ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO THE BISHOPS OF THE EPISCOPAL CONFERENCE OF MOZAMBICO, ON THEIR “AD LIMINA” VISIT

[…] We all receive the water of Baptism, share in the same Eucharist, possess the same Holy Spirit, who reminds us what Jesus taught us. Well then! The first thing that Jesus teaches us is this: to encounter one another and, by encountering, to help. Encounter with the other makes the heart grow, increases the capacity to love. The Pastors and faithful of Mozambique need to develop the culture of encounter to a greater degree. Jesus asks you just one thing: that you go, that you seek out and encounter the neediest. How can we ignore victims of natural disasters? As we sadly witnessed a short time ago, these never cease to sow destruction, suffering and death, or increase the number of displaced people and refugees. These people need us to share in their pain, in their anxieties, in their problems. They need us to look at them with love; it is necessary to go to encounter them, as Jesus did.[…]