General Audience on abounding in hope

This morning's General Audience began at 9:20am (local time) in Saint Peter's Square, where the Holy Father, Pope Francis met with groups of pilgrims and the faithful from Italy and from every corner of the world.

In his speech, the Pope focused on the theme: The Holy Spirit makes us abound in hope (cf Rom 15:13-14).

After having summarized his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father offered particular greetings to each group of pilgrims in attendance.

The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic blessing.

Catechesis of the Holy Father, Pope Francis

for the General Audience

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

In the immensity of the Solemnity of Pentecost, we cannot neglect to speak about the relationship between Christian hope and the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit is the wind that drives us forward, that keeps us focused on the journey, that helps us to understand that we are pilgrims and strangers, and does not allow us to sit idle and to become a sedentary people.

The letter to the Hebrews compares hope to an anchor (cf Heb 6:18-19); and along with this image, we can add the image of a sail.  If the anchor gives a boat security and holds it anchored among the sea's waves, the sail keeps it journeying and advancing on the water.  Hope is truly like a sail; it harnesses the power of the Holy Spirit's wind and transforms it into a driving force to drive the boat, either away from or toward the shore.

The apostle Paul concludes his Letter to the Romans with the following wish: listen attentively, pay attention to this wish: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom 15:13).  Let us reflect a bit on the content of this beautiful word.

The expression The God of hope does not mean only that God is the object of our hope, the One that we hope to join one day in eternal life; it also means that God is the One who already makes us hope, even makes us rejoice in hope (Rom 12:12); rejoice even now in hope, and not only to hope that one day we will rejoice.  This is a matter of the joy of hoping, not merely hoping to one day have joy.  As long as we have life, there is hope, says a popular saying; and the contrary is also true; as long as there is hope, there is life.  Men and women need hope in order to live and they need the Holy Spirit in order to hope.

Saint Paul - we heard his words - attributes to the Holy Spirit the capacity to even abound in hope.  Abounding in hope means never becoming discouraged; it means hoping against all hope (Rom 4:18), hoping even when there is every human reason not to hope, as was the case for Abraham when God asked him to sacrifice his only son Isaac, and as it was, even more so the case, for the Virgin Mary who stood at the foot of Jesus' cross.

The Holy Spirit makes this invincible hope possible by giving us the interior witness that we are children of God and his heirs (cf Rom 8:16).  How could He who gave us his only Son not give us every other thing together with Him? (cf Rom 8:32).  Hope - brothers and sisters - does not disappoint, because God's love was poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Rom 5:5).  Therefore, we are not disappointed because we have the Holy Spirit within us who spurs us onward, always!  This is the reason why hope does not disappoint.

There is more: the Holy spirit makes us not only capable of hope, but he also makes us sowers of hope, so that we - like him and thanks to him - are paracletes, consolers and defenders of our brothers, sowers of hope.  A Christian can sow bitterness, can so perplexity, and these are not Christians; those who do this are not good Christians.  Sow hope: sow the oil of hope, sow the perfume of hope and not the vinegar of bitterness and of dis-hope (despair).  The Blessed Cardinal Newman, in one of his speeches, said of the faithful: Educated by our own suffering, our own sorrow, indeed by our own sins, we have our minds and hearts exercised in every work of love extended toward those who are in need.  We will be - in the measure of our capability - consolers in the image of the Paraclete - the Holy Spirit - and in every sense that this word implies: advocates, helpers and bringers of comfort.  Our words and our counsel, our ways of doing things, our voices, our glances, will be gentle and tranquil (Parochial and plain Sermons, Vol V, London, 1870, pp. 300s).  And especially the poor, those who are excluded, those who are not loved and those who are in need of someone who will be for them a paraclete, a consoler and a defender, like the Holy Spirit is for every one of us, who are here in the Square, consolers and defenders.  We should do the same for those who are in need, for those who have been neglected by society, for those who are most in need, those who suffer the most.  Defenders and consolers!

