Even today, after the second failure of another world war, perhaps one can speak of a third war, one fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction.

Have the courage to go against the tide of current values that do not conform to the path of Jesus.

Mercy is the very foundation of the Church's life...The Church's very credibility is seen in how she shows merciful and compassionate love...Mercy is the force that reawakens us to new life and instills in us the courage to look to the future with hope.

Every child who, rather than being born, is condemned unjustly to being aborted, bears the face of Jesus Christ, bears the face of the Lord, who even before he was born, and then just after birth, experienced the world’s rejection. And every elderly person…even if he is ill or at the end of his days, bears the face of Christ. They cannot be discarded, as the ‘culture of waste’ suggests!

If globalization is a sphere, where each point is equidistant from the centre, then it isn't good because it annuls each of us. But if globalization joins us as a polyhedron where we're all together but conserves the dignity of each ... that's good.

Let's pray for whole world that there be brotherhood. I hope this journey of the church we begin today is fruitful for evangelization.

May all people here find inspiration and strength to build a future of reconciliation, justice and peace for all the children of this beloved land.