Archive

14 Nov POPE FRANCIS ANGELUS

Posted at 00:00h in by

After the Angelus:
Dear Brothers and Sisters, today we are celebrating the Fifth World Day of the
Poor, which began as a fruit of the Jubilee of Mercy. This year’s theme is Jesus’
Word: “The poor you will always have with you” (Mk 14:7). And it is true:
humanity progresses, develops, but the poor are always with us, there are
always the poor, and in them, Christ is present, Christ is present in the poor. The
day before yesterday, in Assisi, we experienced a powerful moment of witness
and prayer, which I invite you to relive. It will do you good. And I am grateful
for the many initiatives of solidarity that were organised in dioceses and parishes
throughout the world.
The cry of the poor, united with the cry of the Earth, resounded in recent days at
the United Nations Climate Change Summit COP26 in Glasgow. I encourage all
those with political and economic responsibilities to act now with courage and
foresight; at the same time, I invite all people of good will to exercise active
citizenship for the care of the common home. To this end, today, World Day of
the Poor, registration begins for the Laudato Si’ platform, which promotes
integral ecology. […]

Archive

12 Nov DAY OF PRAYER AND WITNESS ON THE OCCASION OF WORLD DAY OF THE POOR IN ASSISI ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

Posted at 00:00h in by

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
I thank you for accepting my invitation — I was the guest! — to celebrate here in
Assisi, the city of Saint Francis, the fifth World Day of the Poor that will be
celebrated the day after tomorrow. It is an idea that came from you, it grew, and
we have now reached the fifth edition. Assisi is not just like any other city: Assisi
bears the imprint of the face of Saint Francis. To think that he lived his restless
youth along these streets, he received the call to live the Gospel to the letter, is
a fundamental lesson for us. Certainly, in some ways, his holiness makes us
quiver because it seems impossible to imitate him. But then, when we remember
some moments of his life, those “little flowers” that were collected to show the
beauty of his vocation, we feel attracted by his simplicity of heart and simplicity
of life: it is the very attraction to Christ, to the Gospel. These are actual facts of
his life that are worth more than preaching.
I would like to recall one of them that expresses well the personality of the
Poverello (cf. Little Flowers, chapter 13: Fonti Francescane, 1841-1842). He and
Brother Masseo had embarked on a journey to go to France, but they had not
taken any provisions with them. At a certain point, they had to begin to ask for
charity. Francis went in one direction and Brother Masseo in another. But, as the
Little Flowers recount, Francis was small of stature and those who did not know
him took him to be a “tramp”; instead, Brother Masseo “was a tall and
handsome man”. Thus it was that Saint Francis succeeded in obtaining some
pieces of stale and hard bread, while Brother Masseo was given some beautiful
pieces of bread.
When the two found themselves together again, they sat down on the ground
and placed what they had collected on a rock. Seeing the pieces of bread his
brother had collected, Francis said: “Brother Masseo, we are not worthy of this
great treasure”. The brother, marveling, responded: “Father Francis, how can
you speak of a treasure where there is such poverty and even what is necessary
is lacking?” Francis replied: “It is precisely this that I consider a great treasure,
that there is nothing, but what we have has been given by Providence who has
given us this bread”. This is the teaching that Saint Francis gives us: knowing
how to be content with the little we have and to share it with others.
We are here at the Portiuncula, one of the small churches that Saint Francis
thought of restoring after Jesus had asked him to “repair his house”. At that
time, he would never have thought that the Lord was asking him to give his life
to renew not the church made of stone, but the one made of persons, of men
and women who are the living stones of the Church. And if we are here today, it
is precisely to learn from what Saint Francis did. He liked to stay to pray for long
periods in this little church. He would recollect himself here in silence and put
himself in an attitude of listening, listening to what God wanted of him. We too
have come here for this: we want to ask the Lord to hear our cry, to hear our cry
and to come to our aid. Let us not forget that the first marginalisation the poor
suffer from is spiritual marginalization. For example, many people and many
young people find a bit of time to help the poor and bring them food and hot
beverages. This is very good and I thank God for their generosity. But I
especially rejoice when I hear that these volunteers stop a bit and speak with
the people, and sometimes pray together with them… So, even our being here at
the Portiuncula, reminds us of the Lord’s company, that He never leaves us
alone, he always accompanies us in every moment of our lives. The Lord today is
