Pope Francis says "Jesus does not offer us a magical solution to resolve poverty but asks us to bring them “the Good News”
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"MENDING THE TEAR: BEYOND INEQUALITIES"DIOCESAN ASSEMBLY WITH POPE FRANCIS
Pope Francis addresses the faithful of the Diocese of Rome during an assembly at the Basilica of St. John Lateran titled "Mending the Tear, Beyond Inequalities." Attending the event were key political figures, including Rome's Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, the Prefect and Police Commissioner as well as Andrea Riccardi from the Community of Sant’Egidio and sociologist Giuseppe De Rita, who had participated in a conference on the "ills of Rome" 50 years ago. The presence of ecumenical representatives, seated in the front row, signaled the shared aspirations for justice and fraternity across Churches. Among the guests were Monsignor Khajag Barsamian of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Ian Ernest, Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome, as well as leaders from the Orthodox Church, including Metropolitan Polycarpos, Father Militaru of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese in Italy, and Archimandrite Symeon Katsinas of the Greek Orthodox Church. The Islamic community was also represented by Rami Alkabalan from the Patriarchate of Antioch for Syriac Catholics, and Abdellah Redouane from the Islamic Cultural Centre of Italy and the Great Mosque of Rome.
FULL TEXT ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
Saint John Lateran on Friday, October 25, 2024__________
Dear brothers and sisters,
I thank you for being here to celebrate together this important moment for the Diocese of Rome. I greet the Authorities present and all of you who are here also representing your parish communities and the realities you serve. And I also thank all those who have worked to bring back to our memory the Conference that was held 50 years ago and which has gone down in history with the name "Conference on the evils of Rome". It was an event that marked the ecclesial and social path of the City and, on that occasion, the Church of Rome listened to the many sufferings that marked it, inviting everyone to reflect on the responsibilities of Christians in the face of the evils of the Church, the evils of the City, entering into dialogue with it and shaking the civil, political and Christian conscience of many.
I followed the various steps of the work done during this year and listened with interest to the summary and the testimonies that, unfortunately, once again put us in front of a sad reality: even today and still today there are many inequalities and poverty that affect many inhabitants of the City. If on the one hand all this saddens us, on the other it makes us understand how long the road to travel is. Knowing that there are people living on the streets, young people who cannot find a job or a home, sick and elderly people who do not have access to care, young people who sink into drug addictions and many other “modern” addictions, people marked by mental suffering who live in a state of abandonment or desperation. And this cannot be just a statistic; they are faces, they are stories of our brothers and sisters that touch us and challenge us: what can we do? Do we see the face of the suffering Christ in the wounded history of these people? Are we capable of seeing him? Do we feel the problem so as to take charge of it? What can we do together?
Starting from these questions and from the Word that we have heard, I would like to reflect with you on three aspects: bringing the good news to the poor, mending the tear, sowing hope.
First of all, bringing the good news to the poor. The poor will always be with us. The poor are the flesh of Christ and, like a sacrament, they make him visible to our eyes. When I confess, when there is the opportunity, I ask the person: “But tell me, do you give alms?” - “Yes, Father” - “And tell me, when you give alms, do you look into the eyes of the poor person to whom you give alms? Do you touch the hand?” And they answer: “No”. They throw away the coin and move on. They do not take care of that human suffering that is a poor person. The poor will always be with us, they are the flesh of Christ and, like a sacrament, they make him visible to our eyes. Jesus does not offer us a magical solution to resolve poverty but asks us to bring them “the good news”. And the good news to announce to the poor is first of all to tell them that they are loved by the Lord and that in the eyes of God they are precious, that their dignity, often trampled on by the world, is sacred before God. But many times, we Christians say this in words, and then we do not make the gestures that make it credible. Please: the poor cannot be a number, they cannot be a problem or, worse still, a waste. They are our brother, they are flesh of our flesh. I am happy that, in this Diocese, so many people spend themselves every day for the poor: I think of the volunteers, the workers of Caritas and other organizations and associations present in the territory, the many citizens who are silent and who do good; at the same time, however, we must feel the issue of poverty as an ecclesial emergency, which becomes a commitment and responsibility for everyone, always. The Church is called to adopt a style that puts at the center those who are marked by the various forms of poverty - there are so many, eh! -, the poor in food and hope, those hungry for justice, those thirsty for the future, those in need of true bonds to face life. Let us make ourselves present to the poor and become for them a sign of God's tenderness! God is present with three attitudes: closeness, compassion and tenderness. And a Christian who does not make himself close, who is not compassionate and who is not tender is not a Christian. Closeness, compassion and tenderness. This is how we imitate God.
