Washington D.C., Sep 12, 2021 / 10:00 am
After he arrived in Slovakia on Sunday, Pope Francis exhorted the country’s Christian leaders to prefer God to comfort and security.
Noting the rise of religious freedom in Slovakia in recent years, “after the years of atheistic persecution” of the communist government, Pope Francis implored Christians not to fall into “interior bondage.”
He made his remarks to members of the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Slovakia. The council consists of seven member churches and five observer churches and religious societies, which include Latin Rite Catholics as well as Lutheran, Orthodox, Methodist Evangelical and Jewish congregations. The Apostolic Nunciature in Bratislava hosted Sunday’s ecumenical meeting.
Pope Francis noted “how difficult it is to live your faith in freedom. For there is always the temptation to return to slavery, not that of a regime, but one even worse: an interior bondage.”