For the 10th anniversary of Francisco’s pontificate, a group of associations and personalities paid tribute to the Chancellery

A group of civil associations organized a tribute to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the pontificate of Pope Francis. Under the motto “A Church that celebrates is a Church alive and open to grace”, the event took place in the Chancellery’s “Manuel Belgrano” auditorium, located in Esmeralda Street in the Retiro district. Cultural personalities, political leaders, businessmen and ecclesiastical authorities took part.

The ceremony was led by famed broadcaster Fernando Bravo and began at 7:00 p.m. As a prelude, the act began with a video in which the message of celebrities and personalities who know the pastoral work of Francisco was projected and highlighted the main stages of his pontificate. The organization of the event has been entrusted to the Arché Foundation, the Christian Association of Business Leaders (ACDE), as well as the civil association Casa Común and the Center for University Studies (Cudes).

On behalf of the ecclesiastical authorities, the presence of Cardinal Mario Poli, archbishop of the city of Buenos Aires, of Msgr. Gustavo Carrara, auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires and episcopal vicar for the pastoral care of working-class neighborhoods, as well as of the auxiliary bishop of La Plata, stood out Alberto Bochatey.

Representatives of different faiths and cultures also participated, such as Rabbi Fishel Szlajenmm, member of the Pontifical Academy for Life; Armenian Patriarch Kissag Mouradian; the president of the Judeo-Christian Brotherhood, Martha de Antueno.

The event took place in two panels with three speakers and a moderator. In the first, Szlajen, the bishop of San Francisco, Sergio Buenanueva, and the philosopher Paola Delbosco, director of the National Academy of Education, spoke. The three made a briefing on the remarkable aspects of the Sovereign Pontiff and underlined the articulation of the Pope with other faiths.

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“Francis has shown a commitment to interreligious encounter”, maintained the rabbi in this sense. In turn, Bishop Buenanueva felt that “Francisco is a sign of what awaits us. He shows us the way.”

In a second panel, Liliana Negre de Alonso, former national legislator of the Justicialista Party for San Luis, Monsignor Carrara and Humberto Podetti, authority of the National Justice and Peace Commission, took the floor. Negre de Alonso recalled his dialogues with Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 2010, when the approval of equal marriage was being debated. Both panels were moderated by Dr. Jorge Colombres Mármol.

“He was the beacon we turned to when there were questionable, gray and moral legislative issues,” the San Luis leader acknowledged. The former deputy recalled that the former archbishop had told him that he accepted the approval of “cohabitational union” between people of the same sex, but not marriage and adoption.

While Monsignor Carrara recalled the Pope’s salient thoughts and actions and felt that Francis had a “theological gaze” on the poorest and marginalized. In this sense, he recommended “reading Francis in the first person”. In addition, he reflected on pastoral work in poor neighborhoods in Argentina and called for the “social integration” of these marginalized areas. “The land, the roof and the work, that’s everyone’s dream, as the pope says,” Carrara concluded.

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