In a message to the 40th Session of UNESCO’s General Conference in Paris, Pope Francis recommended taking into account “the multiple dimensions of man.”
Pope Francis’ message was read by Monsignor Francesco Follo, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer to UNESCO, during the Mass over which he presided in Paris on November 11, 2019, on the occasion of the 40th session, and in the presence of representatives of some 20 delegations, in the Chapel of the Foreign Missions of Paris (MEP) and MEP priests who concelebrated.
The Holy Father entrusted “to the Lord the works and reflections to be considered. He made an allusion to UNESCO’s Charter and to his encyclical Laudato Si’, saying: “If we truly seek to safeguard “man’s dignity exacting the spread of the culture and education of all in view of justice, of freedom and of peace,” as announced so well in the Preamble of UNESCO’s Constitutive Act, “then no branch of the sciences and no form of wisdom can be left to one side, or religious wisdom, with its own language” (Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’).”
With that conviction in mind, the Holy Father encouraged each and all the participants to take into account, in the course of the works, the multiple dimensions of man,” concludes Pope Francis’ message, who granted to all the Apostolic Blessing.
The Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin signed, on the Pope’s behalf, the message, in French, dated October 7, and addressed to Monsignor Follo. It was distributed to all the participants, during the Mass on November 11.
The Mass was followed by a visit to the MEP’s Museum and an exhibition of photos, as well as a buffet propitious to exchanges.
