Pope Francis has called on all warring peoples to recognise fraternity as a “light that stops the night of conflicts”. Source: CNS.
“To evoke brothers and sisters is to remind those who are fighting, and all of us, that the feeling of fraternity uniting us is stronger than hatred and violence,” the Pope wrote in his message for the World Meeting on Human Fraternity at the Vatican on Saturday.
In a festive celebration of human fraternity, artists, activists and political leaders from around the globe gathered in St Peter’s Square to call for worldwide peace and solidarity.
Among them were 29 Nobel Peace Prize recipients. The Nobel laureates met with Vatican officials earlier in the day to draft a Declaration on Human Fraternity which was presented at the event and signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state.
Cardinal Parolin said the document is an important step in building “a new world of peace and solidarity,” and encouraged all people to not “delegate realising this document to others, each one of us must do their part and feel responsible”.
The Vatican’s Fratelli Tutti Foundation, which organised the event, said it will begin a campaign to get one billion people to sign the document.
Pope Francis was scheduled to attend the event and meet the Nobel laureates but he remained in the hospital recovering from surgery. His message to the attendees was read by Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, president of the Fratelli Tutti Foundation and archpriest of St Peter’s Basilica.
Several artists performed for the crowd in St Peter’s Square, including Amii Stewart and Andrea Bocelli.
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Pope to Nobel laureates, world: Fraternity is stronger than hatred (By Justin McLellan, CNS)