with us. He accompanies us, in listening, in prayer and in the testimonies given:
it is He, with us.
There is another important fact: here at the Portiuncula, Saint Francis welcomed
Saint Clare, the first brothers, and many poor people who came to him. He
received them simply as brothers and sisters, sharing everything with them. This
is the most evangelical expression we are called to make our own: hospitality.
Hospitality means to open the door, the door of our house and the door of our
heart, and to allow the person who knocks to come in. And that they may feel
welcome, not ashamed, no, at ease, free. Where there is a true sense of
fraternity, a sincere experience of hospitality is also lived there. Instead, where
there is fear of the other, contempt for their lives, then rejection is born, or
worse, indifference: looking the other way. Hospitality generates a sense of
community; rejection, on the contrary, closes in on one’s own egoism. Mother
Teresa, who made hospitable service her life, used to love to say: “what is the
best welcome? A smile”. A smile. To share a smile with someone in need does
good to both people – to me and the other person. A smile as an expression of
sympathy, of tenderness. And then, a smile engages you, and you cannot turn
away from a person who has smiled at you.
[…]
Rather it is time that the poor be given back their voice, because for too long
their requests have remained unheard. It is time that eyes be opened to see the
state of inequality in which many families live. It is time for sleeves to be rolled
up so dignity can be restored by creating jobs. It is time to be scandalised once
again before the reality of children who are starving, reduced to slavery, tossed
about in the water in the aftermath of a shipwreck, innocent victims of every
sort of violence. It is time that violence against women cease and that they be
respected and not treated like bargaining chips. It is time that the circle of
indifference be broken so as to discover once again the beauty of encounter and
dialogue. It is time to meet each other. It is the time to meet. If humanity, if we
men and women do not learn to meet each other, we are heading for a very sad
end.
I have attentively listened to your testimonies, and I thank you for everything
you have courageously and sincerely expressed. Courageously, because you
wanted to share these things with all of us, even though they are a part of your
personal lives; sincerely, because you expressed yourselves exactly as you are
and opened your hearts with the desire to be understood. There are some things
in particular that I liked and would like to summarize them somehow to make
them even more my own and let them settle into my heart. First of all, I
perceived a tremendous sense of hope. Life has not always treated you well;
indeed, it has often shown you its cruel face. Marginalisation, suffering sickness
and loneliness, the lack of so many necessary means has not stopped you from
seeing with eyes filled with gratitude the little things that have enabled you to
hold out.
To hold out. This is the second impression I received and that comes directly
from hope. What does it mean to hold out? To have the strength to keep going
despite everything. To swim against the tide. To hold out is not a passive action,
on the contrary, it requires the courage to take a new path knowing it will bear
fruit. To hold out means to find reasons for not giving up when confronted with
difficulties, knowing that we do not experience them alone but together, and that
only together can we overcome them. To hold out against every temptation to
give up and fall into loneliness and sadness. To hold out, holding on to the little
wealth we may have. I think of the girl in Afghanistan, with her striking phrase:
my body is here, my soul is there. Holding out with memory, today. I think of the
Romanian mother who spoke at the end: pain, hope and no way out, but strong
hope in her children who accompany her and repay the tenderness they received
from her.
Let us ask the Lord to always help us find serenity and joy. Here at the
Portiuncula, Saint Francis teaches us the joy that comes from seeing those who
are near us as traveling companions who understand and support us, just as we
are for him or for her. May this meeting open all of our hearts to put ourselves at
each other’s disposal; to open our hearts to make our weakness a strength to
help continue on the journey of life, to transform our poverty into wealth to be
shared, and thus to make the world better.
The Day of the Poor. Thank you to the poor who open their hearts to give us
their wealth and heal our wounded hearts. Thank you for this courage. Thank
you, Étienne, for being docile to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Thank you for
these years of work; and also for the “stubbornness” of bringing the Pope to
Assisi! Thank you! Thank you, Your Eminence, for your support, for your help to
this Church movement — we say “movement” because they are on the move —
and for your testimony. And thank you all. I carry you all in my heart. And,
please, do not forget to pray for me, because I have my poverty, in many ways!
Thank you.

