CNA Staff, Feb 12, 2021 / 06:00 am
Pope Francis on Friday told academics and diplomats that the coronavirus crisis showed the "urgent need" to build a "culture of encounter."
The pope made the comment in a prepared speech given out to members of the European Institute for International Studies (EIIS), led by Cardinal Anders Arborelius of Stockholm, during a Feb. 12 meeting at the Vatican.
The EIIS, a center for research and education in international relations, is based in the Swedish capital and Salamanca, Spain, the birthplace of an intellectual movement in the 16th and 17th centuries known as the School of Salamanca.
Quoting from his latest encyclical, "Fratelli tutti," the pope said: "The continued global health crisis has painfully highlighted the urgent need to promote a culture of encounter for the whole human family, and for all men and women to be 'passionate about meeting others, seeking points of contact, building bridges, planning a project that includes everyone.'"