The Holy Spirit feeds hope not only in the hearts of mankind, but also in all of creation.  The Apostle Paul says - this seems a bit strange, but it is true: that even creation is eagerly waiting for liberation and suffers as with the pains of child birth (cf Rom 8:20-22).  The energy that is capable of moving the world is not an anonymous and blind force, but the action of the Spirit of God which hovered over the waters (Gen 1:2) at the beginning of creation (Benedict XVI, Homily, 31 May 2009).  This too motivates us to respect creation: no one can criticize a painting without offending the artist who created it.

Brothers and sisters, may the coming feast of Penticost - which is the birthday of the Church - find us united in prayer, along with Mary, the Mother of Jesus and our mother.  And may the gift of the Holy Spirit make us abound in hope.  I will say something more: may it make it possible for us to shower hope on all those who are most in need, all those who have been abandoned and all those who are lacking what is necessary for life.  Thank you.



This catechesis was then summarized in various languages and the Holy Father offered particular greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance.  To English-speaking pilgrims, he said:

I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the groups from England, Belgium, Norway, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, Tahiti, Uganda, Canada and the United States of America. I also greet the pilgrims who have come to take part in the Vigil of Pentecost on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Upon all of you, and your families I invoke a rich outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. God bless you all!

The Holy Father also added a special greeting this morning in the Czech language, in which he recalled the 75th anniversary of the massacre of Lidice at the hands of the Nazi regime and encouraged the Czech faithful to rely on the intercession on the Virgin Mary, who is venerated in the icon of the Madonna of Lidice:

I cordially greet the faithful from the Czech Republic, in particular those who are participating in the national pilgrimage being led by Cardinal Dominik Duka, Archbishop of Prague on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Lidice massacre, under the Nazi regime.  Dear friends, trust in the intercession of the Holy Virgin, who you venerate in the icon of the Madonna of Lidice.  May she help you to be courageous witnesses of Christ's Resurrection, even in moments of difficulty or trial.  I send my blessing to all of you!

Canada at the Vatican

Today, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience the Prime Minister of Canada, His Excellency, Justin Trudeau who subsequently met with His Eminence, Pietro Parolin, the Cardinal Secretary of State, and with His Excellency, Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States.

In the cordial discussions the good bilateral relations between the Holy See and Canada were evoked, along with the contribution of the Catholic Church to the social life of the country. The parties then focused on the themes of integration and reconciliation, as well as religious freedom and current ethical issues.

Finally, in the light of the results of the recent G7 summit, attention turned to various matters of an international nature, with special attention to the Middle East and areas of conflict.

Lessons to strengthen our faith

In Canada, the Church celebrates the Ascension of the Lord today.  Here are some thoughts about this feast, reflections on the realities that are being experienced at this very moment, and some concrete ways in which the words of scripture presented to us today can help us to live in hope.

I am with you always

Just a few days ago, the people of Saint Elizabeth's parish in Temagami celebrated the funeral of a long-time friend Marcel, and yesterday afternoon, family members gathered at the local cemetery to bury the mortal remains of another of this community’s well-known inhabitants.  These moments mark significant passages, but in the midst of the sadness that is part of saying goodbye to those we have known and loved, these moments are also occasions for us to celebrate and to grow in faith.

Today, the Church celebrates the Ascension of the Lord.  The gospel tells us that after he had died, Jesus appeared to the disciples a number of times, so that they could come to believe that physical death is not the end of the story.  Throughout the season of Easter, we have retold the stories of these encounters with the risen Lord so that our faith too might be strengthened, and today we hear another part of the story.  The eleven disciples went to Galilee: to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them (Mt 28:16).  It is always difficult for us to say goodbye to someone we have known and loved, but we believe that Jesus rose from the dead, and because of that, it will be the same for all of us.  While we wait for that day, we must continue to do what Jesus tells us to do.  We must go to the places he sends us to, and we must look for him in those places.   When the disciples saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted (Mt 28:16-17).  The world around us would have us believe that there is no such thing as life after physical death, but our faith tells us differently.

