turn, about a few other keys: keys to our life in society, beginning with
family
life.
"Our society benefits when each person and social group feels truly at home.
In
a family, parents, grandparents and children feel at home; no one is excluded.
If someone has a problem, even a serious one, even if he brought it upon
himself, the rest of the family comes to his assistance; they support him. His
problems are theirs. Should it not be the same in society? Our relationships in
society and political life, though, are often based on confrontation and the
attempt to eliminate our opponents. My position, my ideas and my plans will
move
forward if I can prevail over others and impose my will. Is this the way a
family should be? In families, everyone contributes to the common purpose,
everyone works for the common good, not denying each person's individuality but
encouraging and supporting it. The joys and sorrows of each are felt by all.
That is what it means to be a family! If only we could view our political
opponents or neighbours in the same way we view our children or our spouse,
mother or father! Do we love our society? Do we love our country, the community
which we are trying to build? Do we love it in the abstract, in theory? Let us
love it by our actions more than by our words! In every person, in concrete
situations, in our life together, love always leads to communication, never to
isolation. St. Ignatius - allow me a publicity break - St. Ignatius told us in
the Exercises that love is shown more through works than words. Le us love
society in our works rather than in our words! And he also told us that love
always communicates, it tends towards communication rather than isolation. Two
criteria that can help us to look upon society with new eyes. Not only to look
at it; to feel it, think it, touch it, love it".
"This feeling can give rise to small gestures which strengthen personal bonds.
I have often spoken of the importance of the family as the primary cell of
society. In the family, we find the basic values of love, fraternity and mutual
respect, which translate into essential values for society as a whole:
gratitude, solidarity and subsidiarity".
"Parents know that all their children are equally loved, even though each has
his or her own character. But when children refuse to share what they have
freely received, this relationship breaks down. The love of their parents helps
children to overcome their selfishness, to learn to live with others, to yield
and be patient. In the wider life of society we come to see that
'gratuitousness' is not something extra, but rather a necessary condition of
justice. Who we are, and what we have, has been given to us so that we can
place
it at the service of others. Our task is to make it bear fruit in good works.
The goods of the earth are meant for everyone, and however much someone may
parade his property, it has a social mortgage. In this way we move beyond
purely
economic justice, based on commerce, towards social justice, which upholds the
fundamental human right to a dignified life. The tapping of natural resources,
which are so abundant in Ecuador, must not be concerned with short-term
benefits. As stewards of these riches which we have received, we have an
obligation toward society as a whole and towards future generations. We cannot
bequeath this heritage to them without proper care for the environment, without
a sense of gratuitousness born of our contemplation of the created world. Among
us today are some of our brothers and sisters representing the indigenous
peoples of the Equatorial Amazon. That region is one of the 'richest areas both
in the number of species and in endemic, rare or less protected species... it
requires greater protection because of its immense importance for the global
ecosystem ... it possesses an enormously complex biodiversity which is almost
impossible to appreciate fully, yet when [such woodlands] are burned down or
levelled for purposes of cultivation, within the space of a few years countless
species are lost and the areas frequently become arid wastelands'. Ecuador -
together with other countries bordering the Amazon - has an opportunity to
become a teacher of integral ecology. We received this world as an inheritance
from past generations, but also as a loan from future generations, to whom we
will have to return it. In an improved condition. And this is gratuity!"
"Out of the family's experience of fraternity is born solidarity in society,
which does not only consist in giving to those in need, but in feeling
responsible for one another. If we see others as our brothers and sisters, then
no one can be left out or set aside. Ecuador, like many Latin American nations,
is now experiencing profound social and cultural changes, new challenges which
need to be faced by every sector of society. Migration, overcrowded cities,
consumerism, crises in the family, unemployment and pockets of poverty: all
these factors create uncertainty and tensions which threaten social harmony.
Laws and regulations, as well as social planning, need to aim at inclusion,
create opportunities for dialogue and encounter, while leaving behind all forms
of repression, excessive control or loss of freedom as painful past memories.
Hoping in a better future calls for offering real opportunities to people,
especially young people, creating employment, and ensuring an economic growth
which is shared by all (rather than simply existing on paper, in macroeconomic
statistics), and promoting a sustainable development capable of generating a
solid and cohesive social fabric. Without solidarity this is impossible.
I referred to the young and to the lack of work. Worldwide, this is alarming.
