A MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR, BRENDAN WALSH

On Monday, in a school converted into a refugee centre in the poorest country in Europe, Pope Francis greeted a small group of excited children from Syria and Iraq. They sang for him, and they presented him with their drawings. He thanked them for their joy and their hope.

In that meeting with young migrants and refugees who had found their way to Bulgaria Francis embodied the vision of the Church expressed by the second Vatican Council. The memorable opening words of Gaudium et Spes catch the spirit of freshness and openness of this remarkable papacy, as they have captivated and inspired The Tablet’s editors and journalists over the past 50 and more years: “The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties, of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties, of the followers of Christ.”