In a spirit of genuine friendship and brotherhood, Bishop Noël Simard met with the priests and deacons serving local cultural faith communities on Mar. 10, at Madonna del Divino Amore Mission in Laval. The gathering was organized by Fr. Pierangelo Paternieri, c.s., Episcopal Vicar and Director of the Office of Cultural and Ritual Communities, as a time of retreat — not a formal meeting, but a valued opportunity for shared reflection and mutual listening, where conversation flowed from lived experience and was grounded in shared prayer.

At the centre of that reflection stood the theme of closeness — the tangible, embodied closeness that Pope Francis consistently invokes in his addresses and homilies. This is not the closeness of good intentions, but the kind that takes flesh in daily life: in the face of the migrant, in the isolation of the elderly, in the silent cry of those who feel cut off from everything and everyone.

"Drawing close to God and drawing close to others are not two separate movements," the Bishop said, echoing the Holy Father's vision. "They are one and the same act of love." Those words carry the Gospel's invitation to move beyond ourselves, to build bridges across cultures and generations, and to embrace diversity as a gift rather than a barrier.

The gathering concluded with a renewed awareness: mission is carried through relationship. And every relationship lived with humility and tenderness becomes in itself a proclamation of the Gospel.

"We must not forget that closeness has been the most authentic language of God." — Pope Francis, February 23, 2021

By Alessandra Santopadre
Assistant, Office of Cultural and Ritual Communities
Coordinator, Sponsorship Programme for Refugees and Asylum Seekers
Archdiocese of Montreal