Francis shows us the way

Fr. Livio Tonello, director

On 3 October, on the tomb of St. Francis (in Assisi), Pope Francis signed his third encyclical entitled “Fratelli tutti”, published on 4 October, the feast of the Saint. This new “letter to the world” (this is the meaning of “encyclical”) challenges the entire human community for a change of direction and is inspired by the spirituality of St. Francis. At the beginning of this new year, we want to take it as an antidote to the coronavirus, indifference, and the culture of rejection. The reflections on the epidemic bring us back to the need to intervene to restore the earth, our “common home”, reducing the consequences of environmental disasters, humanitarian crises (causes of migration), and growing social inequality. The Pope said: “The experience of the pandemic has taught us that none of us is saved alone. We have experienced at first hand the vulnerability of the human condition that is ours and that makes us one family. We have come to see more clearly that each of our personal choices affects the lives of our neighbours, those next door and those in distant parts of the world. The turn of events has forced us to recognize that we belong…