Message from Deacon Paul Falke TOC M.D. SUMMERTIDE 2025 What do the death of Pope Francis, the new Pope Leo, NATO, and our summer vacation have to do with our lives? 2025 is filled with sorrowful, hopeful, and troubling events that will affect us all to varying degrees. But they will affect us. I personally experienced the first half of 2025 as a tumultuous period. After 30 years of working for the International Tribunals, I retired. With all human limitations and talents, justice was served there, and justice was done to victims and peoples in conflict zones. Despite all the legal and political wrangling and the difficult conditions in which I worked as a physician, I drew energy from the people I worked with. I miss their dedication. Their pursuit of justice, to do what is right and just, gave me hope. The fact that international justice is currently under immense pressure worries me. Especially in a world where multiple armed conflicts claim many victims and many displaced people are either fleeing or living in merciless conditions. I don't know about you, but it sometimes makes me feel hopeless and powerless. And yet, I draw hope from the words of Jesus: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.” It offers us another perspective. It gives us hope. I have experienced mercy and hope over the past 12 years through the leadership of Pope Francis. He gave a voice to the vulnerable people in our society. He gave our church a positive image through inclusivity. He made the world our shared responsibility with the image of our common home and the recipe for a holy life. He gave us hope for a better world in difficult times. His illness and death, although expected, caused grief and uncertainty. What now? The conclave that followed became world news. World leaders...

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