In the Church in Africa, we are blessed with many pastoral agents who have dedicated their lives to minister to a category of the poor that Pope Francis calls the discarded people of our time. These pastoral agents need our support in form of formation in synodality, spiritual renewal, learning networks, and our prayers.
Read moreOne of the defining moments in the life of Saint Francis was when he had a personal encounter with a leper.
Influenced by Saint Francis, In the Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis describes his vision for the Church in this way: “I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.” Pope Francis, The Joy of the Gospel # 45
Not everyone is called to live out this vision. Yet there are some pastoral agents—in Africa and across the world—who feel called by the Holy Spirit to go out into the streets and bring God’s hope, justice, healing, and the call to conversion to a category of poor people whom Pope Francis describes as “the discarded of our time.”
These pastoral agents have gone to the margins of society and are carrying out their ministry among the following groups of the discarded: the homeless, the street children, the poor living in the shanty towns and the slums, the women and children as victims of war, the migrants , survivors of human trafficking, communities who have been forcibly removed from their land by powerful multinational companies or powerful politicians, communities in African countries where minerals have been discovered and they are suffering from armed conflicts, violence, illness or some massive harm because of the greed of powerful mining companies. They are the economic lepers of our time.
On this website, we offer training, pilot projects, and other support to such pastoral agents to deepen their witness to the Gospel among those discarded by the society and its systems.
Pope Francis had deep concern for all the poor. He had however a special pastoral attention to a category of the poor, whom he called the discarded people.
Which groups of the poor belong to the discarded of the earth, those discarded by the technocratic society and its systems? Click here to learn more).
Pope Francis frequently reminded us that the world has abandoned the discarded people. At times, there is also a strong temptation for the Church itself to abandon them. In these circumstances, the Holy Spirit is calling us, as He once called Saint Francis of Assisi in 1205, to “repair my house.” The Church today experiences a spiritual renewal and repentance when it learns to go to the margins and become a visible sign of God’s hope, justice, healing, and compassion to the forgotten and the discarded.
According to Pope Francis, walking with the discarded is not simply an act of charity, nor is it merely about running projects for the poor. It means standing at the place where Christ continues to be crucified in the world today. It means being present where human dignity is wounded, where suffering is greatest, and where the cry of the poor rises to heaven. It is also the place where the Holy Spirit continues to call the Church to conversion, renewal, and a deeper fidelity to the Gospel.
“Francis, go and repair my house, which as you see is falling into ruins!”
