The Patriarch of Lisbon, D. Rui Valério, presided on Sunday over the closing Mass of the 52nd National Encounter of Fraternal Gatherings at the Sanctuary of Fatima, calling for a missionary attitude and service to unity in the Church and society. The celebration brought together thousands of people at the Cova da Iria venue.
In his homily, D. Rui Valério warned that Christian unity does not arise merely from sympathy or friendship, but from Christ, and that Christian service is not activism or protagonism. The patriarch defended that Christians cannot live closed in their individual salvation and that whoever has found Christ receives a responsibility for their brothers and sisters.
The encounter, which had been taking place since Saturday with participants from various dioceses, had the motto "United to Serve." D. Rui Valério reflected on the importance of combating indifference, calling for a fraternity that has the courage of truth, spoken to save the relationship and never to destroy the other. The patriarch recalled that the missionary is someone who draws near and that evangelization requires the capacity to listen and the fidelity of one who remains.
The Fraternal Gatherings are a youth pastoral movement founded in May 1968 in Castelo Branco by Father Valente de Matos, focused on the first proclamation through a three-day residential retreat. D. Rui Valério
