In among his last actions as prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., sent a message to participants in the 25th Inter-Institutional Meeting of the Amazonian Itinerant Team.
“A true Christian anniversary must also be an examination of conscience,” said Cardinal Czerny. He added:
Where have we been a close and supportive presence? Where have we accompanied life under threat? Where have we learned from the peoples of the Amazon, allowing them to be genuine interlocutors and protagonists? Where have we woven communion among different charisms and been a force for integration? Where have we managed to reach together places that we could not—and perhaps should not—have reached alone?
Sister Alessandra Smerilli, F.M.A., succeeded Cardinal Czerny as prefect on September 1.