Pope Francis says " Peace is a company that requires the creativity and commitment of all those who have the gift of undertaking and innovating..." FULL TEXT

In a video message addressed to the community of Rosario, Pope Francis expresses his concern over the increase in drug-related violence that has gripped the Argentinian city for over a decade.
Pope Francis sent a video message on Tuesday to express his closeness to the people of Rosario, Argentina’s third-largest city, which is facing an unprecedented increase in drug-related criminal violence.

Dear brothers and sisters of Rosario:

 A verse from the Gospel of Matthew comes to mind at this moment: “Blessed are those who work for peace” (Mt 5:9). It is one of the beatitudes. And in a time of crisis, like those experienced by the City of Rosario, we understand the need for the presence of security forces to bring peace of mind to the community.

However, we know that on the path to peace, complex and comprehensive responses must be followed, with the collaboration of all the institutions that make up the life of a society. It is necessary to strengthen the community. Every People has within itself the tools to overcome that which threatens its own integrity, against the lives of its weakest children. Against you who attack, it is necessary to strengthen the community. No one of good will can feel excluded or be excluded from the great task of making Rosario a place where everyone can experience themselves as brothers. 

Without the complicity of a sector of political, police, judicial, economic and financial power it would not be possible to reach the situation in which the city of Rosario finds itself. It is necessary to “rehabilitate politics, which is “a very high vocation, it is one of the most precious forms of charity, because it seeks the common good”” (Letter enc. Fratelli tutti, 180). All political sectors are called to travel the great path of consensus and dialogue to generate laws and public policies that accompany a process of recovery of the social fabric. The alternation of management must sustain the continuity of the change processes. It is necessary to work not only on the supply, but also on the demand for drugs, through prevention and assistance policies. The silence of the State in this matter only naturalizes and facilitates the promotion of their consumption and marketing.

 In a context like this, it is necessary for the democratic system to ensure the institutionality of justice, in such a way that it can be independent, to investigate the networks of corruption and money laundering that facilitate the advance of drug trafficking. Each member of the judiciary is responsible for safeguarding his integrity, which begins with the righteousness of his heart. Likewise, we must thank all those men and women who, with their silent commitment to justice, often put their own lives at risk for the common good in a context that is so often dehumanized. 

“The entrepreneur is a fundamental figure in every good economy: there is no good economy without a good entrepreneur.” Unfortunately, there is no bad economy without the complicity of part of the private sector. There is a great task ahead in the business sector, not only in preventing complicity in business with mafia organizations, but also in social commitment. There are great examples of them in the life of the Argentine business community, among which is Enrique Shaw. No one is saved alone, even in private neighborhoods, one can encounter insecurity and the threat of consumption for one's own children. Peace is a company that requires the creativity and commitment of all those who have the gift of undertaking and innovating, and you know how to do it. Thanks for that.

 Given that, in any mafia system, the poor are the disposable material, I invite you to use your efforts and join forces so that the state and intermediate institutions can provide community spaces in vulnerable neighborhoods. They can create conditions so that children, adolescents and young people have comprehensive human development, for a future that surpasses that of their parents and grandparents. All social, civil and religious institutions must be united to do what we do best: create community. Rosario has a great wealth of institutions at the service of others. It is a wealth that you have. We can all collaborate and be part of sports, educational and community spaces. Fear always isolates, fear paralyzes. Don't be afraid to commit yourself with others to be a peaceful and inspiring response.

Brothers and sisters: the Church, as Mother and Samaritan, is always called to spiritually and organically accompany the families of the victims who have lost their lives due to violence, to accompany the sick, to accompany those who live the scourge of addictions and their families, accompany those who are imprisoned and then need a path to reintegration, accompany those who live in situations of extreme vulnerability. The parish is the Church that becomes a neighbor, it is the community where everyone can experience themselves as loved. For many vulnerable children, adolescents and young people it will perhaps be the only family experience they will have the opportunity to know. In these times, love and charity will be the most explicit announcement of the Gospel for a society that feels threatened.

Dear Rosario brothers and sisters, I am close to you. The Virgin of the Rosary intercedes day and night for all of her children, especially, as mothers usually do, with special diligence for those who are more frail. May God bless you, a hug.