Pope Francis says "Don't forget about closeness that it is one of God's qualities: closeness, compassion and tenderness." FULL TEXT
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SPEECH OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE ITALIAN ASSOCIATION
FOUNDATIONS AND PHILANTHROPIC INSTITUTIONS (ASSIFERO)
Clementine Hall
Thursday, January 26, 2023
_______________________________________
Dear friends, good morning!
I thank the President, Doctor Stefania Mancini, for her words and I welcome all of you, members of the Assifero Association.
You have requested this meeting on the twentieth anniversary of your Association, and in this way I have been able to get to know your reality. I congratulate you on the work you have accomplished in recent years, and on the approach, clearly of Christian inspiration, with which you have structured your activity.
As Dr. Mancini recalled just now, you bring together numerous private foundations which, in Italy and abroad, work in various fields, for the promotion of the person and for the development of healthy and supportive social and economic models, putting in synergy different skills and resources. In fact, the first thing that strikes you about your action is precisely its richness and variety. You come from different backgrounds, extractions and Christian confessions, you bring with you the patrimony of spheres of activity, skills and operating methods of various types, you direct your attention and your help to realities and contexts of all kinds. Yours is an "all-round" charity, which requires mental openness and coordination skills; to use a Pauline image, as members of a body (see 1 Cor 12:1-13).
For this reason I would like to recommend that you pay special attention, in your programs, to three important values which, moreover, you already have in mind: first, the promotion of the integral good of the person, second, listening to the local communities, third, closeness to the least . Don't forget about closeness that it is one of God's qualities: closeness, compassion and tenderness. God is like this: close, compassionate and tender. They are the three "attitudes", so to speak, of God. This closeness leads you to compassion and tenderness.
Above all, the promotion of the integral good of the person, in its fundamental dimensions: material, intellectual, moral and spiritual. In fact, it is qualifying that material assistance aims to emancipate people, making them protagonists of their growth, in the development of their skills and talents, both at an individual and community level. All then according to sound ethical principles, so that economic growth takes place in solidarity and justice. You can be inspired by the words of Jesus who said: "I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly" (Jn 10:10).
Second value: listening to local communities. You told me about this attention that you propose as a method: listening to local realities. It is very important, so that your intervention is not reduced to sporadic help, but sows seeds for the future where people live, in the situations that Providence indicates to you (cf. Lk 13:18-21). And the humility of listening, understood in this way, is a fundamental element of acting for the common good, even more so when it allows you to be the spokesperson for the needs of the weakest in public institutions.
Third value: proximity to the least. There is a saying that “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link”. Getting close to the least, bending over their wounds, taking charge of their needs, is laying good foundations for building united and solid communities, for a better world and for a future of peace. It is Christ himself who comes to meet us in the poor, to show us the way to the Kingdom of Heaven, he who "became poor that he might enrich us with his poverty" (cf. 2 Cor 8:9).
Dear friends, I thank you for coming today and above all for all the good you do. I encourage you to always move forward with enthusiasm and wisdom. I bless you from the bottom of my heart. And I ask you please to pray for me. Thank you!
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE ITALIAN ASSOCIATION
FOUNDATIONS AND PHILANTHROPIC INSTITUTIONS (ASSIFERO)
Clementine Hall
Thursday, January 26, 2023
_______________________________________
Dear friends, good morning!
I thank the President, Doctor Stefania Mancini, for her words and I welcome all of you, members of the Assifero Association.
You have requested this meeting on the twentieth anniversary of your Association, and in this way I have been able to get to know your reality. I congratulate you on the work you have accomplished in recent years, and on the approach, clearly of Christian inspiration, with which you have structured your activity.
As Dr. Mancini recalled just now, you bring together numerous private foundations which, in Italy and abroad, work in various fields, for the promotion of the person and for the development of healthy and supportive social and economic models, putting in synergy different skills and resources. In fact, the first thing that strikes you about your action is precisely its richness and variety. You come from different backgrounds, extractions and Christian confessions, you bring with you the patrimony of spheres of activity, skills and operating methods of various types, you direct your attention and your help to realities and contexts of all kinds. Yours is an "all-round" charity, which requires mental openness and coordination skills; to use a Pauline image, as members of a body (see 1 Cor 12:1-13).
For this reason I would like to recommend that you pay special attention, in your programs, to three important values which, moreover, you already have in mind: first, the promotion of the integral good of the person, second, listening to the local communities, third, closeness to the least . Don't forget about closeness that it is one of God's qualities: closeness, compassion and tenderness. God is like this: close, compassionate and tender. They are the three "attitudes", so to speak, of God. This closeness leads you to compassion and tenderness.
Above all, the promotion of the integral good of the person, in its fundamental dimensions: material, intellectual, moral and spiritual. In fact, it is qualifying that material assistance aims to emancipate people, making them protagonists of their growth, in the development of their skills and talents, both at an individual and community level. All then according to sound ethical principles, so that economic growth takes place in solidarity and justice. You can be inspired by the words of Jesus who said: "I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly" (Jn 10:10).
Second value: listening to local communities. You told me about this attention that you propose as a method: listening to local realities. It is very important, so that your intervention is not reduced to sporadic help, but sows seeds for the future where people live, in the situations that Providence indicates to you (cf. Lk 13:18-21). And the humility of listening, understood in this way, is a fundamental element of acting for the common good, even more so when it allows you to be the spokesperson for the needs of the weakest in public institutions.
Third value: proximity to the least. There is a saying that “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link”. Getting close to the least, bending over their wounds, taking charge of their needs, is laying good foundations for building united and solid communities, for a better world and for a future of peace. It is Christ himself who comes to meet us in the poor, to show us the way to the Kingdom of Heaven, he who "became poor that he might enrich us with his poverty" (cf. 2 Cor 8:9).
Dear friends, I thank you for coming today and above all for all the good you do. I encourage you to always move forward with enthusiasm and wisdom. I bless you from the bottom of my heart. And I ask you please to pray for me. Thank you!
Source: Vatican.va
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