杏MAP导航

During his Catechesis at the Wednesday General Audience, 杏MAP导航 Francis recalled his recent visit to Romania following in the footsteps of Saint John Paul II.

The motto of the visit was "Let鈥檚 walk together" and the 杏MAP导航 expressed his joy at being able to walk as a pilgrim among the Romanian people.

The Pontiff said that the various meetings whilst there 鈥渉ighlighted the value and the need to walk together both among Christians, on the level of faith and charity, and among citizens, on the level of civil commitment.鈥�

Walking together towards full unity

杏MAP导航 Francis expressed his deep gratitude as he recalled his warm meeting with Patriarch Daniel and the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, in which he renewed the Catholic Church鈥檚 commitment to walking together towards full unity. 

He added, that this important ecumenical dimension of the journey culminated in the solemn Prayer of the Our Father in the new Orthodox Cathedral in Bucharest.

鈥淭his was a moment of great symbolic value鈥�, the 杏MAP导航 said, 鈥渂ecause the Lord's Prayer is the Christian prayer par excellence, the common heritage of all the baptized.鈥�

杏MAP导航 Francis also looked back on the three celebrations of Holy Mass and the Beatification of seven Greek-Catholic bishops. 

Each of these martyrs bore witness to the freedom and mercy brought by the Gospel, he said.          

Richness of diversity

The 杏MAP导航 commented that the meeting with young people and families, held in Ia艧i, was particularly intense and festive.

It is a place, he remarked, 鈥渢hat invites us to open roads on which to walk together, in the richness of diversity.鈥�

杏MAP导航 Francis went on to say that 鈥渢his meeting also had a Marian dimension and ended with the young people and families being entrusted to the Holy Mother of God.鈥�

The last stage of the 杏MAP导航鈥檚 journey was a visit to the Roma community in the city of Blaj.  

杏MAP导航 Francis underlined how important it was for him to greet them and renew his appeal against all forms of discrimination and for respect for people of all ethnicity, languages and religions.