Archive

11 Nov ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE CONFERENCE “ITALIANS IN EUROPE AND THE CHRISTIAN MISSION” PROMOTED BY THE MIGRANTES FOUNDATION OF THE ITALIAN EPISCOPAL CONFERENCE

Posted at 00:00h in by

Cari fratelli e sorelle,
vi do il benvenuto e ringrazio il Card. Bassetti per le sue parole di saluto e di
introduzione. Saluto il Segretario Generale della CEI, il Presidente della
Fondazione Migrantes con il Direttore e i collaboratori, e rivolgo un grato saluto a
tutti voi, sacerdoti e collaboratori pastorali, che siete al servizio delle comunità e
delle missioni di lingua italiana in Europa.
Il tema che guida i lavori del vostro incontro è “Gli italiani in Europa e la
missione cristiana”. Vedo in questo, da una parte, la sollecitudine pastorale che
spinge sempre a conoscere la realtà, in questo caso la mobilità italiana; e,
dall’altra, il desiderio missionario che questa possa essere fermento, lievito di
nuova evangelizzazione in Europa. In questo quadro, vorrei condividere tre
riflessioni che spero possano aiutarvi nel presente e nel futuro.
La prima riguarda la mobilità, la migrazione. Spesso vediamo i migranti solo
come “altri” da noi, come estranei. In realtà, anche leggendo i dati del
fenomeno, scopriamo che i migranti sono una parte rilevante del “noi”, oltre che,
nel caso degli emigranti italiani, delle persone a noi prossime: le nostre famiglie,
i nostri giovani studenti, laureati, disoccupati, i nostri imprenditori. La
migrazione italiana rivela – come scriveva il grande Vescovo Geremia Bonomelli,
fondatore dell’Opera di assistenza degli emigranti in Europa e in Medio Oriente –
un’“Italia figlia”, in cammino in Europa, soprattutto, e nel mondo. È una realtà
che sento particolarmente vicina, in quanto anche la mia famiglia è emigrata in
Argentina. Il “noi”, dunque, per leggere la mobilità.
La seconda riflessione interessa l’Europa. La lettura dell’emigrazione italiana nel
Continente europeo ci deve rendere sempre più consapevoli che l’Europa è una
casa comune. Anche la Chiesa in Europa non può non considerare i milioni di
emigranti italiani e di altri Paesi che stanno rinnovando il volto delle città, dei
Paesi. E, allo stesso tempo, stanno alimentando «il sogno di un’Europa unita,
capace di riconoscere radici comuni e di gioire per la diversità che la abita» (Enc.
Fratelli tutti, 10). È un bel mosaico, che non va sfregiato o corrotto con i
pregiudizi o con quell’odio velato di perbenismo. L’Europa è chiamata a
rivitalizzare nell’oggi la sua vocazione alla solidarietà nella sussidiarietà.
La terza riflessione riguarda la testimonianza di fede delle comunità di emigrati
italiani in Paesi europei. Grazie alla loro radicata religiosità popolare hanno
comunicato la gioia del Vangelo, hanno reso visibile la bellezza di essere
comunità aperte e accoglienti, hanno condiviso i percorsi delle comunità cristiane
locali. Uno stile di comunione e di missione ha caratterizzato la loro storia, e
spero che potrà disegnare anche il loro futuro. Si tratta di un bellissimo filo che
ci lega alla memoria delle nostre famiglie. Come non pensare ai nostri nonni
emigrati e alla loro capacità di essere generativi anche sul piano della vita
cristiana? È un’eredità da custodire e curare, trovando le vie che permettano di
