Be like Nehemiah and seek the common good, Pope counsels Fratelli Tutti encounter participants

September 14, 2026

Invoking the example of Nehemiah’s efforts to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, Pope Leo XIV encouraged participants in the 4th Fratelli Tutti Synodal Encounter to seek the common good.

The encounter, organized by the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, brought together representatives of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council, the Amazonian Ecclesial Conference and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Also present were representatives of international organizations, regional development banks, the business community, foundations, trade union confederations, employers’ organizations, ecclesial networks, and university networks.

“When public institutions, businesses, workers, universities, communities and social organizations share their knowledge, skills and resources in the service of the common good, it gives tangible form to a conviction which has been maturing within the social teaching of the Church, and which my Predecessors have developed in various ways: the great social challenges require shared responsibility, participation and collaboration among the various sectors of society,” Pope Leo said during the audience, which took place on September 12 in Consistory Hall of the Apostolic Palace.

“Great edifices have come crashing down wherever progress ceases to serve the person, where work loses its dignity, where entire communities are cast aside or where technology ends up deepening the divisions that it should be helping us to overcome,” the Pope continued. “Nehemiah did not rebuild Jerusalem alone. He called upon his people, and each person worked on the section they were responsible for building.”

Pope Leo added:

It is now up to you to recognize what part of this shared work has been entrusted to you. May the progress of our time not leave new ruins in its wake, and may whatever we build truly be a home and a refuge for all, beginning with those most in need.

 

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Further information:

• Participants at the ‘Fratelli tutti: North-South socio-environmental dialogue’ meeting (Dicastery for Communication - Vatican Media, 9/12/26)
• Audience with participants in the Meeting “Fratelli tutti: North-South socio-environmental Dialogue” (Holy See Press Office, 9/12/26)
• Pope: Progress must not leave new ruins in its wake (Vatican News, 9/12/26)