Pope Francis Remembers "Jesus’ gaze" on St Matthew which Led to Conversion and Calls for "a path to peace and as hope for a better future!" FULL TEXT

Pope Francis welcomes members of the “Guardia di Finanza” as they celebrate their 250th anniversary and thanks them for the institution’s historical and ongoing commitment to Italy’s economic and financial security. Speaking on their motto, "Nella tradizione, il futuro" (In tradition, the future), Pope Francis acknowledged how deeply rooted the Guardia di Finanza is in Italy’s history. Since its inception, originally tasked with financial supervision and border defence, the force has evolved to take on essential roles in tax, financial, and customs policing, while also conducting rescue operations at sea and in the mountains. Addressing the corps on Saturday morning in the Vatican, the Pope remarked on their rich legacy, particularly their aid to Jewish refugees and the persecuted during the two World Wars.  Drawing inspiration from the Guardia di Finanza’s patron saint, Saint Matthew, he noted the apostle’s transformation from a tax collector to an evangelist who embraced the values of equity and justice. The pope noted if arms production were stopped for just one year, world hunger would end. It’s better to make weapons than to solve hunger..

FULL TEXT - ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

TO THE MILITARY OF THE FINANCE GUARD,

ON THE OCCASION OF THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF ITS FOUNDATION

Clementine Hall on Saturday, 21 September 2024

___________________________

Mr. Minister, Mr. General,

Your Excellency and dear Chaplains,

dear members of the Finance Guard!

I am pleased to welcome you; I saw you this morning when you entered here. I greet the Minister of Economy and Finance, the General Commander and all the officers. I greet and thank the Military Ordinary Bishop and the Chaplains.

"In tradition, the future". This is the motto of your 250th anniversary. In tradition, there is the future. It refers to the roots that led to the foundation of the Finance Guard and gave it a direction for growth. Born as a special corps for the financial surveillance and defense service at the borders, it has taken on the tasks of tax and economic-financial police, of police at sea, with an important mission in the field of rescue, both at sea and in the mountains. A historical reminder of this commitment is the help offered to Jewish refugees and the persecuted during the two great world wars.

A vast scope of interventions, therefore, which intends to respond to problems with the concreteness of presence and timely action, at the same time conveying a cultural alternative to some evils that risk polluting society.

Your Patron Saint is Saint Matthew - today is the feast -, apostle and evangelist. He, in fact, had been a "publican", that is, a tax collector, a profession doubly despised at the time of Jesus, because it was subservient to imperial power and because it was corrupt. I like to go to the church of the French [St. Louis] to see that Caravaggio, "The Conversion of Matthew", which symbolizes so profoundly. Matteo represented a utilitarian and unscrupulous mentality, devoted only to the “god of money”.

Even today, a similar logic has repercussions on social life, causing imbalances and marginalization: from food waste – this is a scandal, food waste, it is a scandal! – to the exclusion of citizens from benefiting from some of their rights. Even the State can end up a victim of this system; even those States that, despite having huge resources, remain isolated on the financial level or in the global market. How can we explain world hunger today, when there is so much waste in developed societies? This is terrible. And another thing: if they stopped manufacturing weapons for a year, world hunger would end. Better weapons than solving hunger…

In this panorama, you are called to contribute to the justice of economic relations, verifying compliance with the rules that govern the activities of individuals and businesses. Therefore, monitor the duty of every citizen to contribute according to criteria of equity to the needs of the State, without privileging the strongest, and combat the inappropriate use of the Internet and social networks. Both with regard to tax collection and in the fight against undeclared and underpaid work – this is another scandal –, or in any case harmful to human dignity, your action is of primary importance.

And all this is your concrete and daily way of serving the common good, of being close to the people, of combating corruption and promoting legality. That corruption that is done under the table.

The word “corrupt” – “cor-rotto” – “recalls the broken heart, the shattered heart, stained by something, ruined. […] Corruption reveals an anti-social conduct so strong that it dissolves the validity of the relationships and pillars on which a society is founded”. Therefore the answer, the alternative is not only in the rules, but in a “new humanism”. [1] Refounding humanity.

Jesus’ gaze, cast on the young Matthew, says that the dignity and life of man are at the heart of the life of a people. You can contribute to the rise of this new humanism also through the work you do in the service of the young people who ask to join the Guardia di Finanza and attend its schools. Perhaps at the beginning they are only looking for a job, but then they find a specific training, which, in addition to providing them with the essential notions and experiences, also becomes an education in life and the common good.

Matthew, in a certain sense, passed from the logic of profit to that of fairness. But, at the school of Jesus, he also went beyond fairness and justice and came to know gratuitousness, the gift of self that generates solidarity, sharing, inclusion. Gratuity is not only a financial dimension, but a human dimension. Becoming [people] at the service of others, free of charge, without seeking one’s own profit. Because, if justice is necessary, it is not enough to fill those voids that only generosity, charity, love can heal.

You experience it, for example, when you organize the reception and rescue of migrants in danger in the Mediterranean. Thank you for this, thank you. Or in courageous interventions for natural disasters, in Italy and elsewhere. But let's think about the fight against the scourge of drug trafficking, the merchants of death. Your service is not limited to the protection of victims, but includes the attempt to help the rebirth of those who make mistakes: in fact, by acting with respect and moral integrity you can touch consciences, showing the possibility of a different life.

In this way too, we can and must build an alternative to the globalization of indifference, which destroys with violence and war, but also by neglecting the care of sociality and the environment. In fact, the wealth of a nation is not only in its GDP, it lies in its natural, artistic, cultural, religious heritage, and in the smile of its inhabitants, of its children. Once, a head of state told me: "I have a special measure: the smile of children and the elderly. When both smile, things in a society are not so bad”. It is interesting. And this fosters creativity, openness to the world. You yourselves are citizens who guard this “wealth” of Italy, but ready to go out on international missions. This momentum of solidarity towards others is needed as a path to peace and as hope for a better future!

Sisters and brothers, I congratulate you, because you cooperate in nourishing the trust and hope of the people. This people that we are all. And nourish trust, hope, smiles. I come back to this. The thermometer is: are the children smiling? Are the elderly smiling? Don’t forget. And in this important anniversary it fits well with the theme of the Jubilee that the Church is preparing to celebrate, which is “Pilgrims of Hope”. I bless you with all my heart, I bless your work and your families. Please, don’t lose your sense of humor, please, because this is health! And I ask you, please, to pray for me. Thank you.

[1] Preface in Peter Turkson, Corrosion: Fighting Corruption in Church and Society, Bologna 2017