Holy Father Pope Francis encouraged Catholic men and women in the field of theological ethics to be passionate about dialogue and networking in order to remove the walls of division and build bridges of fraternity everywhere in the world. The Pontiff’s encouragement came in a message to participants in a 2-day conference in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the theme, “A Critical Time for Bridge- Building, Catholic Theological Ethics Today.” Some 500 Catholic moral theologians from 80 countries attended the July 26-27 meeting, organized by the Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church (CTEWC) network.
As reported by Vatican Radio, Holy Father Pope Francis noted that certain aspects of the ecological challenge can create grave imbalances not only in terms of the relationship between man and nature, but also between generations and people. In this regard, he said, “the issue of migrants and refugees can foster ethical and theological reflection, even before inspiring suitable pastoral attitudes and responsible and carefully planned political policies.”
The Pontiff commended the CTEWC proposal to create a network between persons in various continents to engage in theological ethical reflection to help find new and effective resources that will help mobilize action that is compassionate and attentive to tragic human situations, and concerned with accompanying them with merciful care. “But for this to happen, all the theologians themselves need to build bridges among themselves, to share ideas and programmes, and to develop forms of closeness.”
