• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Pope Francis gives his blessing to a group of young Catholics and organizers from the France-based Missionary Fraternity of the Cities at the Vatican Jan. 4, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Pope tells young people to sow peace in the peripheries

January 5, 2024
By Justin McLellan
Catholic News Service
Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News, Young Adult Ministry

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A person does not have to travel far from home to find people living on the margins of society and in need hearing the message of the Gospel, Pope Francis said.

“Do not be afraid to leave your securities to be able to share the everyday life of your brothers and sisters,” the pope told the France-based Missionary Fraternity of the Cities during an audience at the Vatican Jan. 4. “Many have open hearts and are waiting, without knowing it, for the good news” of the Gospel, he said.

The group, made up of young volunteers, lay organizers and priests, was formed in 2022 to create and support networks of priests in low-income neighborhoods in various French cities. The group came to the Vatican with 12 young Catholics from working-class areas in Paris to meet the pope and share their experience of faith with him.

Sabine, a 21-year-old psychology student, told the French magazine Le Pélerin before their meeting that she hoped to tell the pope “just how much our diversity is a richness.”

The idea for a meeting between young people and the pope came after Paris was consumed by riots after a police officer killed Nahel Merzouk, a 17-year-old French citizen of Algerian and Moroccan origin, in June. The incident sparked protests around the country about racial profiling in policing and questions about racial integration in France.

The pope told the young people and the organizers accompanying them that they “need not go very far in your service at the heart of cities to discover the existential peripheries of our society, which are often within reach, in your neighborhood, on the street corner, on your same floor.”

Pope Francis noted that even the first Christmas occurred in a “simple and poor place, a periphery, an outskirt of that time.”

“The pastors who go to the manger are outcasts with a bad reputation,” he said. “Yet it is to them that the Gospel of salvation is proclaimed. They are poor but they have open hearts.”

The pope encouraged the young people to “generously live fraternity” in their neighborhoods and to work toward having “an openness of hearts, of hands, of ears, for a sincere welcome” of others.

“Fraternity is the leaven of peace that the peripheries need,” he said. “It allows each one to feel welcomed as he or she is, where he or she is.”

“Show the presence of a compassionate God,” who remains close to wounded people even in their anger, the pope said.

While “violence, indifference and hatred can mark neighborhoods,” he said, the young people should “bring God’s closeness, compassion and tenderness to people who are often deprived of dignity and love.”

Read More Young Adult Ministry

Quo Vadis attracts biggest crowd ever, promotes camaraderie and faith

School club gives students chance to benefit veterans, fosters Gospel value of serving others

A good match is hard to find: Catholics try to renew a ‘hopeless’ dating culture

A special engagement at Sacred Heart of Mary for Graceland Park couple

Navigating world of dating can be a challenge for Catholics

Life Fest 2025 an ‘explosion of life, joy and grace’ ahead of annual March for Life

Copyright © 2024 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Justin McLellan

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Prince of Peace merges with St. Francis de Sales in Harford County

  • Construction underway on new north addition to St. Joseph’s Nursing Home 

  • Archbishop Wenski leads Knights on Bikes to pray rosary at Alligator Alcatraz

  • Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants

  • Radio Interview: Youth ministry changing with the times

| Latest Local News |

Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants

Third annual gun buyback scheduled for Aug. 9

Driver arrested after crashing into entrance of Esperanza Center

Construction underway on new north addition to St. Joseph’s Nursing Home 

Prince of Peace merges with St. Francis de Sales in Harford County

| Latest World News |

Detroit archbishop fires theologians Ralph Martin, Eduardo Echeverría from seminary

LA archbishop, joined by business leaders, starts fund to help families affected by ICE raids

FBI surveilled SSPX priest amid probe of suspected neo-Nazi’s plans for violence

Poland’s ‘living memorial’ to St. John Paul II marks 25 years of transforming lives

Catholic ‘American Ninja Warrior’ fights world hunger, one obstacle at a time

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Detroit archbishop fires theologians Ralph Martin, Eduardo Echeverría from seminary
  • LA archbishop, joined by business leaders, starts fund to help families affected by ICE raids
  • FBI surveilled SSPX priest amid probe of suspected neo-Nazi’s plans for violence
  • Poland’s ‘living memorial’ to St. John Paul II marks 25 years of transforming lives
  • Our faith is not afraid of questions
  • Catholic ‘American Ninja Warrior’ fights world hunger, one obstacle at a time
  • Parishes need to launch ‘revolution of care’ for the elderly, pope says
  • Broglio: Church teaching obligates the faithful to support pastoral care of migrants
  • Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en