“We must grow in the sense of justice, solidarity and social conscience”. This is the appeal made in a message published in recent days by the Social Pastoral Commission of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, to mark Charity Day on 2 June, the feast of “Corpus Domini”. In their message the Spanish bishops stress that “the Church must be a home and school of communion, ready to hold out a welcome to everyone”. And this need “is becoming ever more pressing today due to growing immigration into our country”. The episcopal Commission appeals in particular to the young: they are called “to be the constructors of a new culture and a new society”. They have the task the bishops emphasize of “enriching human relations with gratitude, to promote a culture of gratuitousness, in which the personal relation takes precedence over the economic relation, gift takes precedence over debt, and service over trade”. The bishops further urge young people to be protagonists of disinterested and gratuitous service: “You must be the first to offer assistance to other youngsters with problems… By your hands and by your heart you may give to this century, which has just opened, a character of peace, brotherhood, justice and freedom”.
