Pope speaks of hunger for justice in lunch with poor

“[I have] a hunger for a Church that truly knows how to open its doors and receive everyone – where there is love for all and no one is an enemy, where we all know how to live out reconciliation, forgiveness and peace,” the Pope told the crowd at the lunch, hosted in the gardens of the Borgo Laudato Si’ on July 11.

Pope Leo pointed out that the historic papal title of “pontiff” means “a builder of bridges”.

“Today, we too wish to build a bridge with all of you, with your families and with the society in which we want to live – but to live with justice, to live where the causes of poverty can be eliminated, where the causes of the injustices that still exist in our world can be removed,” he said.

“This is the Church we want to be,” he said while thanking the organisers of the lunch, the second such event Pope Leo has hosted.

“When we gather together, when we experience this spirit of encounter around the table – the very table where Jesus is present with us – we are truly building a different world, a world of hope. Let us strive always to embody this experience of a Church of justice, peace and love,” he said.

About 200 people facing social vulnerability from the Diocese of Rome attended the lunch with the Pope. On August 17 last year, the Pope hosted a similar lunch with people living in poverty from the Diocese of Albano; he held another such event in November.

FULL STORY

At lunch with the poor, Pope Leo XIV urges society to ‘eliminate the causes of poverty, injustice’ (By Marco Mancini/EWTN News)