POPE FRANCIS

ANGELUS

5^th Sunday of Lent - 6 April 2025

_________________________

Text prepared by the Holy Father

Dear brothers and sisters,

The Gospel of this fifth Sunday of Lent presents to us the episode of the woman caught in adultery (Jn 8:1-11). While the scribes and the pharisees want to stone her, Jesus restores the lost beauty to this woman. She has fallen in the dust; Jesus passes his finger on this dust and writes a new story for her. It is the “finger of God”, who saves His children (cf. Ex 8:15) and frees them from evil (cf. Lk 11:20).

Dear friends, as during my hospitalization, even now in my convalescence I feel the “finger of God” and experience His caring touch. On the day of the Jubilee of the sick and the world of healthcare, I ask the Lord that this touch of His love may reach those who suffer and encourage those who care for them. And I pray for doctors, nurses and health workers, who are not always helped to work in adequate conditions and are sometimes even victims of aggression. Their mission is not easy and must be supported and respected. I hope that the necessary resources will be invested in treatment and research, so that health systems are inclusive and attentive to the most fragile and the poorest.

I thank the inmates of Rebibbia women’s prison for the note they have sent to me. I pray for them and for their families.

On International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, I hope that sport may be a sign of hope for so many people who need peace and social inclusion, and I thank the sporting associations that educate in fraternity in practical way.

Let us continue to pray for peace: in tormented Ukraine, stricken by attacks that are claiming many civilian victims, including a lot of children. And the same is happening in Gaza, where people are reduced to living in unimaginable conditions, without shelter, without food, without clean water. May the weapons be silenced and dialogue resumed; may all the hostages be freed and aid brought to the population. Let us pray for peace throughout the Middle East; in Sudan and South Sudan; in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; in Myanmar, hard hit by the earthquake; and in Haiti, where violence rages, and two religious sisters were killed a few days ago.

May the Virgin Mary protect us and intercede for us.

Pope Francis at the G7, the full text of the speech Today, June 14, 2024, we publish in full the Pope's speech at the joint session of the summit taking place in Borgo Egnazia, in Puglia, on the theme of artificial intelligence 

A fascinating and tremendous tool 

Dear Ladies, distinguished Gentlemen! Today I address you, Leaders of the G7 Intergovernmental Forum, with a reflection on the effects of artificial intelligence on the future of humanity. Sacred Scripture attests that God has given men his Spirit so that they may have "wisdom, intelligence and knowledge in every kind of work" (Ex 35: 31)" [1].  

Science and technology are therefore extraordinary products of the creative potential of us human beings [2]. 

Well, it is precisely from the use of this creative potential that God has given us that artificial intelligence comes to light. The latter, as is known, is an extremely powerful tool, used in many areas of human action: from medicine to the world of work, from culture to the field of communication, from education to politics. And it is now reasonable to assume that its use will increasingly influence our way of life, our social relationships and in the future even the way in which we conceive our identity as human beings [3]. 

The subject of artificial intelligence is, however, often perceived as ambivalent: on the one hand, it excites for the possibilities it offers, on the other hand it generates fear for the consequences it portends. In this regard it can be said that we are all, albeit to varying degrees, crossed by two emotions: we are enthusiastic, when we imagine the progress that artificial intelligence can derive, but, at the same time, we are afraid when we see the dangers inherent in its use [4]. 

We cannot, moreover, doubt that the advent of artificial intelligence represents a real cognitive-industrial revolution, which will contribute to the creation of a new social system characterized by complex epochal transformations. For example, artificial intelligence could allow a democratization of access to knowledge, the exponential progress of scientific research, the possibility of delegating worn-out work to machines; but, at the same time, it could bring with it a greater injustice between advanced and developing nations, between dominant and oppressed social classes, thus endangering the possibility of a “culture of encounter” for the benefit of a “culture of waste”. The scale of these complex transformations is obviously linked to the rapid technological development of artificial intelligence itself. Precisely this vigorous technological advance makes artificial intelligence a fascinating and tremendous tool at the same time and requires reflection at the height of the situation. In this direction, perhaps we could start from the observation that artificial intelligence is first and foremost a tool. And it is spontaneous to say that the benefits or harms that it will bring will depend on its use. This is certainly true, since it has been so for every tool built by the human being since the dawn of time. Our ability to build tools, in a quantity and complexity that is unparalleled among the living, speaks of a techno-human condition: the human being has always maintained a relationship with the environment mediated by the tools that he gradually produced. It is not possible to separate the history of man and civilization from the history of such instruments. Someone wanted to read in all this a kind of lack, a deficit, of the human being, as if, because of this deficiency, he was forced to give life to technology [5]. 

