Francis publishes new book of pandemic texts "to suggest keys for rebuilding a better world", "sow hope"

(Source: MJ/Sr Bernadette Mary Reis, fsp, Vatican News)

Pope Francis did not remain silent or unseen while the world was overtaken by a silent and unseen virus. He immediately made his voice heard through various ways and allowed the entire world to see their shepherd at prayer.

“In the early months of 2020, Pope Francis frequently reflected on the coronavirus pandemic as it took hold on the human family.”

Thus says Cardinal Michael Czerny in the preface to Life after the Pandemic, which offers “eight significant spoken and written texts” of Pope Francis from 27 March to 22 April.

Direction and hope

This book responds to two objectives, writes Cardinal Czerny.

“The first is to suggest direction, keys, and guidelines for rebuilding a better world that might be born from this crisis of humanity. The second objective is… to sow hope.”

The silent and the unseen

Included in this collection are words directed to many who are usually silent and unseen.

On Easter Sunday, Pope Francis was thinking of people engaged in “Popular Movements”, at the grassroots levels on the “peripheries of humanity”.

To him, they are “social poets because, from the forgotten peripheries where you live, you create admirable solutions for the most pressing problems afflicting the marginalized.”

Another precious message included in this collection is his message to “the world of street newspapers and especially their vendors.”

We find a precious pearl in his Easter Urbi et orbi address where we can all find ourselves in one way or another reflected in the Pope’s thought.