“Mercy means witnessing to the faith through works”. With that subject, the Meeting on the Works of Mercy opens this evening in Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina) with the celebration of Mass presided over by the city’s Archbishop, Cardinal Vinko Puljić. The meeting is being promoted by CCEE’s “Caritas in Veritate” Commission as well as the following church bodies operating in Europe: Caritas Europa, COMECE, Justice & Peace Europe Commission, FEAMC, ICMC, ICCPCC – Europe section, FEBA, EZA, and UNIAPAC.
“In the Year of Mercy, and along with this network of church bodies working in Europe, CCEE wanted to seize on this invitation from Pope Francis to demonstrate how an authentically lived faith is transformed into works and so become a response, in the most appropriate and effective manner, to the needs of all the people we meet daily”, said Mgr Duarte da Cunha, CCEE General Secretary, in outlining the nature of the meeting. He continued: “In fact, there is a close link between faith, the evangelising mission of the Church and the works of charity. These church bodies witness to it daily through their service for the neediest. In fact, for Christians, it is not possible to think of charity (mercy at work) without faith: it would be like reducing the church institution to a simple NGO; and it is it possible to think of faith without charity: it would be like reducing faith to a disincarnated perspective. Instead, faith needs works: the Mercy of God tells us this”.
The meeting will continue until Sunday 19 September with opportunities for reflection and testimony, aimed at showing us the human person at the centre of the Church’s activity, and the human person always needs God’s love.
During the meeting, church bodies active in Europe will testify to how they live out mercy each day, and how they intend to give witness to it through their works. There are brief interviews with them on CCEE’s YouTube channel (from 16.09).