APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO ROMANIA [31 MAY – 2 JUNE 2019], MEETING WITH THE AUTHORITIES, WITH CIVIL SOCIETY AND WITH THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS, ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS
Unirii Hall of the Cotroceni Palace (Bucarest)
[…]
At the same time, it must be acknowledged that while the changes brought by the
dawn of this new era have led to genuine achievements, they have also entailed
inevitable hurdles to be overcome and problematic consequences for social stability
and the governance of the territory itself. I think in the first place of the phenomenon
of emigration and the several million people who have had to leave their homes and
country in order to seek new opportunities for employment and a dignified existence.
I think too of the depopulation of many villages, which have lost many of their
inhabitants, the effects of this on the quality of life in those areas, and the weakening
of the profound cultural and spiritual roots that have sustained you in difficult times,
in times of trial. At the same time, I pay homage to the sacrifices endured by so
many sons and daughters of Romania who, by their culture, their distinctive identity
and their industriousness, have enriched those countries to which they have
emigrated, and by the fruit of their hard work have helped their families who have
remained at home. To think of our brothers and sisters abroad is an act of patriotism,
an act of fraternity, an act of justice. Continue to do so. […]
