LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS ON THE OCCASION OF THE ONLINE CONFERENCE “BUILDING FRATERNITY, DEFENDING JUSTICE. CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR INSULAR PEOPLES”
To Cardinal Peter Turkson
Prefect
Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development
On the occasion of the online Conference “Building Fraternity, Defending Justice.
Challenges and Opportunities for Insular Peoples”, to be held on 21 May 2021,
under the auspices of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development
and the Anglican Centre of Rome, I would ask you to convey my greetings and
prayerful best wishes to the organizers and to all taking part. I offer a particular
greeting to His Excellency Wavel Ramkalawan, President of the Republic of
Seychelles and to His Grace Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, with
appreciation for their participation.
This important ecumenical initiative, involving mutual dialogue born of the
wisdom and experience of various Christian traditions, offers an opportunity for
believers, government leaders and members of the broader civil society,
especially the young, to address the particular challenges faced by insular
peoples. Among these, I would mention violence, terrorism, poverty, hunger and
the many forms of social and economic injustice and inequality that nowadays
bring harm to all, but in particular to women and children. Of concern too is the
fact that many island peoples are exposed to extreme environmental and climate
changes, some of which result from an unbridled exploitation of natural and
human resources. As a result, they are experiencing not only environmental
deterioration but also a human and social deterioration that increasingly puts at
risk the lives of the inhabitants of these island and sea territories. It is my hope
that the Conference will contribute to the development of practical international
and regional policies aimed at meeting such challenges more effectively and
strengthening the awareness of everyone’s responsibility to care for our common
home.
In these months of pandemic, we have become ever more conscious of our
fragility and consequently of the need for an integral ecology that can sustain
not only physical ecosystems but human ones as well. Since “everything is
interconnected… genuine care for our own lives and our relationships with nature
is inseparable from fraternity, justice and faithfulness to others” (Laudato Si’,
70). For this reason, an attitude of solidarity and respect for each person,
created in God’s image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:26-27), is all the more necessary
in uniting sincere love for our brothers and sisters with an unwavering
commitment to resolve the environmental and social problems affecting those
living in island and maritime areas. I am grateful for the ongoing efforts being
made to build fraternity and defend justice in the societies of these regions (cf.
Fratelli Tutti, 271) and I trust that the work accomplished during this meeting
will be a sign of the important role that island peoples can play in furthering the
growth of a more human and inclusive world.
With these sentiments I cordially invoke upon the participants in the Conference
God’s blessings of wisdom, strength and peace.
Rome, from Saint John Lateran, 21 May 2021