rivitalizzare l’annuncio e la testimonianza di fede. E questo dipende molto dal
dialogo tra le generazioni: specialmente tra i nonni e i nipoti. Questo è molto
importante, lo sottolineo: nonni e nipoti. Infatti, i giovani italiani che oggi si
muovono in Europa sono molto diversi, sul piano della fede, dai loro nonni,
eppure in genere sono molto legati ad essi. Ed è decisivo che rimangano
attaccati alle radici: proprio nel momento in cui si trovano a vivere in altri
contesti europei, è preziosa la linfa che attingono dalle radici, dai nonni, una linfa
di valori umani e spirituali. Allora, se c’è questo dialogo tra le generazioni, tra i
nonni e i nipoti, davvero «le espressioni della pietà popolare hanno molto da
insegnarci […], particolarmente nel momento in cui pensiamo alla nuova
evangelizzazione» (Esort. ap. Evangelii gaudium, 126).
Alla luce dell’esperienza latinoamericana, ho potuto affermare che «gli immigrati,
se li si aiuta a integrarsi, sono una benedizione, una ricchezza e un nuovo dono
che invita una società a crescere» (Enc. Fratelli tutti, 135). Accogliere,
accompagnare, promuovere e integrare, i quattro passi. Se non arriviamo
all’integrazione possono esserci problemi, e gravi. A me sempre viene in mente
la tragedia di Zaventem: coloro che hanno fatto questo erano belgi, ma figli di
migranti non integrati, ghettizzati. Accogliere, accompagnare, promuovere e
integrare. Lo stesso si può dire anche per l’Europa. Gli emigranti sono una
benedizione anche per e nelle nostre Chiese in Europa. Se integrati, possono
aiutare a far respirare l’aria di una diversità che rigenera l’unità; possono
alimentare il volto della cattolicità; possono testimoniare l’apostolicità della
Chiesa; possono generare storie di santità. Non dimentichiamo, ad esempio, che
Santa Francesca Saverio Cabrini, suora lombarda emigrante tra gli emigranti, è
stata la prima santa cittadina degli Stati Uniti d’America. Nello stesso tempo, le
migrazioni hanno accompagnato e possono sostenere, con l’incontro, la relazione
e l’amicizia, il cammino ecumenico nei diversi Paesi europei dove i fedeli
appartengono in maggioranza a comunità riformate o ortodosse.
In questo senso, constato con piacere che il percorso sinodale delle Chiese in
Italia, anche grazie al lavoro pastorale della Fondazione Migrantes, si propone di
considerare le persone migranti come una risorsa importante per il rinnovamento
e la missione delle Chiese in Europa. Soprattutto il mondo giovanile in
emigrazione, spesso disorientato e solo, dovrà vedere una Chiesa con i suoi
Pastori attenta, che cammina con loro e tra loro.
Il Beato Vescovo Giovanni Battista Scalabrini, la cui azione tra i migranti ha
alimentato la missione delle Chiese in Italia, e Santa Francesca Cabrini, patrona
dei migranti, guidino e proteggano il vostro cammino nelle Chiese in Europa per
un nuovo, gioioso e profetico annuncio del Vangelo.
Cari fratelli e sorelle, vi ringrazio per quello che fate. Vi incoraggio a proseguire
nel vostro impegno e a pensare con creatività a una missione che guardi al
futuro delle nostre comunità, perché siano sempre più radicate nel Vangelo,
fraterne e accoglienti. Vi benedico e vi accompagno. E voi, per favore, non
dimenticatevi di pregare per me. Grazie!

