According to the Holy Father, the pandemic has created a common ground between the various social groups in our societies, thus putting us all in the same boat. Regardless of who or what we are in society, we are all coping with the daily challenges the pandemic has thrown at us. 

This was why the Caritas teams from the Cathedral of The Holy Spirit (CHS), Church of the Divine Mercy, Sg Ara (CDM) and Risen Christ came together to help out the migrants and refugees in their areas. They collaborated with the Free Food Society (FFS) of Kuala Lumpur to distribute food packs to the needy. The collaborative efforts brought about 140 packs of food that were delivered by Caritas team members in their respective areas. Earlier in the year, many parishes in the Penang diocese saw a spike in the number of migrants who were seeking food aid because they were jobless due to the pandemic. 

In his message, aptly themed Towards an ever wider We, His Holiness Pope Francis explains that as Christians, we are to create communities that welcome and accept everyone because, fundamentally, we are all created in God’s image and likeness, as stated in the book of Genesis. In a unique way, the pandemic has given us an opportunity to share common ground because, regardless of who we are in society, we can all relate to the loss of a loved one, the desire to be vaccinated, or the stress of making ends meet. His Holiness encourages us to cultivate a society that includes and accepts all, so that when things settle down, we would have created a ‘family like’ society that will allow us all to have a sense of belonging.