LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO BERNICE KING ON THE OCCASION OF "MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY"

[Monday, 18 January 2021]

I send cordial greetings and good wishes to all taking part in the Beloved Community Commemorative Service on 18 January 2021, honoring the life and achievements of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.

In today’s world, which increasingly faces the challenges of social injustice, division and conflict that hinder the realization of the common good, Dr King’s dream of harmony and equality for all people, attained through nonviolent and peaceful means, remains ever timely. “Each one of us is called to be an artisan of peace, by uniting and not dividing, by extinguishing hatred and not holding on to it, by opening paths of dialogue” (Fratelli Tutti, 284). In this way we will be able to see ourselves, not as “others”, but as neighbors, in the truth of our shared dignity as children of Almighty God. Only by striving daily to put this vision into practice can we work together to create a community built upon justice and fraternal love.

Upon all present at this Commemorative Service, I gladly invoke the divine blessings of wisdom and peace.

Rome, from Saint John Lateran, 3 December 2020

Francis

L'Osservatore Romano, Weekly edition in English, 22 January 2021