Archive

07 Nov POPE FRANCIS ANGELUS

Posted at 00:00h in by

After the Angelus:
Dear brothers and sisters, I am following with concern the news from the region
of the Horn of Africa, particularly from Ethiopia, shaken by a conflict which has
lasted for more than a year and which has claimed numerous victims and caused
a serious humanitarian crisis. I invite everyone to pray for those peoples so
sorely tried, and I renew my appeal that fraternal harmony and the peaceful
path of dialogue may prevail.
I also assure my prayers for the victims of the fire following a fuel explosion on
the outskirts of Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. […]

Archive

02 Nov MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS, SIGNED BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE CARDINAL PIETRO PAROLIN, TO THE INAUGURAL SESSION OF THE GLOBAL SOLUTIONS FORUM OF THE FAO ON THE ELIMINATION OF CHILD LABOUR IN AGRICULTURE

Posted at 00:00h in by

To His Excellency Qu Dongyu
Director-General of FAO
Your Excellency,
At the behest and in the name of the Holy Father, I wish to thank the FAO for
having promoted, in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation
(OIL), this high-level world meeting which focuses our attention on an
increasingly worrying phenomenon, given the recent estimates of international
bodies.
In fact, even more so when it manifests itself as exploitation, child labour
becomes a scourge that cruelly harms the dignified existence and harmonious
development of the youngest children, considerably limiting their opportunities
for the future, as it reduces and damages their lives to meet the productive and
lucrative needs of adults.
The negative consequences of this tragedy have been exacerbated by the
pandemic, which has led to a growing number of children dropping out of school
and unfortunately falling into the clutches of this form of slavery. For many of
our young brothers and sisters, not going to school means not only missing out
on opportunities that will enable them to meet the challenges of adulthood, but
also falling ill, being deprived of their right to health, because of the deplorable
conditions in which they have to carry out the tasks that are so vilely demanded
of them.
If we consider the agricultural sector, the emergency is even more alarming:
thousands of boys and girls are forced to work tirelessly, in extenuating,
precarious and demeaning conditions, suffering mistreatment, abuse and
discrimination. But the situation reaches its desolate extreme when it is the
parents themselves who are forced to send their children to work, because
without their active contribution they would not be able to support their families.
Mr. Director-General, let this meeting raise a forceful cry to demand that the
competent international and national bodies defend the serenity and happiness
of children! The most profitable investment that humanity can make is the
protection of children! Protecting children means respecting the period of their
growth, allowing these fragile shoots to benefit from the conditions appropriate
to their opening and blossoming. Protecting children also means taking strong
measures to help the families of small farmers so that they are not forced to
send their children to the countryside to increase their income, which is so low
that they cannot support their families with dignity. Finally, protecting children
means acting in such a way that horizons are opened up for them as free,
honest and caring citizens.
How important it would be for an appropriate and effective legal system, both
international and national, to defend and protect children from this harmful
technocratic mentality that has taken over the present. To this end, there must
be more people and associations at all levels working to ensure that the desire
for excessive profit that condemns children and young people to the brutal yoke
of labour exploitation gives way to the logic of care. In this sense, we need to
denounce, educate, raise awareness and convince those who have no qualms
about enslaving children with unbearable burdens to see further and deeper,
overcoming the selfishness and compulsive consumerism that end up devouring
the planet, forgetting that its resources must be preserved for future
generations.
Your Excellency, if we aspire to ensure that our society enjoys the dignity that
ennobles it, if we want law to triumph over arbitrariness, we must ensure that
our children and young people have a present free of labour exploitation. And
this will only be possible if we make a concerted and resolute commitment to
ensure that they pursue and cultivate their dreams, play, prepare and learn.
Then the way will be opened to a bright future for the human family. I have no
doubt that today’s event and the current International Year for the Elimination of
Child Labour will contribute to this.
In reiterating the desire of the Holy See and the commitment of the Catholic
Church and her institutions to ensuring that the international community does
not cease to fight in resolutely, jointly and decisively against the scourge of
labour exploitation of children, I invoke upon you, Mr. Director General, and
those who work to free children and young people from every adversity, the
blessing of God Almighty.
Vatican City, 2 November 2021
Cardinal Pietro Parolin
Secretary of State

Archive

01 Nov SOLEMNITY OF ALL SAINTS POPE FRANCIS ANGELUS

Posted at 00:00h in by

After the Angelus:
Dear brothers and sisters,
[…] Tomorrow morning, I will go to the French Military Cemetery in Rome: it will
be an opportunity to pray for the eternal repose of all the deceased, especially
for the victims of war and violence. In visiting this cemetery, I join spiritually
with all those who during these days go to pray at the tombs of their loved ones,
in every part of the world. […]

Archive

31 Oct POPE FRANCIS ANGELUS

Posted at 00:00h in by

After the Angelus:
Dear brothers and sisters,
[…] I am also thinking of the population of Haiti who are living in extreme
conditions. I ask the leaders of nations to help this country, not to leave it on its
own. And all of you, when you return home, look for news about Haiti and pray,
pray a lot. I was watching the program A Sua Immagine, the testimony of that
Camillian missionary from Haiti, Father Massimo Miraglio, the things that he was
saying…of all the suffering, all the pain that there is in that land, and how much
abandonment. Let’s not abandon them! […]

