Rome Newsroom, Feb 18, 2021 / 19:20 pm
In a video message to the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, Pope Francis said Thursday the suffering caused by the coronavirus pandemic is an opportunity to change and to have greater solidarity with others.
"The pandemic has marked the lives of people and the history of our communities," the pope said Feb. 18. "Faced with this and other realities, it is necessary to build tomorrow, look to the future, and for this we need the commitment, strength and dedication of all."
"It is necessary to act with the style of the Samaritan," he added, "which implies letting myself be struck by what I see, knowing that suffering will change me, and I must involve myself with the suffering of the other."
Pope Francis' video message was played at the opening of the four-day Religious Education Congress, which is taking place in an online format Feb. 18-21.