'Hope does not disappoint,' Pope says in message to Rimini meeting (Vatican Press Office)

In a message to the annual Meeting for Friendship among Peoples, held in Rimini, Italy, Pope Leo XIV said: “We can no longer afford to resist the Kingdom of God, which is a Kingdom of peace.”

The Pope said that “where those responsible for state and international institutions seem unable to enforce the rule of law, mediation and dialogue, religious communities and civil society must dare to be prophetic.” He encouraged Christians to work for the transformation of society, saying:

Unarmed and disarming, the presence of Christians in contemporary societies must translate, with skill and imagination, the Gospel of the Kingdom into forms of development that provide alternatives to paths of growth without equity and sustainability.

The Rimini meeting, which is organized by the Communion and Liberation movement, will take place from August 22 to 27. The Pope’s reflections were conveyed in a message from Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, to Bishop Nicholo Anselmi of Rimini.