Archive

24 Oct POPE FRANCIS ANGELUS

Posted at 00:00h in by

After the Angelus:
Dear brothers and sisters, I express my closeness to the thousands of migrants,
refugees and others in need of protection in Libya: I never forget you; I hear
your cries and I pray for you. Many of these men, women and children are
subjected to inhuman violence. Once again, I call on the international
community to keep its promises to seek common, concrete and lasting solutions
for the management of migratory flows in Libya and throughout the
Mediterranean. And how those who are turned away suffer! There are real
“lagers” (concentration camps) there. We must put an end to the return of
migrants to unsafe countries and give priority to saving lives at sea, with
predictable rescue and disembarkation devices, guaranteeing them decent living
conditions, alternatives to detention, regular migration routes and access to
asylum procedures. Let us all feel responsible for these brothers and sisters of
ours, who have been victims of this very serious situation for too many years.
Let us pray together for them in silence. […]

Archive

23 Oct ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION OF THE “CENTESIMUS ANNUS PRO PONTIFICE” FOUNDATION

Posted at 00:00h in by

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
I am pleased that we can be with one another during your International
Convention. Thank you, Madam President, for your kind and, as ever, clear
words. In these days, you are discussing significant, and indeed fundamental,
issues: solidarity, cooperation and responsibility as antidotes to injustice,
inequality and exclusion.
These are timely issues, since the uncertainty and instability present in the lives
of many individuals and communities have been aggravated by an economic
system that continues to discard people’s lives in the name of the god of money,
fostering greed and destructive attitudes towards the resources of the earth and
fueling various forms of injustice. In the face of this, we cannot remain
indifferent. At the same time, our response to injustice and exploitation must be
more than mere condemnation; first and foremost, it must be the active
promotion of the good: condemnation of what is wrong, yet promotion of what is
good. For this reason, I am most appreciative of your work, especially in the
areas of education and training, and in particular for your commitment to
financing study and research by young people on new models of economic and
social development inspired by the Church’s social doctrine. This is important
and greatly needed: in soil contaminated by the predominance of finance, we
need to sow many small seeds that can bear fruit in an economy that is
equitable and beneficial, humane and people-centred. We need possibilities able
to become realities, and realities able to offer hope. This means putting into
practice the social teaching of the Church.
I want to return to the term “predominance of finance”. Four years ago a
distinguished economist who had also worked in government came to see me.
She told me that she had tried to create a dialogue between the economy,
humanism and religion in a think-tank, and that it had gone well and continues
to go well. I tried the same thing, she said, between finance, humanism and
religion, yet we could not even begin. Interesting. That made me think. This
economist made me feel that finance was something impractical, something
“fluid”, “ephemeral” that ends up like a chain letter. I share this experience with
you and perhaps it may help you.
The three words you have chosen – solidarity, cooperation and responsibility
–represent three pillars of the Church’s social teaching, which sees the human
person, naturally open to relationships, as the summit of creation and the centre
of the social, economic and political order. Based on this vision, with concern for
human beings and sensitivity to concrete historical processes, the Church’s