Secondly, mending the tear. It is an image that I take from the title that we wanted to give tonight's meeting. It is true, something has torn! The great social fabric, due to inequalities, experiences daily ruptures that hurt. How can we accept that in our City tons of food are thrown away and at the same time there are families who have nothing to eat? The poor go looking for the food that restaurants throw away every night. How can we accept that there are thousands of empty spaces and thousands of people sleeping on a sidewalk? That some rich people have access to all the care they need and those who are poor when they are sick cannot get proper care? A city that helplessly witnesses these contradictions is a torn city, just like our entire planet. So it is necessary to mend this tear by committing ourselves to building alliances that put the human person, their dignity, at the center. To do this we need to work together, harmonize differences, each share the gift and mission that they have already received. And this also means growing in dialogue: dialogue with institutions and associations, dialogue with schools and families, dialogue between generations, dialogue with everyone, even with those who think differently. To mend the rift, we need the patience of dialogue without prejudice, passionately exchanging ideas, projects and proposals that are useful for renewing the fabric of the City. Together we can risk new paths, defeating the virus of indifference, which infects us all as if what happens in the corners of our City and the planet did not concern us. "It is not my business". To mend the rift, we need first of all to emerge from indifference and get personally involved! It would be nice if tonight's meeting came out with some concrete commitment, verifiable along the lines of a common effort aimed at actions capable of helping us overcome inequalities. But, in the meantime, I would like to ask you this: give more value, in ordinary pastoral care and in catechesis, to the social thought of the Church. It is important, it is important in fact, to form consciences in the social doctrine of the Church, so that the Gospel is translated into the different situations of today and makes us witnesses of justice, peace, brotherhood. And weavers of a new social and solidarity network in the City, to mend the tears that tear it apart.
Finally, sow hope. It is a commitment that we are called to take on also in view of the Jubilee now approaching, which I wanted to be marked by Christian hope. In the bull of indiction of the Jubilee, I invited everyone to think of signs of hope in favor of peace, of human life, of the sick, of prisoners, of migrants, of the elderly, of the poor. I address to all of you a strong appeal to carry out concrete works of hope. The multiplicity of social problems examined and presented also this evening could discourage to the point of saying that "we can do nothing". But Christian hope, on the other hand, is always active because it is animated by the certainty that it is the Lord who guides history and that in Him we can build what humanly seems impossible. Sisters, brothers, hope does not disappoint! It never disappoints. Let us go on the path of hope. In this City, men and women have worked who, faced with problems, have not remained idle and have not limited themselves to saying or writing many things. I think especially of some priests, true men of hope, like Don Luigi Di Liegro; I also think of many lay people who have set to work responding to the need to sow a seed of good, to activate processes in the hope that someone else would take care of that small seed until it became a large tree. If today, for example, the drive to volunteer is very strong, it is because someone believed in it and started with small steps. That good has infected many others until it has become a shared style. Today we must start new processes, new processes of hope: dream of hope and build hope through our commitment, which is a responsible and supportive commitment! Dare! All of you, dare in charity, do not be afraid to dream of great enterprises even if they begin with small commitments. The poet Charles Peguy says so, and, in this regard, I conclude with what he said about hope: “Faith is a faithful Bride. Charity is a Mother. Hope is a worthless child. Yet it is this child who will cross the worlds”. Let us move forward with hope.
Dear brothers, dear sisters, we too can cross the worlds of poverty bringing the hope of the Gospel! Thank you for all that you do in the Church and in the city of Rome. I pray for you, that you may be bold witnesses of the Gospel capable of bringing the good news of the poor and the good news to the poor, mending the tears and sowing hope!
And you too, please, do not forget to pray for me. Thank you.
FULL TEXT ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
Saint John Lateran on Friday, October 25, 2024__________
Dear brothers and sisters,
I thank you for being here to celebrate together this important moment for the Diocese of Rome. I greet the Authorities present and all of you who are here also representing your parish communities and the realities you serve. And I also thank all those who have worked to bring back to our memory the Conference that was held 50 years ago and which has gone down in history with the name "Conference on the evils of Rome". It was an event that marked the ecclesial and social path of the City and, on that occasion, the Church of Rome listened to the many sufferings that marked it, inviting everyone to reflect on the responsibilities of Christians in the face of the evils of the Church, the evils of the City, entering into dialogue with it and shaking the civil, political and Christian conscience of many.
I followed the various steps of the work done during this year and listened with interest to the summary and the testimonies that, unfortunately, once again put us in front of a sad reality: even today and still today there are many inequalities and poverty that affect many inhabitants of the City. If on the one hand all this saddens us, on the other it makes us understand how long the road to travel is. Knowing that there are people living on the streets, young people who cannot find a job or a home, sick and elderly people who do not have access to care, young people who sink into drug addictions and many other “modern” addictions, people marked by mental suffering who live in a state of abandonment or desperation. And this cannot be just a statistic; they are faces, they are stories of our brothers and sisters that touch us and challenge us: what can we do? Do we see the face of the suffering Christ in the wounded history of these people? Are we capable of seeing him? Do we feel the problem so as to take charge of it? What can we do together?
Starting from these questions and from the Word that we have heard, I would like to reflect with you on three aspects: bringing the good news to the poor, mending the tear, sowing hope.
