Cardinal Czerny: Patiently build authentic bridges of communion

Don’t lose hope in the face of hardship and patiently build bridges of communion in order to transform the world and its situations of suffering, said Cardinal Michael Czerny, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, during the opening Mass for the plenary assembly of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA).

“Living in the world, we Christians are called to transform and transfigure it in the manner of the Holy Spirit, from within,” he said during the liturgy celebrated in Nairobi, Kenya, on Sunday, July 19, 2026.

Cardinal Czerny will be in Nairobi from July 18 to 22 for the 21st plenary assembly of the AMECEA, which gathers 8 national Catholic Bishops Conferences across nine countries in Eastern Africa.

The assembly is taking place at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa and gathers 140 bishops from Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and associated regions in Djibouti and Somalia.

The theme of this year’s edition is “AMECEA’s Synodal Journey with Young People: Building Bridges of Communion, Hope, Justice, and Good Governance.”

Cardinal Czerny reflected on the parable of the leaven – taken from the Gospel of the day – which says how the Kingdom of God is like yeast hidden in flour which then allows all of it to leaven.

 “This image clearly encourages a quiet, thorough and effective work of transforming situations of suffering and injustice,” the Cardinal explained. “It is not a matter of making a flashy show of ourselves, but rather of living daily lives quietly transforming the world from within, in deep communion with God and with others.”

He noted how the Holy Spirit acting within every Christian helps change the world, also by reading the signs of the times and allowing us to reach out to others.

In this regard Cardinal Czerny then called, especially young people, “to build authentic bridges of communion,” not by “indiscriminately imitating or assimilating the ways of the world, diluting our Christian identity or watering down the demands of the Gospel” but by being a vital source, like yeast.

“This is how we truly collaborate in building the Kingdom of God, fulfilling our role as ‘leaven’ in the very different contexts in which we live,” he insisted.