With those who work to help the Eastern Churches

At noon today, in the Sala Clementina at the Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience the participants in the 88th Plenary Gathering of the Assembly of Organizations for Aid to the Eastern Churches (ROACO).

Speech of the Holy Father, Pope Francis

to the ROACO

Dear friends,

I welcome you, who offer your help and your collaboration to the journey of the Eastern Catholic Churches.  I greet Cardinal Sandri and I thank him for his introduction.  Last year, we met just a few days after my pilgrimage to the Holy Land and my successive supplication for peace.  We would all have wanted the seed of reconciliation to bear more fruit.  Other events which ultimately disturbed the Middle East, in a year that has been marked by violence, have made us feel the cold of winter and a chill in the hearts of mankind that seems to be never-ending.  The earth in that region is marked by the steps of those who seek refuge and watered with the blood of many men and women, among them many Christians who have been persecuted for their faith.

The daily experience of the sons and daughters of the Eastern Churches and of their pastors, who share their sufferings with many other people; and you, even in this Session, continue the work of listening and serving that distinguishes and characterizes of the agencies you represent, coordinated by the Congregation for the Eastern Churches.

On a recent voyage to Iraq, a member of your delegation encountered real faces, in particular those of displaced persons from the Nineveh Plain, but also small groups from Syria.  They bore the look and the blessing of the Lord, but at the same time, as you felt that in those eyes which asked for help and pleaded for peace and a return to their own homes, it was Jesus himself who was looking at you, who was asking for help, and it is our ability to see this truth that makes us Christians.  Every effort to help, to keep from falling into efficiency or into an approach of welfare that does not promote people and nations should always be reborn of the Lord's blessing which is given when we have the courage to see the truth and our brothers and sisters who stand before us, as I wrote in the Bull of Induction of the Jubilee of Mercy: Let us open our eyes and see the misery of the world, the wounds of our brothers and sisters who are denied their dignity, and let us recognize that we are compelled to heed their cry for help! May we reach out to them and support them so they can feel the warmth of our presence, our friendship, and our fraternity! May their cry become our own, and together may we break down the barriers of indifference that too often reign supreme and mask our hypocrisy and egoism! (Misericordiae vultus, 15)

In the drama of the past few months, it seems that the world has had a burst of conscience and has opened its eyes, taking account of the the presence of millions of Christians in the Middle East.  There have been many initiatives aimed at raising awareness and at helping them and helping all the other innocents who have unjustly undergone the effects of such violence.  However, further efforts are needed in order to eliminate those who appear to be in tacit agreement, for whom the lives of thousands and thousands of families - women, men, children, the elderly - on the scale of interest seem to be outweighed by petroleum and arms, and instead to proclaim peace and justice which cannot tolerate the death acts of such trafficking in those lands.  I encourage you, while you continue the work of Christian charity, to denounce everything that denies or ignores human dignity.

Together with the Holy Land and the Near East, during these days we dedicate particular attention to Ethiopia, to Eritrea and to Armenia.  The first two constitute canonically two different realities: Metropolitans sui iuris, but which remain profoundly by common Alexandrian-gheez traditions.  You can help these ancient Christian communities to feel that they are part of the evangelizing mission and to offer, especially to young people, a horizon of hope and for growth.  Without it, you will never stop the flow of migration that sees so many sons and daughters from that region set out on a journey to reach the coasts of the Mediterranean, even to risk their own lives.  Armenia, the cradle of the first nations who were baptized, also possesses a great and rich history of culture, faith and martyrdom.  Support for the Church in that land contributes to the journey toward the visible unity of all those who believe in Christ.  May the new generations open a new and better future and may the sacrifice of many become seeds of justice and peace (Message to Armenians, April 12, 2015).

I want to conclude with the words of Saint Ephrem, invoking upon the Eastern Catholic Church and upon each of you who are here present the Blessing of the Lord through the intercession of the All-Holy Mother of God: Accept, our King, our offering, and give us salvation in exchange.  Bring peace to devastated lands and rebuild churches which have been burned so that, when there will be great peace, a great crown may be woven from flowers taken from every place, to crown the Lord of peace (Saint Ephrem, Hymn of the Resurrection).

Thank you all for your work, and please don't forget to pray for me.