Pope Francis participates in the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the first World Meeting of Popular Movements

Pope Francis visited the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (DPIHD) on September 20, in order to participate in the 10th anniversary symposium marking the first World Meeting of Popular Movements (Encuentro Mundial de Movimientos Populares, EMMP), which had taken place at the Vatican in 2014.

‘Land, housing and work are sacred rights. Let no one take that conviction away from you, let no one rob you of that hope, let no one extinguish your dreams,’ the Pope encouraged the participants of the initiative entitled “Planting a flag in the face of dehumanisation” organized by EMMP and the Dicastery  (DPIHD).

The Holy Father warmly greeted the Vatican employees at the Dicastery headquarters and then the Symposium participants, some of whom he had seen at the EMMP at the Vatican in 2014 and Bolivia in 2015. The Pope read his prepared speech in Spanish and added many spontaneous anecdotes. 

‘The cry of the excluded can also awaken the dormant consciences of so many political leaders who are ultimately responsible for enforcing economic, social and cultural rights.... We are Christians, let us pray that God will give us the wisdom and strength to bring about true social justice,’ the Pope urged.

At the opening of the Symposium Cardinal Michael Czerny, the Prefect of DPIHD, quoted the Gospel of St Matthew, in which Jesus pronounces the Beatitudes and says: “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). He also referred to the biblical Book of Proverbs: “Be the voice of the voiceless, […] speak up for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, maintain the rights of the poor and needy” (Proverbs 31:8-9).  

Speaking of the radicality of the gospel message, Cardinal Czerny asserted: “Justice cannot be an intellectual matter, or even a legal one. It has to be rooted deep within us, as urgent and impossible to ignore as hunger and thirst.” In order “To raise our voice for the voiceless,” he invited his listeners to follow the example of Jesus: “[be] humble, not taken up with pride, success, money and fame; in solidarity with those who suffer, able to weep with them and to comfort them; meek, acting without violence or boasting but with a deep thirst for justice”.

Among those who attended the symposium were some of the founding leaders of the EMMP, including Juan Grabois, who recalled that the Popular Movements are committed not only to acting on the slogan ‘housing, land, work’; they also strive to put the economy at the service of the people, to work for peace among peoples, and to care for nature. Nicole Levia urged the Popular Movements to work together to restore the dignity of oppressed peoples. And Joao Pedro Stedile - in a video message from Brazil - expressed gratitude for the dialogue that the Pope and the Church established with the Popular Movements in recent years.

Finally, a digital book (e-book) with a prologue written by the Holy Father was presented. The volume compiles the messages that Pope Francis has addressed to the Popular Movements and other texts that address the 3Ts, as well as a video commemorating this tenth anniversary.

At the end of the program, a video payd tribute to Juan Antonio López, a layman active in the Church in Honduras and Central America, environmental leader, assassinated on Saturday 14 September 2024 for his commitment to the common good and the protection of natural resources, in response to the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor.