Pope Francis Asks Youth "Who is the person, in all of history, who has been able to forgive and wants to reconcile?" "Jesus our brother who loves us all, right?" - FULL TEXT

 APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO INDONESIA, PAPUA NEW GUINEA,
TIMOR-LESTE, SINGAPORE
(September 2-13, 2024)
MEETING WITH YOUNG PEOPLE

Pope Francis concludes his three-day visit to Timor-Leste by meeting with young people, and urges them to be responsible and free protagonists of the future of their nation.
FULL TEXT ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER
“Centro de Convenções” (Dili, Timor-Leste)
Wednesday, September 11, 2024
___________________________
Dadeer di’ak! (Good morning!)
First of all, I ask a question, let’s see who can answer: what do young people do? What do young people do? You [points to a girl].
[the girl] “Announce Christ”.
Very good. What else do young people do? What else?
[another young person] “Proclaim the Word of God”.
Very good. What else do young people do?
[another young man] “Love one another.”
Love, and young people have a great capacity for love. What else do young people do?
[another young man] “We must cultivate peace in our country.”
Never forget this! Very good, very good. But there is one thing that young people always do, young people of different nationalities, young people of different religions. Do you know what young people always do? Young people make noise, young people make confusion. Do you agree? Do you agree with this? [they answer: “Yes!]
I thank you for the greetings, the testimonies and the questions. I thank you for the dances.

