Social Friendship: The Antidote to War? Pope Francis

Social Friendship: The Antidote to War

Pope FrancisPhoto byB. Rey

Pope Francis has encouraged participants at the 44th Meeting of Friendship Among Peoples to treat others like Jesus and help them have an encounter with God, especially during these hard times.

The Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples is usually referred to as the "Rimini Meeting," according to the Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.

Since 1980, the Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples has met yearly and taken place in the town of Rimini. Rimini is a sea town located in the northern part of the Italian Sea. They meet at the end of August and have a yearly theme. This year's theme is, "Human existence is an inexhaustible friendship." The meeting is held by the Communion and Liberation Movement, founded by Luigi Giussani.

Amid war and divisions:

Pope Francis' message this year began with a solemn acknowledgment of the wars destroying the world. The Pope stated the Rimini meeting is being held at a time, "war and divisions sow resentment and fear in hearts, and others who are different are often perceived as rivals."

"Global and pervasive communication," he said, "causes this widespread attitude to become a mentality, differences to appear as symptoms of hostility and a kind of epidemic of enmity to occur."

"Because it clearly goes against the trend, in a time marked by individualism and indifference, which generate loneliness and many forms of discarding others." 

"It is impossible to escape the situation" by one's own strength, noted the Pope.

“Humanity has always experienced this: no one can be saved alone.”

The Pope expressed that God took the time to send His Son, who gave himself as a friend. "The Spirit of the Risen Christ broke the loneliness by giving man His friendship, as pure grace," he said.

Faithful friends: Lord's Affection

The Lord valued true friendships, enlarging the hearts of everyone he made contact with. "Faithful friends," the Pope reflected, "are a reflection of the Lord's affection, His consolation, and His loving presence."

The pope recalled that the Lord carried an attitude of openness to all the brothers and sisters in Christ.

Pointing to his encyclical Fratelli tutti, the Pope highlighted the importance of social friendship, and upheld it as a solution "even in the most dramatic situations - even in the face of war - 'when it is genuine [...] within a society it is a condition of possibility for true universal openness.'"

We Cannot Be Deaf to God's Word:

The law of friendship was laid by Jesus when he said, "There is no greater love than one that lays down his life for a friend." Pope Francis, therefore, invited "Christians and all men and women of goodwill not to remain deaf before the cry that rises up to God from this world of ours."

"Speeches are not enough, what is needed are rather concrete gestures and shared choices that build a culture of peace where each one of us lives," he continued, calling for efforts to be made at a level of friendship among people different from one another.

Promote Culture of Encounter:

Pope Francis expressed his hope that the Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples will continue to promote a culture of encounter, which is open to all and in which no one is excluded. No religion no race no nationality shall be turned down.

“May each of the participants learn a little to approach others in the manner of Jesus, who always stretches out His hand, always seeks to lift, to make people heal, to make them happy, to make them encounter God.”

Expressing his desire that the encounter promote social friendship, the Pope extended his Apostolic Blessing upon everyone who is taking part in the Rimini meeting. One can only imagine this is another part of this own one world religion.