• Pope Francis has sent a message – through his Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin – to the II Catholic Social Days for Europe, currently underway in Madrid.

    The message states that “one of the great challenges for the Church in Europe is to find effective ways to bring the light of the Gospel to bear upon the pressing issues which affect the continent”, which include teh plague of youth unemployment and rising tides of popularism. The message also encourages the more than 200 participants gathered in Madrid until Sunday 21″to deepen your own pursuit of holiness by a firm commitment to personal prayer and conversion”and to “offer to the various sectors of society a more coherent and joyful witness which will awaken consciences to the reality that temporal goods and the ordering of society must be at the service of the human person and their ultimate fulfilment in God”.

    the message conlcudes that a Church ” gives greater attention to the material needs of those who suffer will also learn how to provide a more convincing proclamation of truth and salvation to those who hunger and thirst for eternal life and to those who “call you to account for the hope that is in you” (1 Pet 3:15).

    Source: Radio Vaticana