It wasn’t easy for the disciples to believe, so why should we think that it would be easy for us?  Yet the truth of what Jesus taught has managed to withstand the test of time.  If it were not true, all that he taught would have been forgotten by now.  Thankfully for us, Jesus sent the disciples to the ends of the earth.  He told them: Go therefore, and make disciples of all the nations.  Baptize them and teach them to obey everything that I have commanded you (Mt 28:19-20).  Ever since that day, we have been doing these things – going out to all the world and sharing the good news of the gospel with those we meet.

Jesus wants us to be his witnesses, in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria (Acts 1:8) ... wherever we live.  When we encounter others, and share with them the treasure of faith that we have received, God works through us to call to their hearts, encouraging them to believe that they too can have the joy of knowing him, and of coming to believe that we have a heavenly homeland that awaits us.

About a year ago, I met Robin.  She is a mother who has been living life, but she has also been searching.  She was baptized as a child, but never completed the other sacraments, not until now.  Over the past few months, she has been learning more and more about her faith, and she has been encountering the joy that we encounter in the faces of those who have come to know Jesus.  Like Saint Paul, we who have been part of Robin’s journey of faith have been praying for her and for her family: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ ... may give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation as they come to know him so that, with the eyes of their hearts enlightened, they may know ... the hope to which they have been called (Eph 1:17-18).

This morning, Robin will finally celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation, as will her eldest son Dustin.  She will also receive the gift of the Eucharist for the first time today, along with her two sons.  This is a day of great rejoicing for them and for us, a milestone that marks a moment within their faith journey, but their faith still needs to be supported and strengthened – as is the case for all of us – for none of us knows the times or periods that God our Father has determined (cf Acts 1:7).  What we must do is our very best to live each day in hope of a heavenly future that is yet to come.

Regina Coeli for the Ascension

At noon today (Rome time), the Holy Father, Pope Francis appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Regina Coeli with the faithful and with pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter's Square.

Greetings of His Holiness, Pope Francis

prior to the recitation of the Regina Coeli

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

Today, in Italy and in other countries, we celebrate the Ascension of Jesus into heaven, an event that took place forty days after Easter.  The gospel account (cf Mt 28:16-20) which concludes the gospel of Matthew presents the moment of the Risen Jesus' definitive parting from his disciples.  The scene is set in Galilee, the place where Jesus first called them to follow him and began to assemble the small nucleus of his new community.  Now, those disciples have passed through the fire of the passion and the resurrection; at the sight of the risen Lord, they bow down, but some of them are still doubtful.  To this frightened community, Jesus left the immense task of evangelizing the world, and he makes the task concrete by commanding them to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (cf Mt 28:19).

Therefore, the Ascension of Jesus into heaven represents the end of the mission which the Son received from the Father and the beginning of the pursuant mission taken up by the Church.  In fact, from that moment, from the moment of the Ascension, the presence of Christ in the world is ensured through his disciples, those who believe in Him and proclaim him to others.  This mission will continue until the end of history and will benefit from daily assistance from the risen Lord, who assures us: I will be with you always, until the end of time (Mt 28:20).

And the presence of the risen Lord brings strength in times of persecution, comfort in tribulation, support in difficult situations that are encountered by the mission and the proclamation of the gospel.  The Ascension reminds us of this assistance that is provided by Jesus and the Spirit who helps us to trust and who gives security to our Christian witness in the world.  The Spirit reveals to us the reason why the Church exists: the Church exists in order to proclaim the gospel, this is her only reason for being!  The joy of the Church is the proclamation of the gospel.  All of us, the baptized: we are the Church.  Today we are invited to better understand the fact that God has given us great dignity and the responsibility to proclaim good news to the world, to make this good news more accessible to humanity.  This is our dignity, this is our greatest honour, all of us, the baptized!

On this feast of the Ascension, while we turn our gaze heavenward, to the place where Christ ascended and is seated at the right hand of the Father, we strengthen our steps here on earth by continuing our journey with enthusiasm and courage.  We continue our mission of bearing witness to and living the gospel in every place.  We are well aware that this mission does not depend first and foremost on our own strengths, our abilities for organization or any human resource.  Only with the light and the strength of the Holy Spirit can we effectively fulfill our mission of making Jesus' love and tenderness more and more known and experienced by others.

