Bishop of Helsinki Raimo Goyarrola’s pastoral letter marking the 800th anniversary of the death of St Francis of Assisi was read in all parishes of the Diocese of Helsinki on Sunday, 4 October. The pastoral letter is entitled Blessed are the poor in spirit.
In his pastoral letter, the bishop reflects on Christian poverty in the light of the example of St Francis. It does not mean despising material goods or that owning possessions is in itself wrong, but above all freedom of heart: that we “do not let possessions own us”.
In the first part of the letter, the bishop recalls that Jesus was born poor, lived poor and died poor. Following Christ calls us to place our trust in God rather than in our possessions, status, plans or abilities. St Francis lived out this calling in a radical way.
In the second part, poverty is considered as detachment and inner freedom. The decisive question is not how much we have, but how much what we have holds us in its grip. The bishop invites especially those living in relatively affluent Finnish society to ask: “Could we live with a little less so that we could love a little more?”
In the third part, the bishop emphasises that Christian poverty leads to generosity and to helping those in need. In the diocese, this is put into practice through, among other things, collections, the membership fee, the work of Caritas, and the concrete assistance provided by parish communities.
At the end of the pastoral letter, the bishop describes evangelical poverty as “an adventure of freedom”. The example of St Francis calls us to trust in God, to live simply and to share what we have. The bishop hopes that the Diocese of Helsinki will increasingly become “a poor Church for the poor and with the poor” – a Church that goes out to encounter everyone and makes the joy and beauty of the Gospel visible in Finland.
The pastoral letter is available in full in three languages.
– Link to the pastoral letter in English. (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.)
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