A matter of rights

In keeping with his humble nature, the Holy Father, Pope Francis carried his own hand luggage onboard the flight from Rome to Rio.

On board the trans-Atlantic flight from Rome to Rio de Janeiro, the Holy Father dispensed with the customary question and answer period which his two immediate predecessors have traditionally held with journalists, choosing instead to speak individually with each of the seventy journalists aboard in a much more relaxed manner.

Pope Francis spoke with the journalists about the dignity and rights of young people, but also of the dignity of the elderly.

His Holiness said that this first [international] trip of mine is to meet young people, (to see them) … not as isolated young people but immersed in their social context, in society. Because when we isolate young people, we do them an injustice: we take away their ‘belonging'.  The Holy Father said that young people and their energy are the future, but he also noted: The future is also the elderly because they are the custodians of the ‘wisdom of life,' the history, the home and the family.

During the flight, Pope Francis mentioned the economic crisis and the problem of youth without work. Young people today are in crisis, he said, and we are used to this disposable culture: it happens all too often to the elderly.  His Holiness called for a culture of inclusion, a culture of encounter, asking the journalists to help him in this endeavor.