Pope Francis says "in the Christian commitment to those most in need; that is where true evangelization is." to Field Hospital Churches Group

Pope Francis received on Nov. 4th in the Vatican from the Third Meeting of Iglesias Hospital de Campaña ('Field Hospital Churches'), which is taking place in Rome and is an initiative of Spain's Mensajeros de la Paz Associaton.
Originating in Spain, the Meeting's motivation stems from the Holy Father's repeated call for the Church to be a 'field hospital' which helps the suffering and marginalized through love, mercy and charity.

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE THIRD MEETING OF FIELD HOSPITAL CHURCHES

Consistory Hall on Monday, 4 November 2024

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Thank you for coming. You are welcome to this meeting. I would like to say a few words to help you reflect on the work in the Church, the work you have in favour of the poorest and most marginalised.

I would like to share with you three aspects that I mentioned recently: first, to proclaim Christ; second, to repair inequalities; and third, to sow hope. To proclaim Christ, to repair inequalities, and to sow hope. You, helped by the grace of the Holy Spirit, strive to make churches like a field hospital – we must not forget this – by carrying out these three principles. Sometimes I feel very sorry when you ask a priest: “How is the parish? How is it going?” “Well, we have so many masses.” “But how many people come on Sundays in total?” “We estimate 1,000, 1,200.”

“Oh, how nice.” “And your neighborhood, how many people does it have?” And then he hesitates before saying: 200,000, 250,000. In other words, we have to be aware that few people come to Church. We have to go and look for them.

Showing that we welcome people, more with gestures than with words. A first principle: welcome. And also go and visit, which is another form of welcome. And continue to see in each one of them—vulnerable people—and in that vulnerability, the face of Christ. In that way, they announce Christ as the one who always walks with them, even if anonymously, since it is he who first became poor. I find anecdotes of poor people, from Spain, from the south of Italy, who announce Christ as they can in the midst of Muslim immigration, for example, helpful. And they announce it with gestures, with welcome, with accompaniment, with the promotion of the migrant. Welcoming Christ.

One way of welcoming Christ is in the poor and in the migrants. I emphasize the migrants because, whether in Italy or in Spain, it is one of the realities - I don't want to say a problem, but one of the realities. And, on the other hand, let us be thankful that the migrants come because the age level of the locals is a little scandalous. I think that in Italy the average is 46 years old. They don't have children. Oh, yes, they all have a dog or a cat, but they don't have children. And the migrants come, and well, in a way, they are the children that we don't want to have. Think about this a little.

Secondly, repair the inequalities. Through your apostolate, denounce to society the inequality, sometimes so great, between rich and poor, between nationals and foreigners. This is not what God wants of humanity and, in justice, these things need to be resolved. The social fabric must be restored by repairing inequalities. No one can remain indifferent to the suffering of others (cf. Gen 4:9). Think of the two extremes of life: the inequalities between children and the elderly. When the elderly are discarded, they are sent to winter quarters as if they had nothing to contribute to society at this time. And think of children, when they are used for certain jobs and then abandoned. There are children who are used to go and collect things in rubbish dumps that can be sold later. In a country where there is a very delicate fruit called blueberries, which requires great delicacy to harvest, they use hungry children to harvest blueberries and exploit them. A question we have to ask ourselves: What about the children? What about the elderly? The elderly are a source of wisdom, and we are witnessing the scandal of keeping them in the wardrobe of a nursing home. Children and the elderly.

And finally, we need to sow hope. In every person you welcome – whether they are homeless, or a refugee, or part of a vulnerable family, or a victim of war, or for any other reason they are marginalised from society – sow hope. And for all this I want to publicly thank you for your work. It is true that you are bold and fearless, not everyone has that courage, but what you do inspires others, it inspires them so much. Let us think of the refugees – we must go and look for them, go and see them – and of the Ukrainian soldiers wounded in the war. Let us sow hope in these people. War is a very harsh reality. It is a reality that kills and destroys. We must take care of these people. One thing I see when groups of Ukrainian children who are deported here come here is that they do not smile. The war stole their smile. That is why all the work you do with refugees is very important. And, furthermore, it is one of the three conditions that the Old Testament always repeats: the widow, the orphan and the stranger – the migrant, the refugee. It is a question that we must always ask ourselves. Please sow hope. In every person you welcome, in every person who has a vulnerability, sow hope.

Although these brothers often live overwhelmed by a panorama that could resemble a “dead end” – how many “dead ends” we find today, how many! – remind them that Christian hope is greater than any situation. It is not easy to say this to a war wounded person, it is not easy, but it must be said, because hope has its foundation in the Lord, not in man. Optimism is one thing, which is good; but hope is another thing, which is totally different.

I would like all of you, in the work you do in the Church, to never fail to discover that caring for the most vulnerable is always a privilege, because the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them (cf. Mt 5:3). Caring for the most vulnerable is caring for the Lord himself. “What you did for one of these, you did for me.” Every time we have the opportunity to approach them, to offer them our help, it is the opportunity we have to touch the flesh of Christ, because bringing the Gospel is not an abstract thing, an ideology, which is reduced to indoctrination. No, it is not about that, but bringing the Gospel becomes concrete there, in the Christian commitment to those most in need; that is where true evangelization is.

Sisters, brothers, I thank you for the testimony of Christian life, spread hope, spread mercy, spread love to all these people, and may they also be convinced of this truth, and may they join in collaborating in the service of the poorest. “Father, do we then have to baptize them before they come to help serve the poorest, or do we have to send them to confession so that they may be in God’s grace?” No. Anyone, atheist, non-atheist, anyone, of this religion or the other. To serve, and to serve the poorest. Among the poorest is Jesus. They are serving Jesus, even if they don’t believe in Him. All involved in the bag of service, all involved in the commitment to others. May Jesus bless you in the work you do and please, pray for me, but pray for me, not against me.

Source: Translation from Vatican.va