With the leaders of Brazil

On Saturday morning, His Holiness, Pope Francis met with the leaders of Brazil.  The meeting took place in the Municipal Theatre in Rio de Janeiro.

Speech of the Holy Father, Pope Francis

Your Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning!

I thank God for this opportunity to meet with such a distinguished group of politicians and diplomats, both civil and religious, academics and entrepreneurs from this immense country of Brazil.

I wanted to address you in your beautiful Portuguese language, but in order to better express to you that which is in my heart, I prefer to speak in Spanish.  Please excuse me!

I cordially greet each of you and I want to thank you.  I thank Bishop Orani and Mister Walmyr Junior for their warm words of welcome, for their presentations and their witness.  I see in you both memory and hope: the memory of the road you have travelled and of the conscience of your country and the hope that, always open to the light which emanates from the Gospel, this country may continue to develop while fully respecting the ethical principles founded on the transcendent dignity of the person.

Memory of the past and the utopia of the future meet in the present moment, which is not a meeting point without history or promise, but a moment in time, a challenge to treasure wisdom and to know how to share it.  Those who, in a given nation, have roles of responsibility, are called to face the future with the calm regard of one who knows how to see the truth, as the Brazilian thinker Alceu Amoroso Lima said (‘Our times’, in The supernatural life and the modern world, Rio de Janeiro, 1956, p. 106).  Today, I want to share with you three aspects of this calm, serene and wise regard: first, the originality of a cultural tradition; then, the common responsibility we have to build the future; and finally the constructive dialogue necessary to face the present.

First of all, it is fitting to place value on the dynamic originality which characterizes the Brazilian culture, with its extraordinary ability to integrate various elements.  The common sentiment of a people, the bases of its thinking and of its creativity, the fundamental principles of its life, the criteria used to set its priorities and the norms by which it governs its decisions, are based on and grow from an integral vision of the human person.

This vision of man and of life, as it pertains to the Brazilian people, the life-blood of the Gospel, the faith in Jesus Christ, in the love of God and of fellowship with others.  The treasure of this life-blood can fertilize a cultural process which is faithful to the Brazilian identity and, at the same time, a constructive process toward a better future for everyone.

This process would increase the full integral humanization and promote a culture of meeting and of relationship.  This is the Christian way of promoting the common good, the joy of living.  And this is where faith and reason meet, the place where religious aspects meet various other aspects of human culture: art, science, work, literature … Christianity unifies transcendence and incarnation; through its capacity to always revitalize thought and life, in the face of the threat of frustration and disenchantment, which can invade the heart and spread in our streets.

A second element which I would like to discuss is that of social responsibility.  This demands a certain type of cultural paradigm and, consequently, of politic.  We are responsible for the formation of new generations, charged with the task of helping them to be competent in economics and in politics, and firm in their ethical values.  The future requires us to work today on rehabilitating our politics; the  rehabilitation of politics is one of the highest forms of charity.  The future also  requires us to have a humanist vision of the economy and policies which aim always at improving the participation of our people, avoiding elitism and uprooting poverty.  May no person be prevented from having that which he or she needs, and may dignity, fraternity and solidarity be assured for all: this is the proposed route.  During the time of the prophet Amos, God’s warnings were frequent: They sell the just for the price of silver and the poor for a pair of sandals … they crush the heads of the weak in the dust of the earth and they lead the humble astray (2:6-7).  The cries for justice continue even today.  Those who are responsible for guiding, if I may say so, those who life has anointed as guides, should have concrete objectives and seek specific methods to attain them, but there may also be the danger of deception, of bitterness, of indifference when aspirations don’t come true.  I call upon the dynamism and the hope that motivates us to always look beyond ourselves, to use all our energies and capacities for the good of others, for those we serve, by accepting the results and by creating conditions favorable for the discovery of new paths, also by giving without having to see the results, but by keeping hope alive, with the constance and courage which is born of acceptance of one’s proper vocation of guide and leader.

It is the duty of leadership to choose the best alternative after having considered all the options, beginning always from a sense of one’s own responsibility and the interest of the common good; by this method, we go to the heart of the most painful parts of society in order to overcome them also by the audacity of courageous and free actions.  Part of our responsibility, though always limited, is the understanding of the whole picture, by observing, guessing, evaluating, in order to make decisions in the present moment, but always maintaining a sense of the impact of our decisions on the future, and reflecting on the consequences of our decisions.  Those who act in a responsible manner place their own actions before the rights of others and before the judgement of God.  This ethical sense appears today to be an unprecedented historical challenge, we need to investigate it, we must insert it in our society.  Above and beyond scientific and technical rationality, in our current society, there is a moral need for social responsibility and a profound sense of solidarity.

To conclude this reflection, along with integral humanism which respects cultural origins and common responsibility, I consider it fundamental in order to face the future that we be engaged in constructive dialogue.  Between egoistic indifference and violent protestation, there is another option which is always possible: dialogue.  Dialogue among generations, dialogue among people, for we are all people, the ability to give and to receive, while remaining open to truth.  A country grows when its various cultural assets are in dialogue with one another: popular culture, scholarly culture, youth culture, artistic and technological culture, economic and family culture, and the culture of the media, when they are in dialogue with one another.  It is impossible to imagine a future for society without a strong contribution of moral energies in a democracy which remains enclosed in pure logic or in a simple balance of representation of common interests.  I think it is also fundamental in this dialogue that we include the contributions of the great religious traditions, which have a fundamental role to play in nurturing society and promoting democracy.  The laicisation of the state, which, without assuming as its own any confessional position, while respecting and valuing the presence of a religious dimension in society and favoring the most concrete expressions, is good for the coexistence of diverse religions.

When leaders from various sectors ask for my advice, I always respond in the same way: dialogue, dialogue, dialogue.  The only way for a person, a family, a society to grow, the only way to move people ahead in life is through a culture of meeting, a culture in which every person has something good to contribute and everyone can receive something good in return.  Another person always has something to give me, if we know how to approach the other with an attitude of openness and availability, without preconceptions.  This attitude of openness, availability and lack of preconceptions, I would call social humility, an attitude which favors dialogue.  This is the only way that good relations can grow between cultures and religions, one’s esteem for another without preconceptions and in a climate of respect for everyone’s rights.  Today, either we involve ourselves in dialogue, or we involve ourselves in a culture of meeting, or else we lose, everyone looses.  This is where the road ahead must lead.

Your Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

I thank you for your attention.  Welcome these words as the expression of my Pastoral care for the Church, of the respect and affection with which I wish to feed the Brazilian people.  The fraternity between men and women and collaborative efforts to construct a more just society are not merely wishful thinking, but the result of a concerted effort on the part of everyone for the common good.  I encourage you to foster this dialogue for the common good which demands wisdom, prudence and generosity.  I confide you to the Father who is in heaven, asking through the intercession of Our Lady of Aparecida, that He fill you all with his gifts, along with your families, your respective communities and I willingly ask God to bless you.  Thank you very much!