VIDEOMESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE V NATIONAL MEETING OF THE ISPANO-LATIN PASTORAL

Dear Brother Bishops and delegates at the V National Meeting of Hispanic / Latin
Pastoral Care, I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak to you on this
occasion. It is a historical fact for the Church in the United States. Through this V
Meeting you try to create a culture of encounter that arouses hope: different cultures,
different ways of living, of thinking, of feeling meet and walk in hope. You have
proposed to obtain a different way of being and of relating, which encourages each
person and each group to share the richness of its traditions, the richness of its
experiences, to break down walls, to build bridges. I see that the V Meeting is a
concrete way of the Church in the United States to respond to the challenge of “going
out” of all kinds of comfort, of accommodation, and becoming a leaven of communion
with all those who look for a future of hope, especially with young people. and with
families living in the suburbs of society.
[…]
I know that the process of this V meeting has comforted many immigrants who live
in situations of fear and uncertainty. The V Incontro offered them a greater sense of
community, friendship and support. It was also an instrument of grace that led to the
conversion of the hearts of many people and, above all, to the pastoral conversion of
situations, and to the pastoral conversion of particular Churches, parishes, colleges,
all kinds of ecclesial meetings. Pastoral conversion through the meeting, naturally, in
the adoration of Jesus Christ. I hope this V Meeting will continue to bear fruit. And
that the Church, in all its areas, continues to accompany this process with its own
reflection, with its own pastoral discernment, even after the development of the
National Meeting. That is, that particular Churches continue to accompany this whole
process. In a particular way, I ask you to consider how your particular Churches they
can better respond to the growing presence, gifts and potential of youth and Hispanic
families and other cultures. […]