Time.news – Pope Francis received today in audience one hundred young people from enterprises and cooperatives of the Policoro Project of the CEI – accompanied by the president, Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti and the secretary general, Monsignor Stefano Russo -, which is celebrating 25 years of life.
The Pontiff urged them to “work for an alternative economic model to the consumerist one, which produces waste “, to always be a” sign of hope “,” especially for many areas of southern Italy lacking in work or exploiting workers “, to be” weavers of a solidarity humanity “. Sign of hope against the unemployment of the new generations in Italy, an increasingly “old” country with an average of 47 years of age.
“It is a problem of dignity – said Bergoglio, referring to the lack of work -. The dignity of the person does not come from money, it does not come from the things that are known, it comes from work. Work is an anointing of dignity. Who does not work is not worthy. So simple”.
The Pope thus raised the alarm for what many young people today have to face and once again touched on the theme of “demographic winter“.” I want to stop on one serious thing – he said off the cuff -: unemployment that makes many young people seek alienation. You know so many things … A consistent number are seeking suicide. Then, alienate oneself, go out of life, at a time when we are not in the summer of Italian demographic life; we are in the winter! We lack young people and for this reason young people cannot give themselves the luxury of not entering this job “.
“The average age in Italy is 47 years! Well, you are old. It has no future. ‘But, how can I have children if I do not have a job?’, ‘I, a woman, how can I have children, who as soon as the head of the office sees my belly kick me out, to such an extent that my belly has become a shame? ”It’s all another way! May young people begin to dream, to be parents, to have children. And for this, they have jobs. Work is a bit of a guarantee for this future “, were the words of the Pontiff.
Four verbs that the Pope suggests to those present, which can be used for the Policoro Project and for it to be concrete: animate, live, be passionate about, accompany. “It is time to live in social life, work and politics without fear of getting your hands dirty”, he remarked. “You can help open the doors and windows of the parishes, so that the problems of the people enter more and more the hearts of the communities. And do not be afraid to also live in conflicts”, he continued.
“You young people do not lack creativity – do not be afraid, do not be afraid -: I encourage you – he continued – to work for an alternative economic model to the consumerist one, which produces waste. Sharing, fraternity, gratuitousness and sustainability are the pillars on which to found a different economy. It is a dream that requires audacity, in fact it is the audacious who change the world and make it better “.
E “fraternity workshops” can become the peripheries, Bergoglio remarked that he encouraged to “love the territories in which God has placed you, avoiding the temptation to flee elsewhere” and to lean “on the poverty of our time: on the young people who cannot find work, the so-called Neet, on those who suffer depression, on those who are unmotivated, on those who are tired in life, on those who have stopped dreaming of a new world. And there are young people who have stopped dreaming. It is sad, because the vocation of a young person is to dream “.
“Dear young people, at the school of the Church’s social teaching, you are already signs of hope”, he concluded. “May your presence in the dioceses help everyone to understand that evangelization also passes through the care of work. May the 25 years of the Policoro Project be a restart. I encourage you to ‘dream together’ for the good of the Church in Italy. And I encourage you to make noise. Young people must make a noise “.
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