Fratelli Tutti

Human beings are so made that they cannot live, develop and find fulfilment except “in the sincere gift of self to others”. ^{62SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 24.} Nor can they fully know themselves apart from an encounter with other persons: “I communicate effectively with myself only insofar as I communicate with others”. ^{63Gabriel Marcel, Du refus à l’invocation, ed. NRF, Paris, 1940, 50.} No one can experience the true beauty of life without relating to others, without having real faces to love. This is part of the mystery of authentic human existence. “Life exists where there is bonding, communion, fraternity; and life is stronger than death when it is built on true relationships and bonds of fidelity. On the contrary, there is no life when we claim to be self-sufficient and live as islands: in these attitudes, death prevails”. ^{64Angelus (10 November 2019): L’Osservatore Romano, 11-12 November 2019, 8.}