European countries which were at a high level a few decades ago are now
experiencing rates of 40 to 50 per cent unemployment among the young
population,
those aged 25 or below. Without solidarity this cannot be resolved. I said to
the Salesians [in Turin], 'Your institution was founded by Don Bosco to
educate,
to give emergency education to those young people today who have no work!' Why?
Emergency, to prepare them for those little jobs that give them the dignity of
bringing home bread for the table. For these young unemployed, those whom we
call the 'neither nor' - they neither study nor work - what prospects are left?
Dependency, sadness, depression, suicide - the statistics on suicide among the
young are not fully published - or to enlist in projects of social madness that
at least offer them an ideal? Today we are asked to take care, in a special
way,
with solidarity, of this third sector of exclusion of the throwaway culture.
The
first are children, because either they are unwanted - there are developed
countries where the birthrate is almost at zero per cent - or they are killed
before they are born. Then there are the elderly, abandoned and left,
forgetting
that they are the wisdom and memory of their people. They are discarded. And
now
it is the turn of the young. Who has taken their place? The servants of
selfishness, the god of money at the centre of a system that crushes everyone.
"Finally, the respect for others which we learn in the family finds social
expression in subsidiarity. To recognise that our choices are not necessarily
the only legitimate ones is a healthy exercise in humility. In acknowledging
the
goodness inherent in others, even with their limitations, we see the richness
present in diversity and the value of complementarity. Individuals and groups
have the right to go their own way, even though they may sometimes make
mistakes. In full respect for that freedom, civil society is called to help
each
person and social organisation to take up its specific role and thus contribute
to the common good. Dialogue is needed and is fundamental for arriving at the
truth, which cannot be imposed, but sought with a sincere and critical spirit.
In a participatory democracy, each social group, indigenous peoples,
Afro-Ecuadorians, women, civic associations and those engaged in public service
are all indispensable participants in this dialogue. The walls, patios and
cloisters of this city eloquently make this point: rooted in elements of Incan
and Caranqui culture, beautiful in their proportions and shapes, boldly and
strikingly combining different styles, the works of art produced by the 'Quito
school' sum up that great dialogue, with its successes and failures, which is
Ecuador's history. Today we see how beautiful it is. If the past was marked by
errors and abuses - how can we deny it! - we can say that the amalgamation
which
resulted radiates such exuberance that we can look to the future with great
hope.
"The Church wishes for her part to cooperate in the pursuit of the common
good,
through her social and educational works, promoting ethical and spiritual
values, and serving as a prophetic sign which brings a ray of light and hope to
all, especially those most in need. Many people ask me, 'Father, why do you
speak so much about the needy, about people in need, excluded people, those
left
by the wayside?'. It is simply because this reality, and the response to this
reality, is at the heart of the Gospel. And precisely because the attitude with
which we must face this reality is inscribed in the protocol on which we will
be
judged, in Matthew 25".
Francis concluded, "Thank you for being here, for listening to me. I ask you
please to carry my words of encouragement to the different communities and
groups which you represent. May the Lord grant that the civil society which you
represent may always be a fitting setting for experiencing and practising these
values of gratuity, solidarity and subsidiarity".
The Holy Father ended his day with a visit to the Church of the Society, the
Society of Jesus' first temple in Ecuador, built between 1605 and 1765, and one
of the most important architectural icons of the New World, a UNESCO World
Heritage Site. Along with some Jesuits from the community, he prayed privately
before the image of Our Lady of Sorrows. The visit lasted around half an hour,
after which the Pope transferred by car to the apostolic nuncio where he spent
the night.
Today, 8 July, the Pope is scheduled to meet with the elderly in the
Missionaries of Charity rest home in Tumbaco, and with the clergy in the El
Quinche national Marian shrine. From there, the Pope will travel to Quito
airport where he will depart for Bolivia, the second phase of his apostolic
trip
in Latin America.
___________________________________________________________
Other Pontifical Acts
Vatican City, 8 July 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Bishop Jose
Luiz Gomes de Vasconcelos as bishop of Sobral (area 17,634, population 962,000,
Catholics 815,000, priests 71, religious 114), Brazil. He is currently
auxiliary
of the archdiocese of Fortaleza, Brazil, and apostolic administrator of the
diocese of Sobral.
___________________________________________________________
For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:
www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va
Copyright (VIS): the news contained in the services of the Vatican
Information Service may be reproduced wholly or partially by quoting
the source: V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/vis_en.html
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* Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)
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