BOGOTA, COLOMBIA — As Donald Trump was making his political pilgrimage to the Mexico border, some 400 Catholic leaders from throughout the Americas, about 120 of them bishops, were meeting here, on an actual pilgrimage. The occasion was the “jubilee of mercy” begun by Pope Francis last December. And the opportunities for renewal on a continental scale — this was a vision of Pope John Paul II, to look at all of the Americas as one — became apparent fairly quickly.

Yes, there are political, historical and language barriers between the many countries of South, Central and North America. But these obstacles could actually form bridges, with a little work — especially at a time when citizens of the United States of America aren’t exactly happy with their politics, and when more and more among us speak Spanish as a native language. Further, when you start looking around at the history of the continent, there’s a Christian thread that has gone largely underappreciated.

The gathering in Bogota included a primer on some of the saints and martyrs of the Americas. St. Junipero Serra is one of these. A founder of the California missions, Serra was described by Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez as “the great apostle of California and one of the heroes of the first evangelization of the Americas.” When Pope Francis visited the United States last fall, his most buzzed-about stops included visits to the White House and Congress, but the canonization Mass for Serra was the agenda item that may have the most lasting impact.

Serra worked to change systems, legal frameworks and attitudes so that people would treat one another differently, valuing human life with a depth of respect due to beings created in the image and likeness of a divine creator.

In his 30-minute video message, Pope Francis talked about the importance of conversion in a full picture of mercy. He said:

Our way of treating others … must never be based on fear but on the hope God has in our ability to change.

Here you begin to understand again why people motivated by mercy and God’s merciful example are needed and ought to be welcome for a healthy society to function.

Francis, in his message, also asked: “Which will it be: hope for change, or fear?” Filtering that through a U.S. context, it’s hard not to remember Barack Obama’s “hope and change” campaign mantra. And recall, too, the bullying tendencies of Donald Trump. In both cases, political candidates benefit from an inflated view of what the government can or should do, and the fear or attraction that goes with it. But the problems before us run much deeper than any government policy will ever be able to remedy.

Fear is better alleviated not by campaign promises or more tempered rhetoric — fear is alleviated by the example of people living for something more than just their own desires.

The hostility of the secular elite to real religion will make it increasingly harder for faith-based entities to not only do what they do, but be what they are. Archbishop Gomez called it an “existential threat.”

Facing such resistance, Gomez pointed to the great “responsibility and opportunity of mercy.”

“Witness is always more powerful and more persuasive than words, as we know,” he said. “But this becomes even more crucial in a society that denies the reality of God, the relevance of faith and the liberty of conscience … In a post-Christian society, mercy — lived through works of love — becomes the best proof for God’s presence and power.”

The gathering here included a lot of what Christians do best: praying. It was no coincidence that it bore fruit in some of the clearest conversations I’ve heard in a long time. Leaving public space for Christians to do what they do, and not just on Sundays, will be of benefit for any renewal, personal or political, abroad or at home.

Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review Online and founding director of Catholic Voices USA. She can be contacted at klopez@nationalreview.com.