The pastoral mission of Pope Francis continues which sees him engaged in an official Apostolic Journey to the Baltic States: the first stop in Lithuania, it will continue in Latvia and then end in Estonia, a journey that will touch the three nations that overlook the icy Baltic Sea.
In his video message to the Baltic Church, the Holy Father wanted to show all his closeness to the Churches persecuted by Communism during the Soviet Union as well as to reaffirm the current and historical importance of ecumenism.
In his interventions, the Pontiff often referred to the facts that are putting security and freedom in the world in crisis. During the meeting with the authorities and civil society at the Presidential Palace in Vilnius, he did not shy away from presenting his point of view on the world scenario: "Where the voices that sow division and opposition grow - exploiting insecurity many times and conflicts - or that proclaim that the only possible way to guarantee the security and subsistence of a culture is to try to eliminate, cancel or expel the others, you Lithuanians have an original word of your own to make: to host differences ”.
Meeting the Lithuanian people in the Cathedral of the Most Holy Peter and Paul in Kaunas, the Holy Father recalled the value of witness and continuous memory to all consecrated persons of Lithuania. «Looking at you - the Holy Father said - I see many martyrs behind you. Anonymous martyrs, in the sense that we don't even know where they were buried. You are children of martyrs. This is your strength. And don't the spirit of the world come and tell you anything other than what your ancestors experienced. Remember your martyrs and always take from them: they were not afraid ”. Bergoglio, then turning to young people, invoked service to the people of God that is not “improvised” and always “consistent”: “It is better that you take another path rather than live in mediocrity. You still have time, and the door is open. We must be impressed when our people stopped moaning, stopped looking for the water that quenches thirst. It is also a time to discern what is anesthetizing the voice of our people ”.
Tomorrow's program includes the departure for Riga, the capital of Latvia, where it will be welcomed by the Latvian authorities. After the usual courtesy visit to the Presidential Palace and the meeting with the Civil Authorities and the Diplomatic Corps in the Hall of Receptions, the visit includes the deposition of the flowers and ceremony at the Freedom Monument and will then continue with a prayer at the Rigas Doms, visit to the Catholic Cathedral of San Giacomo. The visit to Latvia will end with the return to Vilnius at the end of Holy Mass celebrated by the Pope in the area of the Shrine of the Mother of God of Aglona.
The trip to the Balkan countries will end Tuesday, 25 September when, the Holy Father, starting from the Vilnius International Airport will take off for Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.
Also here full of commitments where, after the usual courtesy visit to the President in the Presidential Palace and the subsequent meeting with the Civil and Diplomatic Authorities in the Garden of the Presidential Palace, the Pope will meet the young Estonians in the Kaarle Lutheran Church and will continue with a visit to those assisted by the Church's charity works in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul.
The trip will end in the late afternoon (25 September pv) with the departure from the Tallinn International Airport to Rome after celebrating Mass in Piazza della Libertà.