Now, at the end of my visit to the Philippines, I commend you to Him, to Jesus who came among us as a child. May He enable all the beloved people of this country to work together, protecting one another, beginning with your families and communities, in building a world of justice, integrity and peace.

May God welcome the dead into his peace, comfort the families and convert the hearts of the violent ones, who do not even stop before children.

For just as some people want a purely spiritual Christ, without flesh and without the cross, they also want their interpersonal relationships provided by sophisticated equipment, by screens and systems which can be turned on and off on command. Meanwhile, the Gospel tells us constantly to run the risk of a face-to-face encounter with others, with their physical presence which challenges us, with their pain and their pleas, with their joy which infects us in our close and continuous interaction.

The mercy of Jesus is not just sentiment: indeed it is a force that gives life, that raises man up!

Many powerful people don't want peace, because they live off war.

You pray for the hungry. Then you feed them. That's how prayer works.

If in so many parts of the world there are children who have nothing to eat, that's not news, it seems normal. It cannot be this way!