teaching contributes to a vision of the world opposed to individualistic visions,
since it is based on the interplay between persons and directed to the common
good. At the same time, that teaching is opposed to the collectivistic visions that
today are reemerging in a new form, concealed behind projects of technocratic
standardization. This is not simply a matter of “politics”; the Church’s social
teaching is grounded in the word of God and seeks to promote integral human
development on the basis of our faith in the God who became man. For this
reason, it should be practised, cherished and developed. Let us once more
become passionate about that teaching, let us make it known, for it is a treasure
of the Church’s tradition! It is precisely from your study of the Church’s social
doctrine that you too have felt called to combat forms of inequality that strike
especially the most fragile, and to work in promoting a real and effective
fraternity.
Solidarity, cooperation and responsibility: in these days you have placed these
three words at the centre of your discussions. Three words that recall the
mystery of God himself, who, as Trinity, a communion of persons, inspires us to
find our fulfilment in generous openness to others (solidarity), through
collaboration with others (cooperation) and through commitment to others
(responsibility). He inspires us to do this in every aspect of our life in society,
through our relationships, our work and civic engagements, our relationship with
creation and our participation in political life. In every sphere of life, today more
than ever, we are bound to witness our concern for others, to think not only of
ourselves, and to commit ourselves freely to the development of a more just and
equitable society where forms of selfishness and partisan interests do not
prevail. At the same time, we are called to be vigilant in upholding respect for
the human person and his or her freedom, and in safeguarding his or her
inviolable dignity. This is the mission of implementing the Church’s social
doctrine.
Dear friends, in promoting these values and this way of living – as we know – we
often find ourselves going against the grain, yet let us always remember that we
are not alone. God has drawn near to us. Not merely in words, but by his very
presence: in Jesus, God became incarnate. With Jesus, who became our brother,
we recognize in every man a brother, in every woman a sister. This universal
communion inspires us, as a believing community, to cooperate readily with
everyone for the common good: without forms of rejection, exclusivity or
prejudice. As Christians, we are called to a love that transcends borders and
limits; we are called to be a sign and witness that it is possible to pass beyond
the walls of selfishness and personal and national interest. Beyond the power of
money that often decides the destiny of peoples; beyond ideological divisions
that foster hatred; beyond all historical and cultural barriers and, above all,
beyond indifference, that culture of indifference which, sadly, we experience
daily. We can be “brothers and sisters all”, and so we can and must think and
work as “brothers and sisters of all”. This may seem to be an unrealistic utopia.
But we prefer to believe that it is a dream that can come true. For it is the
dream of the triune God. With his help, it is a dream that can begin to become
reality, also in our world.
Building a more solidary, just and equitable world is a daunting enterprise. For
believers, however, it is not simply a practical matter, with no relation to
doctrine. Indeed, it is the way to embody our faith, to praise the God who loves
men and women, who loves life. Dear brothers and sisters, the good that you do
for every person on earth brings joy to the heart of God in heaven. Continue
resolutely on this path. I accompany you with my prayers and I bless you in your
work. And I ask you, please, not to forget to pray for me. Thank you.

