Pope to poor: Your place is not at the door of churches, but in the heart of the Church

For the 5th World Day of the Poor, marked November 14, some 50 places around the world hosted local initiatives honoring the most vulnerable. Coordinated by the Fratello association, an online world prayer event took place.

Pope Francis participated in this time of prayer by sending a video message. “Your place is not at the door of the churches, but at the heart of the Church,” he said in his Spanish-language address to the poor around the world. “Know that you are God's favorite. Among you are hidden saints.”

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Dear friends from all over the world,

With all those who are in Assisi, the city of St. Francis, I greet you, all of you who have gathered from the four corners of the world, from Africa to Oceania, Madagascar, Asia to America, Europe, North America, Polynesia, all over the world, all of you spiritually united, we celebrate together the 5th World Day of the Poor.

How happy I am to be with you on this day! I feel very close to you; I want to remind everyone how much God loves us and how much God loves you.

I know that many of you are going through difficult, very difficult, painful and sometimes unbearable situations! We have heard your testimonies this morning, I think of this Romanian mother… Many of you are suffering in prison, in the slums, on a hospital bed, in the poorest neighborhoods, abandoned, isolated, and sometimes even suffering from a war that you did not seek, that is imposed on you.

Some of you today have nothing left, do not know if they will eat tonight and where they will sleep. Others who seem to have everything, often suffer from loneliness, anxiety, depression, addiction.

So, I ask Mary, who has been able to fully welcome the Holy Spirit, to give us now a little peace, to protect us under her great mantle of tenderness.

It is possible that the word "poor" will shock some people. But seeing you, I want to shout to the world that the Church has Good News: Jesus needs you to save the world, He came for us the poor, the little ones, the sick, the wounded of life, the bitter, to fill us with his love. If we recognize that we are poor, if we recognize that we are lacking, then God will be able to come into this lack.

The Gospel constantly invites us to be poor: "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."

Jesus also tells us: "What you did to the least of these, you did to me. And also: whoever welcomes this little one, this poor person, in my name he welcomes me." That is why we say that the poor are the treasure of the Church.

Blessed are the poor! This is the first beatitude. Becoming poor in our hearts is a radical invitation to strip ourselves of what we have, or what we think we have, of our sin, to let God come and fill us with his love. May the Lord help us to become very small, so that He can be great in us, grand!

Come Holy Spirit! We know that what God has hidden from the wise and the learned, he has revealed to the little ones. Show us your sweet and joyful presence. Amen

Dear brothers and sisters,

I ask your forgiveness in the name of all Christians who have hurt, ignored and humiliated you.

Every man, every woman is the temple of God, you are the temple of God, you are the treasure of the Church. Your place is not at the door of churches, but in the heart of the Church. Know that you are the favorites of God. Among you are hidden saints.

I encourage you to love Jesus more and more, to adore him, who makes himself so poor in the Eucharist, to pray to him. Leave him a comfortable place, the first place, in the stable of your hearts, so that he may be born in your hearts. Be witnesses of his love in the world.

Dear brothers and sisters, every day I pray for you, and you know that I count on your prayer,

I love you very much. I love you very much. I bless you.