At 12:30pm today in the Sala Clementina at the Vatican Apostolic Palace, His Holiness, Pope Francis met with representatives of National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI).
I wish to thank the Mayor of Torino for the words he has addressed to me in the name of all of you. I thank him for having spoken of Cardinal Pellegrino, to whom I am very grateful: after the war, it was he who helped my family to find work. His was a beautiful gesture. Recalling these men of the Church, these men and women of the Church - pastors, sisters, laity - who knew how to walk with their people, amongst the people and with the people. This is a bit like the identity of a mayor! He began his discourse saying: This is addressed to the mayor, they are looking to the mayor ... With all that is addressed to the mayor, poor mayor, you often end up spreading your attention over so many issues ... But this is the work of a mayor, and I would say, your spirituality. I think about what it must be like at the end of your day, and I want to speak a bit about the mayor's exhaustion, when after a day at work, you return home with so many things which have still not been resolved. A few of them have, but not all of them.
The mayor, in the midst of the people. This does not refer to a mayor who is not there, because he is a mediator, a mediator among the needs of the people. The danger is that you can become not a mediator but an intermediary. And what is the difference? It is that the intermediary takes advantage of the needs of the various parties and keeps a part of the proceeds for himself, like someone who has a small shop, like one who gives and takes from here and there; and such mayors do exist - I say this as a possibility - such a mayor doesn't understand what it means to be mayor. On the other hand, a mediator is one who pays with his own life for the unity of his people, for the greater good of the people he serves, in order to advance the various solutions to the needs of his people. After the time designated for service as mayor, this man, this woman ends up being tired, with an overwhelming need to rest a bit, but with a heart that is filled with love because he or she has been a mediator. This is my hope: that you should all be mayors like this. Among your people, in order to build unity, in order to promote peace, able to resolve problems and also to resolve the needs of the people.
I am thinking about Jesus: he was not a mayor, but maybe a useful icon for us. I think of Jesus at a particular moment of his life, when he was in the midst of a crowd: the crowd was pushing in on him - says the Gospel - to the point that it was difficult to breathe. This is what the mayor should be like, with the people, with him, and with her, because this is how you should be, with the people, like Jesus was. Look for him, because he knows how to respond. This is my wish for you: that you should be tired, in the midst of your people, and that your people might seek you because they know that you always respond well to their requests.
Thank you for all that you do, and please pray for me!
Address of His Holiness, Pope Francis
for the meeting with representatives of the
National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI)
I wish to thank the Mayor of Torino for the words he has addressed to me in the name of all of you. I thank him for having spoken of Cardinal Pellegrino, to whom I am very grateful: after the war, it was he who helped my family to find work. His was a beautiful gesture. Recalling these men of the Church, these men and women of the Church - pastors, sisters, laity - who knew how to walk with their people, amongst the people and with the people. This is a bit like the identity of a mayor! He began his discourse saying: This is addressed to the mayor, they are looking to the mayor ... With all that is addressed to the mayor, poor mayor, you often end up spreading your attention over so many issues ... But this is the work of a mayor, and I would say, your spirituality. I think about what it must be like at the end of your day, and I want to speak a bit about the mayor's exhaustion, when after a day at work, you return home with so many things which have still not been resolved. A few of them have, but not all of them.
The mayor, in the midst of the people. This does not refer to a mayor who is not there, because he is a mediator, a mediator among the needs of the people. The danger is that you can become not a mediator but an intermediary. And what is the difference? It is that the intermediary takes advantage of the needs of the various parties and keeps a part of the proceeds for himself, like someone who has a small shop, like one who gives and takes from here and there; and such mayors do exist - I say this as a possibility - such a mayor doesn't understand what it means to be mayor. On the other hand, a mediator is one who pays with his own life for the unity of his people, for the greater good of the people he serves, in order to advance the various solutions to the needs of his people. After the time designated for service as mayor, this man, this woman ends up being tired, with an overwhelming need to rest a bit, but with a heart that is filled with love because he or she has been a mediator. This is my hope: that you should all be mayors like this. Among your people, in order to build unity, in order to promote peace, able to resolve problems and also to resolve the needs of the people.
I am thinking about Jesus: he was not a mayor, but maybe a useful icon for us. I think of Jesus at a particular moment of his life, when he was in the midst of a crowd: the crowd was pushing in on him - says the Gospel - to the point that it was difficult to breathe. This is what the mayor should be like, with the people, with him, and with her, because this is how you should be, with the people, like Jesus was. Look for him, because he knows how to respond. This is my wish for you: that you should be tired, in the midst of your people, and that your people might seek you because they know that you always respond well to their requests.
Thank you for all that you do, and please pray for me!
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