To my dear Brother
 Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino
 Bishop of Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino

I warmly greet the participants in the sixtieth Perugia-Assisi March for Peace, rejoicing because the theme chosen this year is “Care as the new name for peace”. In the fact that the value of caring for others and the environment is widely shared today, we can recognise a positive sign of the times, which the pandemic crisis has helped to bring to the fore. With the simple and essential gesture of your walk, you have affirmed that the culture of care is a path, indeed the main path leading to peace (cf. Message for the 54th World Day of Peace, 1 January 2021).

Care, in fact, is the opposite of indifference, of discarding, of violating the dignity of the other, that is, of that anti-culture which is at the root of violence and war. Unfortunately, even today, after the two immense world wars and the many regional wars that have destroyed peoples and countries, still - and this is scandalous - States spend enormous sums of money on armaments, while at international conferences they proclaim peace, turning their eyes away from the millions of brothers and sisters who lack the necessities of life or lead an existence unworthy of man.

For this reason, it is more necessary than ever to walk the path of care: not once a year, but every day, in the reality of daily life, with the help of God who is the father of all and takes care of all, so that we may learn to live together as brothers and sisters. With this lively hope I invoke the intercession of Saint Francis of Assisi and send my blessing to all.

Rome, Saint John Lateran, 4 October 2021
Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi

FRANCIS

_____________________

Bulletin of the Holy See Press Office, 10 October 2021