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its emphasis on success and self-reliance, does
not appear to favour an investment in efforts to
help the slow, the weak or the less talented to
find opportunities in life.
210.âIt is essential to draw near to new forms
of poverty and vulnerability, in which we are
called to recognize the suffering Christ, even if
this appears to bring us no tangible and imme-
diate benefits. I think of the homeless, the ad-
dicted, refugees, indigenous peoples, the elderly
who are increasingly isolated and abandoned,
and many others.
Migrants present a particu-
lar challenge for me, since I am the pastor of a
Church without frontiers, a Church which con-
siders herself mother to all. For this reason, I ex-
hort all countries to a generous openness which,
rather than fearing the loss of local identity, will
prove capable of creating new forms of cultural
synthesis. How beautiful are those cities which
overcome paralysing mistrust, integrate those
who are different and make this very integration
a new factor of development! How attractive are
those cities which, even in their architectural de-
sign, are full of spaces which connect, relate and
favour the recognition of others!
211.âI have always been distressed at the lot of
those who are victims of various kinds of hu-
man trafficking. How I wish that all of us would
hear Godâs cry: âWhere is your brother?â (
Gen
4:9). Where is your brother or sister who is en-
slaved?
Where is the brother and sister whom
