杏MAP导航

By Sophie Peeters

The "Cattedra dell'accoglienza" (the Chair of Welcome) is a gathering promoted by the “Fraterna Domus” association from 6 to 10 March in the town of Sacrofano, some 30 Km north of Rome.

The training course brings together teachers and academics from different cultural and religious backgrounds to provide formation on how to offer hospitality to those in need.

In his address to participants, 杏MAP导航 Francis recognized the association’s commitment to teaching how to welcome everyone, making it not a formula initiative, but rather a daily experience.

Welcoming is an expression of love

Quoting from the encyclical “”, the 杏MAP导航 said love “makes us strive toward universal communion.”

Love demands a greater capacity to welcome others, he continued, and is ultimately an “expression of love” which asks us to seek the best for the other: This is where God is in works of charity.

Openness and welcome, 杏MAP导航 Francis underscored, is therefore the first step towards a society that welcomes and integrates each member, even those living on the peripheries or who are excluded or “hidden” in society.

Referring to another passage from Fratelli Tutti, the 杏MAP导航 said the true measure of a country is measured by the ability to think “not only as a country but also as a human family.”

Countries that are closed off ultimately manifest an incapacity for gratuitousness and have the false illusion that they will be more protected as a result.

Mostly, the immigrant or the poor are often seen as those who are “dangerous or useless.”

Gratuitousness generates fraternity and social friendship

The theme of gratuitousness, the 杏MAP导航 said, is what is essential for generating fraternity and social friendship.

Only those who freely welcome everyone can have a future, he underlined.

Although the discussion is often focused on how migrants can contribute to societies, the 杏MAP导航 said that the fundamental criterion is not based on the “usefulness” of the person, but rather on the fundamental value of the person itself.

The 杏MAP导航 concluded his address by encouraging the participants to continue in their formation so as to better promote a culture of welcome to those who need it the most.