At audience, Pope reflects on trip to America

September 30, 2015

Pope Francis devoted his regular weekly public audience on September 30 to reflections on his trip to Cuba and the United States.

In Cuba, the Pope said, he promoted the wish of St. John Paul II that “Cuba will open itself to the world and the world to Cuba.” He referred obliquely to the US embargo on Cuba, noting that it was symbolic that he traveled from Cuba to Washington. “God always wants to build bridges when we are the ones who build walls,” the Pope observed, adding that “walls always collapse.”

In Washington, on the first stop of his visit to the US, the Pope said that he wanted to encourage Americans to be “faithful to the United States' fundamental principle, that all men are created by God, equal and endowed with inalienable rights, such as life, liberty an the pursuit of happiness.” He underlined the importance of the American tradition of religious freedom. The Pontiff also highlighted the canonization of St. Junipero Serra, saying that it was a reminder of how the message of the Gospel fulfills and completes the understanding of the natural law.

Of his next stop, in New York, the Pope spoke of his address to the UN, and the Vatican’s support for “its role in the promotion of development and peace, especially with regard to the need for joint and active commitment to care for creation.” He recalled that he had also pleaded for an end to “violence against ethnic and religious minorities and against civil populations.” The Holy Father went on to mention his visit to Ground Zero and his prayer there for the victims of terrorism.

Finally, the Pope reported, in Philadelphia he joined in an international celebration of “the beauty of God’s plan for the family, which, as the fruitful covenant between a man and a woman, is the key to a future of authentic prosperity and solidarity for our world.” He said that it was appropriate that this year’s World Meeting of Families was held in the US, “the country that during the last century reached the highest level of economic and technological development without renouncing its religious roots.”

 

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Further information:

• Pope Audience: God builds bridges when we build walls (Vatican)
• Pope Francis on his apostolic trip to Cuba and the United States (VIS)