A careful and objective look actually shows us the opposite. We live a condition of further with respect to our biological being; we are beings unbalanced towards the outside-of-us, indeed radically open to the beyond. From here comes our openness to others and to God; from here comes the creative potential of our intelligence in terms of culture and beauty; from here, finally, originates our technical capacity. Technology is thus a trace of our further. However, the use of our utensils is not always uniquely aimed at the good. Even if the human being feels within himself a vocation to the beyond and to knowledge lived as an instrument of good at the service of brothers and sisters and of the common home (cf.Gaudium et spes, 16), this does not always happen. Indeed, not infrequently, thanks to its radical freedom, humanity has perverted the ends of its being by becoming an enemy of itself and of the planet [6]. 

The same can happen with technological tools. Only if their vocation to the service of the human being is guaranteed will technological tools reveal not only the greatness and the unique dignity of the human being, but also the mandate that the latter has received to “cultivate and guard” (cf.Gen 2: 15) the planet and all its inhabitants. To talk about technology is to talk about what it means to be human and therefore about our only condition between freedom and responsibility, that is, it means to talk about ethics. When our ancestors, in fact, sharpened flint stones to make knives, they used them both to cut leather for clothes and to kill each other. The same could be said of other much more advanced technologies, such as the energy produced by the fusion of atoms as occurs on the Sun, which could certainly be used to produce clean and renewable energy but also to reduce our planet to a heap of ash. Artificial intelligence, however, is an even more complex tool. I would almost say that it is a sui generis tool. Thus, while the use of a simple tool (such as the knife) is under the control of the human being who uses it and only from the latter depends on its good use, artificial intelligence, on the other hand, can adapt autonomously to the task that is assigned to it and, if designed with this mode, make choices independent of the human being to achieve the goal set [7].

It should always be remembered that the machine can, in some forms and with these new means, produce algorithmic choices. What the machine does is a technical choice between multiple possibilities and is based either on well-defined criteria or on statistical inferences. The human being, on the other hand, not only chooses, but in his heart is able to decide. The decision is an element that we could define more strategic than a choice and requires a practical evaluation. Sometimes, often in the difficult task of governing, we are called to decide with consequences even on many people. Human reflection has always spoken in this regard of wisdom, the phronesis of Greek philosophy and at least in part the wisdom of Sacred Scripture. Faced with the wonders of machines, which seem to know how to choose independently, we must be clear that the human being must always remain the decision, even with the dramatic and urgent tones with which this sometimes occurs in our lives. We would condemn humanity to a hopeless future, if we deprived people of the ability to decide on themselves and their lives by condemning them to depend on the choices of machines. We need to guarantee and protect a space of meaningful control of the human being over the process of choosing artificial intelligence programs: human dignity itself is at stake. On this very issue, let me insist: in a drama such as that of armed conflicts, it is urgent to rethink the development and use of devices such as the so-called “autonomous lethal weapons” to ban their use, starting with an active and concrete commitment to introduce ever greater and significant human control. No machine should ever choose to take the life of a human being.  

It must also be added that the good use, at least of advanced forms of artificial intelligence, will not be fully under the control of either the users or the programmers who defined its original purposes at the time of conception. And this is all the more true as it is highly likely that, in the not-so-distant future, artificial intelligence programs will be able to communicate directly with each other, to improve their performance. And, if in the past, human beings who have fashioned simple tools have seen their existence shaped by the latter – the knife has allowed them to survive the cold but also to develop the art of war – now that human beings have fashioned a complex tool they will see the latter shaping their existence even more [8]. 

The basic mechanism of artificial intelligence I would now like to briefly dwell on the complexity of artificial intelligence. In its essence, artificial intelligence is a tool designed to solve a problem and works by means of a logical chaining of algebraic operations, carried out on categories of data, which are compared to discover correlations, improving their statistical value, thanks to a self-learning process, based on the search for further data and on the self-modification of its calculation procedures. Artificial intelligence is thus designed to solve specific problems, but for those who use it it is often irresistible the temptation to draw, starting from the punctual solutions that it proposes, general deductions, even of an anthropological order. A good example is the use of programs designed to assist judges in decisions regarding the granting of house arrest to inmates who are serving a sentence in a prison institution. In this case, artificial intelligence is asked to predict the probability of recidivism of the crime committed by a convicted person starting from predetermined categories (type of crime, behavior in prison, psychological evaluation and other), allowing artificial intelligence to have access to categories of data related to the prisoner's private life (ethnic origin, educational level, credit line and others). 

