The Role of Empathy in the Church’s Fraternal Dialog with the World in the Teaching of Pope Francis

This paper presents the value and role of empathy in the contemporary world. Sensitivity and empathy take crucial places in the pastoral activity of the Holy Catholic Church. Tenderness and compassion are important issues in Pope Francis’ teaching. In papal understanding, Christian dialog involves sensitivity and empathy, which let one fulfill Christ’s command to love one’s neighbor. This article explores the idea of a Christian view on empathy and brotherhood referring to official papal documents. This topic is currently crucial due to increasing splits, aggression and individualism. The paper looks for an answer how empathetic should the Church approach to the world be and according to the Pope’s teaching, how should the Church dialog profitably with people.