17 February 2016 | Address of His Holiness, Greeting, Speeches

MEETING WITH THE WORLD OF LABOUR: ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

Bachilleres College, State of Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez

[…] What kind of world do we want to leave our children? I believe that the vast majority of us can agree. This is precisely our horizon, our goal, and we have to come together and work for this. It is always good to think about what I would like to leave my children; it is also a good way to think of others’ children. What kind of Mexico do you want to leave your children? Do you want to leave them the memory of exploitation, of insufficient pay, of workplace harassment, of trafficking in slave labour? Or do you want to leave them a culture which recalls dignified labour, proper lodging, and land to be worked? The three “L’s”: Labour, Lodging, Land. What type of culture do we want for those who will come after us? What air will they breathe? An air tainted by corruption, violence, insecurity and suspicion, or, on the contrary, an air capable of generating — and the word is crucial — generating alternatives, renewal and change? To generate is to be co-creators with God. This, naturally, involves much effort. […]