We Need To Include The Excluded And

Do Not Feel Discouraged By All The Challenges And Hardships You Might Face. I Ask You Not To Forget That, Like Those Who Came Here Before You, You Bring Many Gifts To This New Nation Of Yours.

Let Us Never Give In To Pessimism, To That Bitterness That The Devil Offers Us Every Day. Do Not Give In To Pessimism And Discouragement. We Have The Firm Certainty That The Holy Spirit Gives The Church With His Mighty Breath, The Courage To Persevere And Also To Seek New Methods Of Evangelization, To Bring The Gospel To The Ends Of The Earth.

Today We Celebrate Earth Day. I Exhort Everyone To See The World Through The Eyes Of God The Creator: The Earth Is An Environment To Be Safeguarded, A Garden To Be Cultivated. The Relationship Of Mankind With Nature Must Not Be Conducted With Greed, Manipulation And Exploitation, But It Must Conserve The Divine Harmony That Exists Between Creatures And Creation Within The Logic Of Respect And Care, So It Can Be Put To The Service Of Our Brothers, Also Of Future Generations.

I See The Church As A Field Hospital After Battle. It Is Useless To Ask A Seriously Injured Person If He Has High Cholesterol And About The Level Of His Blood Sugars. You Have To Heal His Wounds. Then We Can Talk About Everything Else.

How Precious Is The Family As The Privileged Place For Transmitting The Faith! Speaking About Family Life, I Would Like To Say One Thing: Today, As Brazil And The Church Around The World Celebrate This Feast Of Saints Joachim And Anne, Grandparents Day Is Also Being Celebrated. How Important Grandparents Are For Family Life, For Passing On The Human And Religious Heritage Which Is So Essential For Each And Every Society! How Important It Is To Have Intergenerational Exchanges And Dialogues, Especially Within The Context Of The Family.