Cardinal Czerny: Patiently build authentic bridges of communion

By Isabella H. de Carvalho

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.”

The Mass celebrated in Nairobi

Build bridges of communion

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.

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Patiently build bridges

Quoting another parable cited in the Gospel – that of the wheat and the weeds which grow together – Cardinal Czerny underlined especially the attitude of the landowner who does not immediately uproot the weeds to separate them from the wheat.

He emphasized how “this is a patient, prudent, and faith-filled attitude,” as although the farmer sees the issue with the evil of the weeds “to restore justice, to restore life, he does not give in to the temptation which often comes to us of quick, facile and instinctively punitive measures, risking the destruction of the good wherever it is already laboriously if invisibly sprouting.”

For Cardinal Czerny, this “prudent and patient approach” should help all Christians to “develop an everyday diplomacy, building bridges amongst ourselves and with everyone, both within the Church and in society.”

“It’s too easy to get trapped in rash and unfair judgments,” he noted. 

Courageously denounce evil 

Lastly, Cardinal Czerny reflected on the parable of the mustard seed – which says the Kingdom of Heaven can grow even from the smallest seed.

Citing also Pope Leo’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, the Cardinal highlighted how this parable “calls us to live a profound hope, capable of challenging the most negative interpretations of reality, so that we may confidently perceive the strength of a tiny seed which, even amidst many hardships, is able to ‘sprout and grow’.”

“The Holy Father warns us against what he calls a false realism, which is passivity and resignation,” he continued. “Instead, he emphasises the courageous denunciation of evil. As Christians, we are called not to stop at mere denunciation – which is necessary but insufficient – but to strive to recognise and follow the new paths that the Lord is already opening up before us.”

“Let us carry in our hearts the appeal of the Gospel image of the seed,” the Cardinal insisted. “Let us ask the Lord to help us learn more and more how to build ‘bridges of hope,’ so that we may both pray and work, ‘Thy Kingdom come!’”

He concluded his homily by praying that they could all “as a gift from heaven” be able to build “bridges of communion, hope, justice and good governance.”