Pope Francis: to French Bishops, “give hope and help in seeking the common good”

“In a context still marked by the terrorist attacks that have fatally wounded your country and in the run-up to the crucial round of elections”, Pope Francis “encourages” the French Bishops to “help the people of France strengthen their hope and seek the common good”. The Holy Father sent this message to the Plenary Assembly of the French Bishops’ Conference (CEF) that is taking place in Lourdes from today until 9 November. Due to health reasons, the Archbishop of Marseille and president of the Bishops’ Conference, Mgr. Georges Pontier, will be unable to attend the Plenary. “Hot topics” on the agenda include diocesan vocations to the priesthood; the political and religious situation of the country; and a closed-door address by Card. Jean-Louis Tauran who will brief the Bishops about dialogue with the Muslim world.
“May your exchange of views on priestly vocations express your pastoral concern for young people in order to help them discover their life project and fulfil it with joy”, reads the message written by the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Card. Pietro Parolin, and sent to the Apostolic Nuncio, Luigi Ventura. The Pope also recalled the 60th anniversary of the “Workers’ Mission” and invited the Church of France to “have the courage to reach out to the peripheries which need the Gospel, including the rural world that is undergoing change: it will undoubtedly be an opportunity to give new impetus to the mission of the Church in France”. “A few days before the end of the Jubilee of Mercy – the Papal message reads -, the Pope asks the Lord to open new paths so that the years to come may be imbued with mercy and that we may reach out to everyone, offering them God’s love and tenderness”.

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The Bishops in Lourdes will assess the work carried out so far by the “Permanent Cell against Child Abuse”, the new body set up by the French Bishops’ Conference this year to respond to a series of child abuse cases that had affected some dioceses. The Bishops will be informed of “the measures taken in the past 6 months by the dioceses – the CEF wrote in a statement – to tackle the scourge of child abuse”.