope, of daily struggle, of a frayed life in service, of perseverance in work that is tiring,” he said.