“We need to hear the cry of the poor and commit ourselves to ending their marginalisation“, said Pope Francis in his Message for the World Day of the Poor on Sunday.
Pope Francis greets faithful in St. Peter’s Square. (Photo: neneo/Shutterstock
The Holy Father recalled that the care for the poor is at the very heart of the Christian faith. He encouraged all of us to embrace a culture of encounter “that breaks through their solitude“, and not to limit to “impromptus acts of generosity“.
The Pope highlighted the need to tackle the structural causes of “poverty born of social injustice, moral degeneration, the greed of a chosen few and generalised indifferences” in order to help change history and promote real development.
Following the line indicated by Pope Francis, Bishops of COMECE called to foster the dialogue with the poor and intensity their cooperation with Brussels-based associations engaged in helping the poor, as stated already last year in their statement on poverty and social exclusion in Europe.
COMECE Plenary encouraged the EU institutions and the Member States to improve the coherence of their policies – especially with regard to the annual cycle of economic “European Semester” – in order to combat the structural causes of poverty and promote integral human development.
Recently, in a joint statement with its ecumenical partner the Conference of European Churches (CEC), COMECE renewed its support for the initiative of the European Pillar of Social Rights, hoping for concrete actions that will benefit the poor and the most vulnerable in Europe in particular.