Archbishop Cyril Vasiľ (l) (source: SITA)
Slovaks should protest their national, political, cultural, spiritual, and religious identity, he said in the homily delivered during mass in Šaštín held on the occasion of the Our Lady of Seven Sorrows celebration on September 15.
“Let’s make it clearly, bravely, single-mindedly, and proudly, not at the expense of losing the most important identity: the identity of humanity and solidarity,” Vasiľ said, as quoted by the SITA newswire.
The archbishop listed the sorrow of losing hospitality, generosity and solidarity among the modern sorrows.
“When looking at the state of our society in recent months we watch with surprise how easily and quickly we can supress in our hearts sympathy, generosity, solidarity,” Vasiľ continued, as quoted by SITA. “It is enough to look at how in a few weeks the influx of heartless fear has changed the general human feeling in a nation which has always been considered generous.”
He stressed that in past few months, our hearts have hardened with fear over who is knocking on our door, over every refugee regardless of whether they are terrorists and speculators or not. We have forgotten that we have also migrated because of poverty and political pressure and that also in these days Slovaks are looking for a better life abroad.
“Slovaks living abroad justifiably consider it an injustice if somebody throws them in one bag along with criminals though, as we know, also they enrich the European culture,” Vasiľ said.
