Building fraternity on Mediterranean shores

Pope Francis has sent a video message to the 50 young people participating in the Med24 in Tirana, Albania, in which he invited them to renounce “the culture of fear” and “to open the door of acceptance and friendship”, so that the Mediterranean “may no longer be a graveyard” but a place of fraternity. “Pilgrims of hope, builders of peace” is the theme of the fourth stage of the Mediterranean Meetings, taking place from 15 to 21 September. Previous events were held in Bari, Florence and Marseille. The following is a translation of the Holy Father’s words.

Dear Friends, dear young people from Albania and from the Mediterranean region,

It is a great joy for me to know you are gathered in Tirana 10 years after my visit to your beloved country, in 2014. I don’t forget! I remember that unforgettable journey, when I was able to meet your people, a people with several different faces but united by the same courage. As I told the youth at the time: “You are the new generation of Albania” (Angelus, Tirana, 21 September 2014). Now I want to add, for you dear young people coming from the five shores of the Mediterranean Sea: “You, the new generation, are the future of the Mediterranean region”.

We are all pilgrims of hope, walking in search of the truth, living our faith and building peace — because peace needs to be built! God loves all mankind; he makes no distinction among us. The fraternity among the five shores of the Mediterranean that you are establishing is the answer — the answer! — the best answer we can offer to the conflicts and the indifference that kills. Because indifference kills.

Learn together to discern the signs of the times. Contemplate the diversity of your traditions as a richness, a richness desired by God. Unity is not uniformity, and the diversity of our cultural and religious identities is a gift from God. Unity in diversity. Grow in mutual esteem, following the witness of your forefathers.

Place at the centre the voice of those who are not heard. I am thinking of the poorest people, who suffer because they are regarded as a burden or trouble. I’m thinking about those, often very young, who are forced to leave their country in search of a better future. Take care of everybody. They are not simply numbers, but persons, and each person is sacred. We are talking about individual faces whose dignity must be upheld and protected. Let us renounce the culture of fear, to open the door of acceptance and friendship.

Just like a great Lake of Tiberias entrusted to your care, you inhabit the shores of this great basin that unites you. The Mediterranean unites you! It brings you together like a beautiful garden you are called to cultivate. Preserve the spirit of service in every circumstance. Take care of each creature entrusted to your hands.

Walk following the footsteps of your martyrs. Their courage is a living witness that can inspire your commitment to resist all the violence that disfigures our humanity, as Blessed Maria Taci did when she was only 22 years old.

I commend all of you to Mary, Mother of Good Counsel, who has always turned her maternal gaze of love and sorrow, on the events of your land. Learn from her Immaculate Heart to be unresting pilgrims of hope and to follow God’s signs, so that the Mediterranean may recover its best feature: that of fraternity and peace, and may it no longer be a graveyard!