In a Letter to Cardinal Oswald Gracias, his Special Envoy to the 12th Plenary Assembly of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), to be held in Jakarta from 20 to 26 July, Pope Leo XIV urges the Church in Asia to place God “on the horizon of our actions and the human person at the center of our decisions,” without fearing “to get our hands dirty at the building site of our time.”
“Be builders of communion, not architects of Babel; servants of the Kingdom that is coming, not masters of towers destined to collapse.” With these words, Pope Leo XIV reiterates the appeal he made in Magnifica Humanitas (No. 16) to place God “on the horizon of our actions and the human person at the centre of our decisions.” The exhortation appears in his Letter to Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop Emeritus of Bombay, whom he has appointed as his Special Envoy to the 12th Plenary Assembly of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia, from 20 to 26 July 2026.
Writing in Latin, the Pope encourages the faithful and his brother bishops not to fear “getting their hands dirty at the building site of our time,” sustained by the hope that the beloved Church in Asia “may never cease to flourish in faith and in humanity.”
Through this shared commitment of the entire ecclesial community, Pope Leo XIV writes in his magisterial document, citing Psalm 85, “the rejected stones-the poor, the sick, migrants, and the little ones—will become the cornerstone, and upon the earth there will arise a common home that is strong and welcoming, where love and truth will finally meet, and justice and peace will embrace.” With the heart of a shepherd and a father, the Pope therefore calls on everyone “to halt the construction of yet another Babel and to join forces in building what is good, so that humanity may never lose its beauty and the world may once again recognise, in the heart of every human person, the place where God desires to dwell.”
