In an address to his brother bishops at their November meeting, the president of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference said polarization and extremism are aggravating the nation’s social problems.
“The nation only flourishes when each citizen recognizes in the other a brother, not an enemy,” said Bishop José Ornelas Carvalho, SCJ, of Leiria-Fátima.
The prelate warned that “Portugal continues to face several challenges from a social point of view: the economic difficulties of many families, social inequalities, difficult access to housing, pressure on health services and the migratory phenomenon are some of the examples, aggravated by polarized discourses and extremist ideologies.”