The use of such a methodology – which sometimes risks de facto delegating to a machine the last word on a person's fate – can implicitly carry with it the reference to the prejudices inherent in the categories of data used by artificial intelligence. Being classified in a certain ethnic group or, more prosaically, having committed a minor infraction years earlier (not having paid, for example, a fine for a prohibited stop), will influence, in fact, the decision about the granting of house arrest. On the contrary, the human being is always evolving and is capable of surprising with his actions, something that the machine cannot take into account. It should be noted then that applications similar to this one just mentioned will undergo an acceleration thanks to the fact that artificial intelligence programs will be increasingly equipped with the ability to interact directly with human beings (chatbots), supporting conversations with them and establishing relationships of closeness with them, often very pleasant and reassuring, as such artificial intelligence programs will be designed to learn to respond, in personalized form, to the physical and psychological needs of human beings. Forgetting that artificial intelligence is not another human being and that it cannot propose general principles, is often a serious error that originates either from the profound need of human beings to find a stable form of companionship or from their subconscious assumption, that is, from the assumption that the observations obtained by a calculation mechanism are endowed with the qualities of indisputable certainty and undoubted universality. 

This assumption, however, is risky, as evidenced by the examination of the intrinsic limits of the calculation itself. The artificial intelligence uses of algebraic operations to be carried out in a logical sequence (for example, if the value of X is greater than Y, multiply X to Y; otherwise, divide X by Y). This method of calculation – the so – called “algorithm” - is endowed with neither objectivity nor neutrality [9]. 

Being in fact based on algebra, it can examine only formalized realities in numerical terms [10]. 

It should not be forgotten, moreover, that the algorithms designed to solve very complex problems are so sophisticated as to make it difficult for the programmers themselves to understand exactly how they manage to achieve their results. This trend of sophistication is likely to accelerate considerably with the introduction of quantum computers that will not operate with binary circuits (semiconductors or microchips), but according to the laws, somewhat articulated, of quantum physics. On the other hand, the continuous introduction of increasingly performing microchips has already become one of the causes of the dominance of the use of artificial intelligence by the few nations that are equipped with it. Whether sophisticated or not, the quality of the answers AI programs provide ultimately depends on the data they use and how they structure it. Finally, I would like to point out one last area in which the complexity of the mechanism of the so-called Generative Artificial Intelligence (Generative Artificial Intelligence) clearly emerges. No one doubts that today magnificent knowledge access tools are available that even allow self-learning and self-tutoring in a myriad of fields. 

Many of us were impressed by the applications easily available online to compose a text or produce an image on any theme or subject. Particularly attracted by this perspective are the students who, when they have to prepare papers, make disproportionate use of them. These pupils, who are often much more prepared and accustomed to the use of artificial intelligence than their professors, forget, however, that the so-called generative artificial intelligence, strictly speaking, is not properly “generative”. The latter, in truth, looks in big data for information and packages it in the style that has been requested. It does not develop new concepts or analysis. He repeats the ones he finds, giving them an appealing shape. And the more he finds a notion or hypothesis repeated, the more he considers it legitimate and valid. More than "generative“, it is therefore” strengthening", in the sense that it reorders existing contents, helping to consolidate them, often without checking if they contain errors or preconceptions. In this way, there is not only the risk of legitimizing fake nes The education that should provide students with the possibility of authentic reflection risks being reduced to a repetition of notions, which will be increasingly evaluated as indisputable, simply because of their continuous repetition [11].

Putting the dignity of the person at the center in view of a shared ethical proposal To what has already been said, a more general observation must now be added. The season of technological innovation that we are going through, in fact, is accompanied by a particular and unprecedented social conjuncture: on the great themes of social living it is possible with less and less ease to find understandings. Even in communities characterized by a certain cultural continuity, heated debates and confrontations are often created that make it difficult to produce reflections and shared political solutions, aimed at seeking what is good and just. Beyond the complexity of legitimate visions that characterize the human family, a factor emerges that seems to unite these different instances. It is recorded as a loss or at least an eclipse of the sense of the human and an apparent insignificance of the concept of human dignity [12]. 