First of all, bringing the good news to the poor. The poor will always be with us. The poor are the flesh of Christ and, like a sacrament, they make him visible to our eyes. When I confess, when there is the opportunity, I ask the person: “But tell me, do you give alms?” - “Yes, Father” - “And tell me, when you give alms, do you look into the eyes of the poor person to whom you give alms? Do you touch the hand?” And they answer: “No”. They throw away the coin and move on. They do not take care of that human suffering that is a poor person. The poor will always be with us, they are the flesh of Christ and, like a sacrament, they make him visible to our eyes. Jesus does not offer us a magical solution to resolve poverty but asks us to bring them “the good news”. And the good news to announce to the poor is first of all to tell them that they are loved by the Lord and that in the eyes of God they are precious, that their dignity, often trampled on by the world, is sacred before God. But many times, we Christians say this in words, and then we do not make the gestures that make it credible. Please: the poor cannot be a number, they cannot be a problem or, worse still, a waste. They are our brother, they are flesh of our flesh. I am happy that, in this Diocese, so many people spend themselves every day for the poor: I think of the volunteers, the workers of Caritas and other organizations and associations present in the territory, the many citizens who are silent and who do good; at the same time, however, we must feel the issue of poverty as an ecclesial emergency, which becomes a commitment and responsibility for everyone, always. The Church is called to adopt a style that puts at the center those who are marked by the various forms of poverty - there are so many, eh! -, the poor in food and hope, those hungry for justice, those thirsty for the future, those in need of true bonds to face life. Let us make ourselves present to the poor and become for them a sign of God's tenderness! God is present with three attitudes: closeness, compassion and tenderness. And a Christian who does not make himself close, who is not compassionate and who is not tender is not a Christian. Closeness, compassion and tenderness. This is how we imitate God.
Secondly, mending the tear. It is an image that I take from the title that we wanted to give tonight's meeting. It is true, something has torn! The great social fabric, due to inequalities, experiences daily ruptures that hurt. How can we accept that in our City tons of food are thrown away and at the same time there are families who have nothing to eat? The poor go looking for the food that restaurants throw away every night. How can we accept that there are thousands of empty spaces and thousands of people sleeping on a sidewalk? That some rich people have access to all the care they need and those who are poor when they are sick cannot get proper care? A city that helplessly witnesses these contradictions is a torn city, just like our entire planet. So it is necessary to mend this tear by committing ourselves to building alliances that put the human person, their dignity, at the center. To do this we need to work together, harmonize differences, each share the gift and mission that they have already received. And this also means growing in dialogue: dialogue with institutions and associations, dialogue with schools and families, dialogue between generations, dialogue with everyone, even with those who think differently. To mend the rift, we need the patience of dialogue without prejudice, passionately exchanging ideas, projects and proposals that are useful for renewing the fabric of the City. Together we can risk new paths, defeating the virus of indifference, which infects us all as if what happens in the corners of our City and the planet did not concern us. "It is not my business". To mend the rift, we need first of all to emerge from indifference and get personally involved! It would be nice if tonight's meeting came out with some concrete commitment, verifiable along the lines of a common effort aimed at actions capable of helping us overcome inequalities. But, in the meantime, I would like to ask you this: give more value, in ordinary pastoral care and in catechesis, to the social thought of the Church. It is important, it is important in fact, to form consciences in the social doctrine of the Church, so that the Gospel is translated into the different situations of today and makes us witnesses of justice, peace, brotherhood. And weavers of a new social and solidarity network in the City, to mend the tears that tear it apart.
Finally, sow hope. It is a commitment that we are called to take on also in view of the Jubilee now approaching, which I wanted to be marked by Christian hope. In the bull of indiction of the Jubilee, I invited everyone to think of signs of hope in favor of peace, of human life, of the sick, of prisoners, of migrants, of the elderly, of the poor. I address to all of you a strong appeal to carry out concrete works of hope. The multiplicity of social problems examined and presented also this evening could discourage to the point of saying that "we can do nothing". But Christian hope, on the other hand, is always active because it is animated by the certainty that it is the Lord who guides history and that in Him we can build what humanly seems impossible. Sisters, brothers, hope does not disappoint! It never disappoints. Let us go on the path of hope. In this City, men and women have worked who, faced with problems, have not remained idle and have not limited themselves to saying or writing many things. I think especially of some priests, true men of hope, like Don Luigi Di Liegro; I also think of many lay people who have set to work responding to the need to sow a seed of good, to activate processes in the hope that someone else would take care of that small seed until it became a large tree. If today, for example, the drive to volunteer is very strong, it is because someone believed in it and started with small steps. That good has infected many others until it has become a shared style. Today we must start new processes, new processes of hope: dream of hope and build hope through our commitment, which is a responsible and supportive commitment! Dare! All of you, dare in charity, do not be afraid to dream of great enterprises even if they begin with small commitments. The poet Charles Peguy says so, and, in this regard, I conclude with what he said about hope: “Faith is a faithful Bride. Charity is a Mother. Hope is a worthless child. Yet it is this child who will cross the worlds”. Let us move forward with hope.
Dear brothers, dear sisters, we too can cross the worlds of poverty bringing the hope of the Gospel! Thank you for all that you do in the Church and in the city of Rome. I pray for you, that you may be bold witnesses of the Gospel capable of bringing the good news of the poor and the good news to the poor, mending the tears and sowing hope!
And you too, please, do not forget to pray for me. Thank you.
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