As part of a so-called “listening phase”, the Church Assembly of Latin America and the Caribbean wants to promote the exchange that “will be the leitmotif of the entire process of discernment before and during the Assembly”.
This first phase has now been officially opened and is expected to last until mid-July. In his video message for the opening event, Pope Francis emphasized that the assembly should be a sign of the “Church without exclusion” “We strive for the full and broad participation of all the pilgrim people of God in Latin America and the Caribbean”, said Mauricio López, coordinator of the events committee for the listening phase, “so that this gathering becomes a celebration of our ecclesial identity at the service of life”. “This event wants to be a true expression of a presence”, continued Lopez, “which takes into account the hopes and desires of all the people who make up the Church, the people of God, especially at this moment of deep crisis”. All men and women members of the Church will be able to participate. The goal is to listen carefully to the cries of the poor and of mother earth, affected in this period by the Covid-19 pandemic and all other pandemics of inequality and exclusion.