Quoting from his Regina Coeli address on May 16, he continued: “May every community pray to the Holy Spirit ‘that Israelis and Palestinians may find the path of dialogue and forgiveness, be patient builders of peace and justice, and be open, step by step, to a common hope, to coexistence among brothers and sisters.’”
Earlier in his address, the pope stressed the importance of diplomacy, especially during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Sadly, the pandemic has also made us acutely aware that the international community is experiencing ‘a growing difficulty, if not the inability, to seek common and shared solutions to the problems of our world,’” he said, referring to his February address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See.
He said it was necessary to “confront such pressing global issues as migration and climate change,” as well as the humanitarian crises that accompany these issues.
“I think too of the economic debt that burdens many countries struggling to survive and the ‘ecological debt’ that we owe to nature itself, as well as to peoples and countries affected by human-induced ecological degradation and loss of biodiversity,” said the pope.
He explained that economic debt and ecological debt were not merely political or economic issues, but “questions of justice, a justice that can no longer be ignored or deferred.”
“Indeed, they entail a moral obligation towards future generations, for the seriousness with which we respond to them will shape the world we leave to our children,” he said.