It seems that the value and deep meaning of one of the fundamental categories of the West is being lost: the category of human person. And this is how in this season in which artificial intelligence programs question the human being and his action, precisely the weakness of the ethos connected to the perception of the value and dignity of the human person risks being the greatest vulnus in the implementation and development of these systems. We must not forget that no innovation is neutral. Technology is born for a purpose and, in its impact on human society, always represents a form of order in social relations and an arrangement of power, which empowers someone to perform actions and prevents others from doing others. This constitutive power dimension of technology always includes, in a more or less explicit way, the worldview of those who realized and developed it. This also applies to artificial intelligence programs. In order for the latter to be instruments for the construction of the good and of a better tomorrow, they must always be ordered to the good of every human being. They must have ethical inspiration.

 The ethical decision, in fact, is one that takes into account not only the results of an action, but also the values at stake and the duties that derive from these values. For this reason I welcomed the signing in Rome, in 2020, of the Rome Call for AI Ethics [13] and its support for that form of ethical moderation of algorithms and artificial intelligence programs that I called “algoretica” [14].

 In a plural and global context, in which different sensitivities and plural hierarchies in the value scales are also shown, it would seem difficult to find a single hierarchy of values. But in ethical analysis we can also resort to other types of tools: if we struggle to define a single set of global values, we can however find shared principles with which to face and dissolve any dilemmas or conflicts of living. For this reason the Rome Call was born: in the term “algoretica” a series of principles are condensed that prove to be a global and plural platform able to find the support of cultures, religions, international organizations and large companies protagonists of this development. The policy that is needed We cannot, therefore, hide the concrete risk, since inherent in its fundamental mechanism, that artificial intelligence limits the vision of the world to realities expressed in numbers and enclosed in ready-made categories, removing the contribution of other forms of truth and imposing uniform anthropological, socio-economic and cultural models. The technological paradigm embodied by artificial intelligence then risks making room for a much more dangerous paradigm, which I have already identified with the name of “technocratic paradigm” [15].

 We cannot allow such a powerful and indispensable tool as artificial intelligence to reinforce such a paradigm, but rather, we must make artificial intelligence a bulwark precisely against its expansion. And it is precisely here that political action is urgent, as the Encyclical Fratelli Tutti recalls. "For many, politics today is a bad word, and it cannot be ignored that behind this fact there are often mistakes, corruption, inefficiency of some politicians. Added to this are the strategies that aim to weaken it, to replace it with the economy or to dominate it with some ideology. And yet, can the world work without politics? Can it find an effective way towards universal fraternity and social peace without a good policy?» [16].

Our answer to these last questions is: no! Politics is needed! I want to reiterate on this occasion that "in the face of so many petty forms of politics aimed at immediate interest [...] political greatness is shown when, in difficult times, one operates on the basis of great principles and thinking of the common good in the long term. Political power finds it very difficult to accept this duty in a project of a Nation and even more so in a common project for present and future humanity" [17].

Dear Ladies, distinguished Gentlemen! This reflection of mine on the effects of artificial intelligence on the future of humanity thus leads us to the consideration of the importance of “sound politics” to look with hope and confidence to our future. As I have already said elsewhere, " world society has serious structural deficiencies that are not solved by patching up or merely occasional quick solutions. There are things that need to be changed with background resets and major transformations. Only a sound policy could guide it, involving the most diverse sectors and the most varied knowledge. In this way, an economy integrated into a political, social, cultural and popular project that tends towards the common good can "open the way to different opportunities, which do not imply stopping human creativity and its dream of progress, but rather channeling this energy in a new way" (Laudato si', 191)" [18].

This is precisely the case with artificial intelligence. It is up to everyone to make good use of it and it is up to politics to create the conditions for such good use to be possible and fruitful. Thank you.

NOTE

[1] Message for the LVII World Day of Peace on January 1, 2024, 1.

[2] Cf.ibid.

[3] Cf. ibid., 2.

[4]This ambivalence was already supported by Pope St. Paul VI in his Address to the staff of the “Centro Automazione Analisi Linguistica” of the Alosi

[5] Cf. A. Gehlen, The man. Its nature and its place in the world, Milan 1983, 43.

[6] Laudato si ' (May 24, 2015), 102-114.

[7] Cf. Message for the LVII World Day of Peace on 1 January 2024, 3.

[8] The insights of Marshall McLuhan and Cul

[9] Cf. Address to the participants in the Plenary of the Pontifical Academy for Life, February 28, 2020.

[10] Cf. Message for the LVII World Day of Peace on 1 January 2024, 4.

[11] Cf. ibid., 3 and 7.

