By Linda Bordoni

“You are undoubtedly concerned and scandalized” by the reappearance of war in Europe, says Pope Francis to participants in the Taizé Community’s annual European meeting, “and you are looking for ways to react; what to do together to help build peace and a greater human brotherhood.”

And inviting them to be lucid “about the evil that surrounds us as well as that which sometimes inhabits our hearts,” the Pope utters a heartfelt invocation:

“Trust in God without despairing of humanity.”

The message written by Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, Substitute for the Secretariat of State of the Holy See on the Pope’s behalf, is an encouragement to the young people of the ecumenical monastic fraternity to keep hope alive, constantly trusting in the Lord.

Noting that the theme of this year’s gathering is “Inner Life and Solidarity”, the Pope remarks on how it is by practicing human solidarity, strengthened by the presence of the Lord, that they will feel how much God can act through them "to change the world.”

A time of fear and anxiety

At a time in history in which "many young people live with anxiety and sometimes fear,” he says, the Gospel shows us that "Jesus prepares his disciples to resist the fear that paralyzes, that blocks all initiative, that isolates.”

 “He does not promise them an easy life, but his peace,” he explains.

“By welcoming this Spirit, you will be able to say “no” to injustice in all its forms while allowing the “yes” to mature in you, which will allow you to seek together the answers to the challenges of our time.”

Synodal process

Pope Francis reminds the young people of the Taizé community that it is in order to allow the People of God to listen to the Spirit that he has asked the Catholic Church to engage in a synodal process.

“So that the good news of Jesus may be better proclaimed to the world, with the joy and hope that he brings to every person.”