Pope Francis greets German-speaking theology students at the Vatican on Friday, underscoring the important contribution of religions to building a fraternal and just world.
By the Vatican News staff reporter
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, German-speaking students who would participate in a theological academic year at the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary Abbey, in Jerusalem, were unable to attend. So instead of going to the Holy Land, thirty students were housed at the Pontifical Athenaeum Sant’Anselmo in Rome.
This plan change also meant they could meet the Pope at the Vatican on Friday.
Pope Francis greeted the students and told them that this academic year, or Theological academic year, “Provides an opportunity for Catholic and Protestant theology students to learn about Biblical sites and meet the Eastern Churches as well as the Jewish and Muslim world.”
“Even if you can’t experience the Holy Land this year,” he continued, “ecumenism and interfaith dialogue will always be a distinguishing feature of your program.”
The presence of God in society
The Pope emphasized that as students of theology they were witnesses to their peers and “to the men and women of today of the importance of God in their lives and of the fulness that a lived faith brings.”
He said: “It will be your job to enter into dialogue with a world where there seems to be less and less room for religion. It is a task we share with all believers of different faiths, knowing that making God present is good for our societies. “
Religions and Fraternity
Quote from his recent encyclical All brothersPope Francis underscored that, as believers, “we are convinced that religions make a significant contribution to building brotherhood and defending justice in society. On the other hand, we believe that when people, for various reasons, want to expel God from society, they end up worshiping idols, and man quickly gets lost. “
The Pope hoped that their theological year of study would contribute to their “formative, spiritual and human journey.” Finally, looking at Christmas, Pope Francis recalled that “in spirit we will all be pilgrims at the cave of Bethlehem,” urging them to be “witnesses of God-with-us.”