 [12] Cf. Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Dignitas infinita Declaration on Human Dignity (April 2, 2024).

[13] Cf. Address to the participants in the Plenary of the Pontifical Academy for Life, February 28, 2020.

[14] Cf. Address to participants in the Conference " Promoting Digital Child Dignity – From Concept to Action”, 14 November 2019; Address to participants in the Plenary of the Pontifical Academy for Life, 28 February 2020.

[15] For a broader exposition, I refer to my Encyclical Letter Laudato si’ on the Care of the common Home of May 24, 2015.

[16] Letter enc. Brothers all on fraternity and social friendship (3 October 2020), 176.

[17] Ivi, 178.

[18] Ivi, 179.

APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO SRI LANKA AND THE PHILIPPINES
(12-19 JANUARY 2015)

HOLY MASS

HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

Tacloban International Airport
Saturday, 17 January 2015

Impromptu homily of the Holy Father

In the first reading, we heard that we have a great priest capable of sympathizing with out weakness, who in every respect has been tempted as we are… (cf. Heb 4:15). Jesus is like us. Jesus lived as we do.

He is like us in everything. In everything but sin, for he was not a sinner. But to be even more like us, he took upon himself our sins. He became sin! This is what Paul tells us, and it was something that he knew well. Jesus goes before us always; when we experience any kind of cross, he was already there before us.

If today all of us are gathered here, fourteen months after the passage of Typhoon Yolanda, it is because we are certain that we will not be disappointed in our faith, for Jesus has gone before us. In his passion he took upon himself all of our sorrows, and… Let me tell you something personal – when I witnessed his disaster from Rome, I felt that I had to be here. That is when I decided to come here. I wanted to come to be with you. Maybe you will tell me that I came a little late; that is true, but here I am!

I am here to tell you that Jesus is Lord; that Jesus does not disappoint. “Father”, one of you may tell me, “he disappointed me because I lost my house, I lost my family, I lost everything I had, I am sick”. What you say is true and I respect your feelings, but I see him there, nailed to the cross, and from there he does not disappoint us. He was consecrated Lord on that throne, and there he experienced all the disasters we experience. Jesus is Lord! And he is Lord from the cross, from there he reigned. That is why, as we heard in the first reading, he can understand us: he became like us in every way. So we have a Lord who is able to weep with us, who can be at our side through life’s most difficult moments.

So many of you have lost everything. I do not know what to tell you. But surely he knows what to tell you! So many of you have lost members of your family. I can only be silent; I accompany you silently, with my heart…

Many of you looked to Christ and asked: Why, Lord? To each of you the Lord responds from his heart. I have no other words to say to you. Let us look to Christ: he is the Lord, and he understands us, for he experienced all the troubles we experience.

With him, beneath the cross, is his Mother. We are like that child who stands down there, who, in times of sorrow and pain, times when we understand nothing, times when we want to rebel, can only reach out and cling to her skirts and say to her: “Mother!” Like a little child who is frightened and says: “Mother”. Perhaps that is the only word which can express all the feelings we have in those dark moments: Mother!

Let us be still for a moment and look to the Lord. He can understand us, for he experienced all these things. And let us look to our Mother, and like that little child, let us reach out, cling to her skirts and say to her in our hearts: “Mother”. Let us make this prayer in silence; let everyone say it whatever way he or she feels…

We are not alone; we have a Mother; we have Jesus, our older brother. We are not alone. And we also have many brothers and sisters who, when the disaster struck, came to our assistance. We too feel more like brothers and sisters whenever we help one another, whenever we help each other.

This is all that I feel I have to say to you. Forgive me if I have no other words. But be sure that Jesus does not disappoint us; be sure that the love and tenderness of our Mother does not disappoint us. Clinging to her as sons and daughters with the strength which Jesus our brother gives us, let us now move forward. As brothers and sisters, let us take up our journey. Thank you!

After Communion:

We have just celebrated the passion, death and resurrection of Christ.

Jesus has gone before us on this journey and he is with us whenever we gather to pray and celebrate.

Thank you, Lord, for being with us here today. Thank you, Lord, for sharing our sorrows. Thank you, Lord, for giving us hope. Thank you, Lord, for your great mercy. Thank you, Lord, because you wanted to be like one of us. Thank you, Lord, because you keep ever close to us, even when we carry our crosses. Thank you, Lord, for giving us hope. Lord, may no one rob us of hope! Thank you, Lord, because in the darkest moment of your own life, on the cross, you thought of us and you left us a mother, your mother. Thank you Lord for not leaving us orphans!