Because you know that dancing is expressing a feeling with the whole body. Do you know any young people who don’t know how to dance? Life comes with dancing. And you are a country of young people.
There is one thing I was saying this morning to a bishop: I will never forget your smiles. Don’t stop smiling! And you young people are the majority of the population of this land, and your presence fills this land with life, fills it with hope and fills it with the future. Do not lose the enthusiasm of faith! Imagine a young person without faith, with a sad face. But do you know what brings a young person down? Vices. Be careful. Because those who call themselves sellers of happiness are coming. And they sell you drugs, they sell you many things that give you happiness for half an hour and that’s it. You know this better than I do, right? You know this situation better than I do. Do you know it or not?... I don’t “feel”... [“Yes”] Good, very good, thank you.
I wish you to move forward with the joy of youth. But do not forget one thing: you are the heirs of those who preceded you in the foundation of this Nation. Therefore, do not lose your memory! The memory of those who preceded you and who with so much sacrifice built this Nation.
And there are two things that touched my heart as I walked through the streets. They really touched my heart. The youth of this country and the smile. You are a people who know how to smile! Keep going! Don't forget it.
A young person must dream. "And how do you do it, Father, to dream?" Do you drink alcohol? ["No!"] No! If you do this, you will have nightmares! I invite you to dream, to dream big things. A young person who does not dream is a pensioner of life. And are any of these young people, among you, a pensioner? ["No!"] Young people must be confused, to show the life they have. But a young person is in the middle of the journey of life, is halfway, in the middle of the road of life. Between the kids and the adults. And do you know what one of the greatest riches of a society is? Do you know? The elderly, the grandparents! You young people, and the other tip are the elderly. But it is the grandparents, it is the elderly who give wisdom to the young. Do you respect the elderly? ["Yes!] The elderly always precede us young people in history, isn't that right? The elderly are a treasure: the two treasures of a people are children and the elderly. Do you understand? Let's see, you repeat it. What are the two greatest treasures of a people? [“Children and the elderly”] Children and the elderly. That's why a society that has many children like yours must take care of them. And one that has many elderly people who are memory must respect them and take care of them.
I'll tell you a story. There was a family, the father, the mother, the children and the very elderly grandfather were eating together. And the grandfather, poor very elderly guy, when he ate he got dirty and spilled the food. So the father decided to put a table in the kitchen, so that the grandfather could eat there alone. And he explained to the family that in this way, since the grandfather wasn't there, they could invite people without being embarrassed for the grandfather. Think about this. A few days pass and the father arrives and finds his five-year-old son playing with some wood. The father asks him: “What are you doing with that wood?” – “I’m making a table” – “Why?” – “For you, when you’re old and have to eat alone”.
The two greatest treasures of a society are children and grandparents. Together: what are the two greatest treasures of society? [“Children and grandparents”] Take care of children and grandparents, okay? And now let’s give our grandparents a big round of applause!
You, in this smiling country, have a wonderful history, of heroism, of faith, of martyrdom and, above all, of forgiveness and reconciliation. I ask you a question: who is the person, in all of history, who has been able to forgive and wants to reconcile? Think about it, who is this person? Who is he? [“Jesus!”] Jesus! Jesus our brother who loves us all, right? And this reconciliation leads me to recommend three things to you young people: freedom, commitment, fraternity.
In the Tetum language there is a saying: “ukun rasik-an”, that is, to be able to govern oneself. A young man who is not able, a young woman, a young man who is not able to govern himself, who is not able to live “ukun rasik-an”, what is that? What do you say? One who depends on others. Very good. And a man, a woman, a young man, a boy who does not govern himself is a slave, is dependent, is not free. And what can a young person be a slave to? Let’s see, someone answer… What? Sin, the cell phone – I’ll tell you something about the cell phone later –, something else… What can a young person be a slave to? Being a slave to one’s own desire, believing oneself to be omnipotent. What else can a young person be a slave to? [someone answers] Of course, arrogance: a young person who is always like this is an arrogant young person. Instead, a busy young person, a young person who works, what is he like? Tell me, what is a young person who works like? [someone answers] Well, one who loves simplicity. And then? One who has responsibilities. A young person who loves the company of brothers, sisters, who has responsibilities, is a young person who loves his country. This is very important.
And there is another thing that Rogéria, Cecilia and Efranio [said] referring to the importance of taking care of the common home and cultivating the unity of the family. A young person must understand that being free does not mean doing what you want, but that a young person is responsible. And one of the responsibilities is to learn to take care of the common home. And for this the young must commit themselves. An oriental proverb says: difficult times create strong men. Look at your parents, your grandparents, who had to face difficult times to give freedom to the country. This is why you must learn to manage difficult times.
One last thing before leaving. It is a value that you must learn: brotherhood. Being brothers, not being enemies. Your elders, your parents and grandparents, perhaps with different ideas, but they were brothers. And is it good for young people to have different ideas? [“Yes”] And why is this? To argue with others? Or to respect each other? [they answer] I believe that you think this: if I am of this religion and you are of that other religion, we will clash. It is not like that, we must respect each other. Let us repeat this word: respect each other.
And a question: is hatred a good attitude? [“No!”] Love and service, this is the right attitude. Now let's all repeat together: no to hate, yes to love and service [they repeat] Once again, I didn't hear well [they repeat] And if a young man or woman argues with another, what should they do?... I don't hear, what did they say? Let's all repeat it together: love and reconciliation!… [they repeat] Love and reconciliation.
There is something that I don't know if it happens in this country, but in other countries it does: bullying. Is there bullying here? Bullying is an attitude that takes advantage of the weakest. Because he is ugly, because he is fat, because he walks badly… But it is always a bad attitude because it uses the weakness of others. But here, in Timor Leste, is there bullying? Please, from now on no bullying!
Dear young people, be heirs of the beautiful history that preceded you! Be heirs of the beautiful history that preceded you. And carry it forward. Have courage, have courage to carry things forward. And if you argue, reconcile. I thank you for all that you do for the homeland, for the people of God. And let us remember what Ilham, who spoke a moment ago, told us: that we must love each other beyond all ethnic or religious differences. Did you understand this? [“Yes!”] Reconciliation, coexistence with all differences. It is important. Do we agree? [“Yes!”]
And before I finish I must give you a piece of advice: make noise, make confusion! My second piece of advice: respect and listen to the elders, okay? What was the first piece of advice? [they answer] Good. And the second piece of advice? [they answer]
God bless you so much. Thank you for being here! Thank you for the singing and dancing, very beautiful. And what was it like? Sorry, I forgot. What were the two pieces of advice? The first? The second? Make noise, make confusion and respect the elders. May God preserve this joy for you. May God always protect you!
Finally, after the greetings, he added:
Thank you for your joy, thank you for your smile!
And I gave you two pieces of advice, the first, what was it? [they answer] Confusion. And the second? [they answer] Young people must be confused and young people must respect the elderly, okay? All together, first: confusion. Second: respect for the elderly.
Thank you for your presence. I leave this earth that is a smile with your faces and with your hopes. May God bless you all!

Source: Vatican.va