‘We are sisters and brothers to all,’ Cardinal Tobin reflects in latest newsletter
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
A year ago, on October 4, 2020, Pope Francis published his encyclical Fratelli Tutti (On Fraternity and
Social Friendship). Shortly afterward, I provided a summary of the Holy Father’s encyclical in this
newsletter. In August of this year, I once again used this newsletter (Vol 2. No 24.) to reprint my
summary and offer additional reflections on the teaching of Pope Francis—concentrating on the first
chapter, “Dark Clouds Cover the World.”
This issue of Rejoice in the Lord is focused on the second chapter of Fratelli Tutti, “A Stranger on the
Road.” Chapter Two of Fratelli Tutti shows how the parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us to
recognize the face of Jesus in all our brothers and sisters and to become neighbors to others,
overcoming prejudices, personal interests, historic and cultural barriers. Pope Francis stresses that
we all, in fact, are co-responsible in creating a society that is able to include, integrate and lift up
those who have fallen or are suffering. Love is meant to build bridges, and the pope’s statement that
“we were made for love” calls us to be faithful to our identity as women and men made in the image
and likeness of God.
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