Ecumenical prayer with immigrants in Cyprus. Pope Francis: Do not give up in the face of division

Catherine Aurelius – Vatican City

On the afternoon of Friday, December 3, after mass was celebrated and lunch was held at the Embassy, ​​Pope Francis participated in an ecumenical prayer with immigrants at the Nicosia Archdiocese Church dedicated to the Holy Cross. After a welcome address from the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Patriarch Berbattista Pizzaballa, who read from Ephesians 2:13-22 — it is our peace and made the two camps one — and the testimony of a member of Caritas Cyprus and four young immigrants, the pope said. The meeting was attended by representatives of the various Christian denominations present in Cyprus, including the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and the entire Eastern Cardinal Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi.

The power of God’s word

The Pope said that after hearing the testimony of young immigrants, he better understood the prophetic power of God’s word, which the Apostle Paul read “Therefore you are no longer guests and strangers but you have the same nationality as the saints and you have a home with God” (Eve 2,19).

The Pope stressed that “God dreams of a peaceful world in which his children, brothers and sisters, live.” He explained that “God speaks to us” through the dreams of immigrants and calls on us not to surrender in the face of a divided world and divided Christian communities.

The Pope wanted Cyprus, marked by division, thank God to become a “laboratory for brotherhood” through a patient journey to a land prepared by God and where the question “Who are you?” You could answer “I am your brother/sister.”