New York is a city built on faith, but lately, it feels like we’re tearing each other apart over who belongs. We’re seeing neighbors treat each other like enemies because of their beliefs, and that stops now. Elder Ulisses Soares, a senior leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, came to our city to explain precisely the flaws in that mindset.
During the Forum on Faith in New York City, Soares spoke bluntly regarding the fear now taking hold. He said some people think they need to shut down someone else’s freedom just to feel safe themselves. “That is a dangerous misunderstanding of our common humanity,” he told the crowd Wednesday, according to Deseret News Faith.
Building Bridges Instead of Walls
The Skirball Center at NYU became the stage for a message we desperately need to hear right now. Differences in religion, politics, or culture are being used as weapons to split us apart instead of tools to make us stronger. Soares argued that we need to flip the script. “Let us build bridges without abandoning conviction, protect freedom without creating fear and turn our differences into opportunities to serve,” he advised the crowd.
He made it clear that before we are anything else, before we are members of a specific group or party, we are all human beings. We share a divine origin and a shared need for love and safety. When we get that, love stops being something we only give to people who look like us. It becomes a rule for how we treat everyone.
Prayers for Pope Leo XIV
While Soares spoke in Manhattan, the First Presidency of his church also sent a message of hope to the global stage regarding Pope Leo XIV. The Vatican confirmed the Pope was diagnosed with lung cancer after surgery to remove a lung lobe. “We express our heartfelt concern for Pope Leo XIV as he confronts health challenges and extend our sincere wishes for his comfort, strength, and a swift recovery,” Church leaders stated, according to Deseret News Faith.
Positive news emerged from the Vatican on Wednesday: the surgery involved no complications, and the Pope is walking and eating normally. His recovery is going well, and the church joined people around the world in prayer. “We join with people of faith around the world in praying that heaven will bless and sustain him during this time,” they stated.
A Call to Action for New Yorkers
This isn’t just about global leaders; it’s about the guy next door and the family across the street. We are sick of seeing our city divided by fear and misinformation. If we want New York to thrive, we have to stop treating our differences like a threat. We have to realize that our shared humanity is the only thing that matters in the end.
Elder Soares reminded us that love occupies the space between us when we understand we are one family. That is the only way forward. We need to protect freedom without creating fear, and that starts with how we talk to each other every single day.
This is opinion and commentary from the RapForMayor team.
