The leader of the Vatican summit, Cardinal Mario Grech, invited participants to focus the discussions on “the desire for peace” and to pave the way for Catholics to become “operators of peace, at the service of humanity.”
Members of the synod were asked to offer charity for the parish priest of the Church of the Holy Family in the Gaza Strip, with whom the pope speaks daily. The papal almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, asked that participants “be well prepared” to make the donations, which were collected in a bucket placed at the entrance of the synod hall.
Paolo Ruffini, head of the Vatican’s communication department, said in a press conference Monday that “through prayer we are united to all the places in the world that are at war, that’s why we prayed for peace at the opening session.”
This article originally appeared here.