Archive

16 Oct VIDEO MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS ON THE OCCASION OF THE FOURTH WORLD MEETING OF POPULAR MOVEMENTS

Posted at 00:00h in by

[…] And speaking of pandemics, we have stopped questioning the scourge of
the food crisis. Despite advances in biotechnology, millions of people have been
deprived of food, even though it is available. This year twenty million more
people have been dragged down to extreme levels of food insecurity; severe
destitution has increased; and the price of food has risen sharply. The numbers
relating to hunger are horrific, and I think, for example, of countries like Syria,
Haiti, Congo, Senegal, Yemen, South Sudan. But hunger is also felt in many
other poor countries of the world, and not infrequently in the rich world as well.
Annual deaths from hunger may exceed those of Covid. (OXFAM, The hunger
virus multiplies, 9.7.2021, based on the Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) of
the United Nations World Food Programme, 2021) But this does not make the
news. It does not generate empathy.
I want to thank you because you have felt the pain of others as your own. You
know how to show the face of true humanity, the humanity that is not built by
turning your back on the suffering of those around you, but in the patient,
committed and often even sorrowful recognition that the other person is my
brother or sister (cf. Lk 10:25-37) and that his or her joys and hopes, griefs and
anxieties are also mine (cf. Gaudium et spes, no. 1). To ignore those who have
fallen is to ignore our own humanity that cries out in every brother and sister of
ours.
Christians and non-Christians, you have responded to Jesus who said to His
disciples, faced with the hungry crowd: “Give them some food yourselves”. And
where there was scarcity, the miracle of the multiplication occurred again in your
struggling tirelessly so that no one would go without bread (cf. Mt 14:13-21).
Thank you!
Like the doctors, nurses and health workers in the trenches of healthcare, you
have taken your place in the trenches of the marginalised neighbourhoods. I am
thinking of many, in quotation marks, “martyrs” to this solidarity, about whom I
have learned from you. The Lord will take them into account. If all those who out
of love struggled together against the pandemic could also dream of a new world
together, how different things would be! To dream together. […]
[…] In Fratelli tutti I used the parable of the Good Samaritan as the clearest
possible Gospel presentation of this intentional choice. A friend told me that the
figure of the Good Samaritan is associated by a certain cultural industry with a
half-wit. This is the distortion that provokes the depressive hedonism that is
meant to neutralise the transformative power that people possess, and in
particular young people.
Do you know what comes to mind now when, together with popular movements,
I think of the Good Samaritan? Do you know what comes to mind? The protests
over the death of George Floyd. It is clear that this type of reaction against
social, racial or macho injustice can be manipulated or exploited by political
machinations or whatever, but the main thing is that, in that protest against this
death, there was the Collective Samaritan who is no fool! This movement did not
pass by on the other side of the road when it saw the injury to human dignity
caused by an abuse of power. The popular movements are not only social poets
but also collective Samaritans.
In these processes, there are many young people who feel hope, but there are
many other young people who are sad, who perhaps in order to feel something
in this world need to resort to the cheap consolations offered by the consumerist
and narcotising system. And others, sad to say, others choose to leave the
system altogether. The statistics on youth suicides are not published in their
entirety. What you do is very important, but it is also important that you succeed
in transmitting to present and future generations the same thing that inflames
your hearts. In this you have a dual task or responsibility. Like the Good
Samaritan, to tend attentively to all those who are stricken along the way, and
at the same time, to ensure that many more join in: the poor and the oppressed
of the earth deserve it, and our common home demands it of us.
I want to offer some guidelines. The social teaching of the Church does not have
all the answers, but it does have some principles that along this journey can help
to concretize the answers, principles useful to Christians and non-Christians
alike. It sometimes surprises me that every time I speak of these principles,
some people are astonished, and then the Holy Father gets labeled with a series
of epithets that are used to reduce any reflection to mere discrediting adjectives.
It doesn’t anger me, it saddens me. It is part of the post-truth plot that seeks to
nullify any humanistic search for an alternative to capitalist globalisation, it is
part of the throwaway culture, and it is part of the technocratic paradigm.
The principles I set out are tested, human, Christian, and are compiled in the
Compendium drawn up by the then Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
(Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Compendium of the
Social Doctrine of the Church, 2004) It is a small manual of the Church’s Social
Teaching. And sometimes, when the Popes, be it myself or Benedict, or John Paul
II, say something, there are people who wonder: “Where did he get it from?” It
is the traditional teaching of the Church. There is a lot of ignorance about this.
The principles I expound are in this Compendium commissioned by Saint John
Paul II. I recommend that you read it, you and all social, trade union, religious,
political and business leaders.
In chapter four of this document, we find principles such as the preferential
option for the poor, the universal destination of goods, solidarity, subsidiarity,
participation, and the common good. These are all ways in which the Good News
of the Gospel takes concrete form on a social and cultural level. And it saddens
me that some members of the Church get annoyed when we mention these
guidelines that belong to the full tradition of the Church. But the Pope must not
stop mentioning this teaching, even if it often annoys people, because what is at
stake is not the Pope but the Gospel.
And so in this context, I would like to briefly reiterate some of the principles we
rely upon to carry out our mission. I will mention two or three, not more. One is
the principle of solidarity. Solidarity not only as a moral virtue but also as a
social principle: a principle that seeks to confront unjust systems with the aim of
building a culture of solidarity that expresses, the Compendium literally says, “a
firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good”. (n.
193)
Another principle is to stimulate and promote participation and subsidiarity
between movements and between peoples, capable of thwarting any
authoritarian mindset, any forced collectivism or any state-centric mindset. The
common good cannot be used as an excuse to quash private initiative, local
identity or community projects. Therefore, these principles promote an economy
and politics that recognise the role of popular movements, “the family, groups,
associations, local territorial realities; in short, for that aggregate of economic,
social, cultural, sports-oriented, recreational, professional and political
expressions to which people spontaneously give life and which make it possible
for them to achieve effective social growth”.(n. 185) […]