VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV exhorted the trustworthy on Sunday (Jun 8) to reject an “exclusionary mindset” he stated had led to nationalism around the globe.
Leo’s homily didn’t name out present occasions and conflicts nor establish particular person leaders. However his selection of language was important, encouraging individuals to “open borders” inside their hearts and minds.
The handle marked a month since the former Robert Prevost from Chicago was elected pope, and got here throughout a Sunday mass to have a good time Pentacost held beneath 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 individuals.
Leo stated the Church “should open the borders between peoples and break down the limitations between class and race”.
Folks should transfer “past our concern of those that are totally different”, he stated, noting that the Holy Spirit “breaks down limitations and tears down the partitions of indifference and hatred…”
“The place there may be love, there isn’t any 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 limitations and partitions evoked the politics of US President Donald Trump, who has vowed to stem illegal immigration into the United States.
The pope additionally stated the Holy Spirit was an antidote to poisonous relationships marked by “suspicion, prejudice or the need 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 current instances of femicide”.
