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Young communicators offer support to Pope

SIGNIS CORNER

With the signing of a letter of support for the pontifical ministry of Pope Francis, the First SIGNIS Communication Laboratory in Latin America and the Caribbean, which took place November 19–30 in Quito, Ecuador, concluded.

In colloquial tone and youthful language, the young communicators from eight countries (Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay) tell the Pope “my friend, my partner, my friend…we write to encourage you in your pastoral ministry and to support you in your pontificate,” while thanking him for the visits he has made to nine countries in Latin America.

“Today many criticize… your commitment to lead a poor Church for the poor, but we young Catholic communicators from Latin America and the Caribbean appreciate your ongoing concern for: our Amazon, which is being deforested, threatened by mining and oil extraction; for the indigenous people, in constant struggle to preserve the environment, their culture and identity; for migrants and refugees, who flee violence and seek new opportunities for peace; for the corruption that prevails and impoverishes our peoples; and for us young people, challenged by these social realities. We believe in you and we bet on a communication that combats the culture of discarding and promotes the culture of encounter,” says one part of the communication.

The young communicators expressed their commitment to “follow… transmitting the message of Christ in all the peripheries, through different means and forms of communication (radio, press, television, cinema, websites, social networks), and especially in the sixth continent”.

“We support you from the Río de la Plata, the Andes mountain range, the Pacific Ocean, the Amazon Rainforest, the Panama Canal, the Basilica of Caacupé, and Guadalupe, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Charity of the Copper, the Half of the World, the forests,…beaches and all the Caribbean islands and the Antilles, and the other places that make up this geographical territory, of this continent of love and hope,” adds the communication.

Finally, they extend a hug to him, with all the flavours of the traditional drinks and foods of the Latin American towns and they expressed the desire to next meet him at the World Youth Day, to be held in Panama, January 2019.

The letter was delivered to Fr Federico Boni, secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature in Ecuador, so that through the representative of the Holy See, Msgr Andrés Carrascosa Coso, it may reach Pope Francis.