---

Prepared text of the Holy Father's homily

What words of consolation we have just heard! Once again, we have been told that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, our Savior, our high priest who brings us mercy, grace and help in all our needs (cf. Heb 4:14-16). He heals our wounds, he forgives our sins, and he calls us, as he did Saint Matthew (cf. Mk 2:14), to be his disciples. Let us praise him for his love, his mercy and his compassion. Let us praise our great God!

I thank the Lord Jesus that we can be together this morning. I have come to be with you, in this city which was ravaged by Typhoon Yolanda fourteen months ago. I bring to you the love of a father, the prayers of the entire Church, the promise that you are not forgotten as you continue to rebuild. Here, the strongest storm ever recorded on earth was overcome by the strongest force in the universe: God’s love. We are here this morning to bear witness to that love, to its power to transform death and destruction into life and community. Christ’s resurrection, which we celebrate at this Mass, is our hope and a reality which we experience even now. We know that the resurrection comes only after the cross, the cross which you have borne with faith, dignity and God-given strength.

We come together above all to pray for those who died, those who are still missing and those who were injured. We lift up to God the souls of the dead, our mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, family, friends and neighbors. We can be confident that, in coming into the presence of God, they have encountered mercy and peace (cf. Heb 4:16). There remains much sadness because of their absence. For you who knew and loved them – and love them still – the pain of losing them is real. But let us look with the eyes of faith to the future. Our sadness is a seed which will one day bear fruit in the joy which our Lord has promised to those who trust in his words: “Blessed are you who mourn, for you will be comforted” (cf. Mt 5:4).

We have also come together this morning to give thanks to God for his help in time of need. God has been your strength in these very difficult months. There has been great loss of life, suffering, and destruction. Yet we are still able to gather and to thank him. We know that he cares for us, that in Jesus his Son, we have a high priest who is able to sympathize with us (cf. Heb 4:15), who suffers with us. God’s com-passion, his suffering with us, gives eternal meaning and value to our struggles. Your desire to thank him for every grace and blessing, even when you have lost so much, is not only a triumph of the resilience and strength of the Filipino people; it is also a sign of God’s goodness, his closeness, his tenderness, his saving power.

We also give thanks to Almighty God for so much that has been done to help, to rebuild, to assist in these months of unprecedented need. I think in the first place of those who welcomed and housed the great number of displaced families, elderly, and youth. How hard it is to flee one’s home and livelihood! We thank those who have taken care of the homeless, the orphaned and the destitute. Priests, and men and women religious, gave as much as they could. To those of you who housed and fed people seeking safety, in churches, convents, rectories, and who continue to assist those still struggling, I thank you. You are a credit to the Church. You are the pride of your nation. I personally thank each one of you. For whatever you did for the least of Christ’s brothers and sisters, you did for him (cf. Mt 25:41).

At this Mass we wish also to thank God for the good men and women who served as rescue and relief workers. We thank him for the many people around the world who generously gave of their time, money and goods. Countries, organizations and individuals across the globe put the needy first; it is an example that should be followed. I ask government leaders, international agencies, benefactors and people of goodwill not to give up. There is much that remains to be done. Though the headlines have changed, the needs continue.

Today’s first reading, from the Letter to the Hebrews, urges us to hold fast in our confession, to persevere in our faith, to draw near with confidence to the throne of God’s grace (cf. Heb 4:16). These words have a special resonance in this place. Amid great suffering you never ceased to confess the victory of the cross, the triumph of God’s love. You have seen the power of that love revealed in the generosity of so many people and in so many small miracles of goodness. But you have also seen, in the profiteering, the looting and the failed responses to this great human drama, so many tragic signs of the evil from which Christ came to save us. Let us pray that this, too, will lead us to greater trust in the power of God’s grace to overcome sin and selfishness. Let us pray in particular that it will make everyone more sensitive to the cry of our brothers and sisters in need. Let us pray that it will lead to a rejection of all forms of injustice and corruption which, by stealing from the poor, poison the very roots of society.

Dear brothers and sisters, throughout this ordeal you have felt the grace of God in a special way through the presence and loving care of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Perpetual Help. She is our Mother. May she help you to persevere in faith and hope, and to reach out to all in need. And with Saints Lorenzo Ruiz and Pedro Calungsod and all the saints, may she continue to implore God’s mercy and loving compassion for this country, and for all the beloved Filipino people. Amen.