VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV exhorted the devoted on Sunday (Jun 8) to reject an “exclusionary mindset” he stated had led to nationalism all over the world.
Leo’s homily didn’t name out present occasions and conflicts nor establish particular person leaders. However his selection of language was vital, encouraging folks to “open borders” inside their hearts and minds.
The handle marked a month since the previous Robert Prevost from Chicago was elected pope, and got here throughout a Sunday mass to rejoice Pentacost held underneath sunny skies in St Peter’s Sq..
Earlier than mass, the 69-year-old pontiff made a flip across the sprawling Baroque sq. in his popemobile to the enthusiastic cheers of the group, estimated by the Vatican at round 80,000 folks.
Leo stated the Church “should open the borders between peoples and break down the obstacles between class and race”.
Individuals should transfer “past our worry of those that are completely different”, he stated, noting that the Holy Spirit “breaks down obstacles and tears down the partitions of indifference and hatred…”
“The place there may be love, there is no such thing as a room for prejudice, for ‘safety’ zones separating us from our neighbours, for the exclusionary mindset that, tragically, we now see rising additionally in political nationalisms.”
Leo didn’t communicate of bodily borders however his concentrate on obstacles and partitions evoked the politics of US President Donald Trump, who has vowed to stem unlawful immigration into the USA.
The pope additionally stated the Holy Spirit was an antidote to poisonous relationships marked by “suspicion, prejudice or the will to control others”.
“With nice ache”, Leo cited “instances the place relationships are marked by an unhealthy want for domination, an angle that always results in violence, as is proven, tragically, by quite a few latest instances of femicide”.
