In the centerspread of this issue of Maryknoll we quote Pope Francis’ latest encyclical, Fratelli Tutti: On Fraternity and Social Friendship, which was released shortly before we wrapped up this edition and sent it to the printer. The encyclical is an important document that focuses on the central theme of this pontiff’s papacy: We are all brothers and sisters of the human family living on our common home, our beleaguered planet Earth.
The joint leadership of the Maryknoll family, which includes priests, brothers, sisters and lay people, issued a statement of resounding support and agreement with the pope’s message, calling it a historic document on peace and dialogue that offers a vision for global healing from deep social and economic divisions in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We embrace the pope’s call,” the statement says, “for all people of good will to commit to the sense of belonging to a single human family and the dream of working together for justice and peace—a call that includes embracing diversity, encounter, and dialogue, and rejecting war, nuclear weapons, and the death penalty.”
This magazine issue is already filled with articles that clearly reflect the very interconnected commonality that Pope Francis preaches, but please allow me to direct you to our maryknollmagazine.org website for articles on the encyclical, with links to the Maryknoll statement. If you want to read the full encyclical, I recommend you go to www.orbisbooks.com to look for the planned Orbis edition in book form of Fratelli Tutti.
Lynn F. Monahan
Editor-in-Chief
