In a shared commitment to building bridges of integration, reconciliation, and fraternity, The West/Southwest IAF participated in the Third Fratelli Tutti Synodal Meeting. The gathering took place in Washington D.C. on July 28-29 and was sponsored by the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM), and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America (PCAL) through the Bridge Building Initiative, in collaboration with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

Those in attendance included West/Southwest IAF Co-Director Joe Rubio, Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America Dr. Emilce Cuda, Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, as well as labor representatives, entrepreneurs, and social organizations across the Americas.

According to ADN Celam, Auxiliary Bishop of Cusco and Secretary General of CELAM Lizardo Estrada described the priority of the meeting as “networking as a form of communion, collaboration, and synergy that brings together efforts and wills to enrich actions."

Reflecting on “the growing isolation of people and cultural individualism,” the bishop declared:

'We are invited to universalize the concept of neighbor, to include anyone who needs help, advancement, and liberation.'

He encouraged participants to 'listen to the pressing cry of the peripheries, the forgotten, and those who suffer injustice, including Mother Earth, because it is necessary to transform mercy into a cry for justice.'

(Photo Credit: X pages for Emilce Cuda, Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin American Holy See Vatican Theology and Construyendo Puentes. PCAL, respectively)

Lizardo Estrada at the Third Fratelli Tutti Synod Meeting: "Networking Transforms Passion into Community Action," ADN Celam [PDF]

The Third Fratelli Tutti Synodal Meeting will Promote Socio-Environmental Dialogue between North and South, ADN Celam [PDF]