GREETING OF THE POPE FRANCIS FOR THE TAIZÉ EUROPEAN MEETING OF YOUNG ADULTS

 Taizé   

Pope Francis

Dear young people,

For more than forty years, the Taizé Community has been preparing an annual European Meeting in a major city on the continent and several generations of young people have taken part in it. Pope Francis is happy, once again this year, to join you in thought and prayer. As the health situation does not permit such a gathering this time, you have shown creativity and imagination: although dispersed, you are connected in a completely new kind of way thanks to the new means of communication. And at the same time you are extending this meeting to young people from all continents. May these days, during which you pray together and support each other in faith and trust, help you to "hope in season and out of season", as the theme of the message that will accompany you throughout the year 2021 underlines.

The very fact of "meeting" together, even if exceptionally you do so in a virtual way, already puts you on the path of hope. As the Holy Father reiterated in his encyclical "Fratelli Tutti", "No one can face life in isolation. We need a community that supports and helps us, in which we can help one another to keep looking ahead". Do not be among those who sow despair and create constant mistrust, for this would neutralise the strength of the hope offered to us by the Spirit of the Risen Christ. On the contrary, let yourself be filled with this hope; it will give you the courage to follow Christ and to work together with and for the most needy, especially those who find it difficult to face the difficulties of the present time. "Hope is bold; it can look beyond personal convenience, the petty securities and compensations which limit our horizon, and it can open us up to grand ideals that make life more beautiful and worthwhile. Let us continue, then, to advance along the paths of hope." (Fratelli Tutti, n. 55). May you, throughout this year, continue to develop a culture of encounter and fraternity and to walk together towards that horizon of hope unveiled by the resurrection of Christ.

The Holy Father blesses each and every one of you, dear young people, he also blesses the brothers of the Taizé Community, as well as your families and all those around the world who are taking part with you in this international meeting.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State for His Holiness