Let us ask the Virgin Mary to help us contemplate the heavenly gifts which the Lord promises us, and to become more and more credible witnesses of the Resurrection and of true Life.



Following the recitation of the Regina Coeli, the Holy Father continued:

Dear brothers and sisters,

I want to renew my closeness to my beloved brother Pope Tawadros II and to the entire Egyptian nation who, two days ago suffered another act of ferocious violence.  The victims, among which were also some children, are the faithful who were on their way to a Shrine to pray, and they were killed after they had refused to deny their Christian faith.  May the Lord welcome these courageous witnesses - these martyrs - into his peace, and may He convert the hearts of the terrorists.

And let us pray also for the victims of the horrible attack that took place last Monday in Manchester, where many young lives were cruelly ended.  I am close to the family members and to all those who are mourning their loss.

Today, we celebrate the World Day of Social Communications, focused on the theme: Fear not for I am with you (Is 43:5).  Various social media offer the possibility to share and to spread news instantly; this news can be good or bad, true or false; let us pray that communications, in every form, may be effectively constructive in the service of truth by refuting prejudices and defending hope and trust in the world today.

I greet all of you, dear Romans and pilgrims: families, parish groups, associations and schools.

In particular, I greet the faithful who have come from Colorado; the Bavarian folklore group who have come to participate in the great parade celebrating the centenary of the feast of the Patron Saints of Bavaria; I greet the Polish faithful, with a blessing also for the participants taking part in the pilgrimage to the Shrine of Piekary.

I greet the Comboni Missionaries who are celebrating 150 years of their foundation; the pilgrimage of the Sisters Hospitaliers from Ascoli Piceno; the groups from Naples, Scandicci, Thiesi, Nonantola and the graduates from the Sacred Heart and Incarnated Word school in Palermo (Sicily).

I offer a special thought and encouragement to the representatives from the associations of volunteers who are promoting the donation of organs, a noble and meritorious act (Catechism, 2296).  I also greet the workers from Mediaset Roma, with the wish that their experience of working may be resolved, having as its ultimate end the true good of all, not limiting itself to merit, but rather respecting the rights of all those who are involved: the first of these is the right to work.

I wish to conclude with a warm greeting for the people of Genoa and sincere appreciation for the warm greetings they offered me yesterday.  May the Lord bless them abundantly and may Our Lady of the Guard take care of them.

To all of you, I wish a happy Sunday.  Please, don't forget to pray for me.  Enjoy your lunch and good bye!

From Genoa back to Rome

At the conclusion of the Eucharistic celebration, before leaving Kennedy Square, the Holy Father listened to a song of greeting in the Genovese dialect entitled Ma se ghe pensu ... 

Then, after having greeted the members of the Organizing committee and thirty of their relatives - some inhabitants of the province of Genoa, others from the region of Piemonte - Pope Francis travelled by car to the Genoa airport where, after having blessed a statue of Our Lady of Loretto at the base of the aircraft's stairs, and bid farewell to local Authorities who had welcomed him earlier this morning, his aircraft took off at 7:50pm and headed back to Rome.

The aircraft carrying the Holy Father landed at Rome's Ciampino International Airport at 8:35pm.  The Holy Father then returned to the Vatican.

In Genoa, a visit to hospital

This afternoon, the Holy Father, Pope Francis left the Shrine of the Guard and travelled by car to the Giannina Gaslini Paediatric Hospital in Genoa.

Upon his arrival, the Pope paid a visit to children who have been hospitalized in various sectors of the hospital.  Then, after having paid a visit to the hospital's Department of Resuscitation, he greeted the medical and administrative personnel.  At the conclusion of their visit, Pope Francis travelled by car to the Kennedy Square where he celebrated the Eucharist.

Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis

offered to the personnel of the Gaslini Hospital

Dear brothers and sisters,

During my visit to Genoa, I could not bypass a stop in this hospital where babies are cared for because the suffering of children is certainly the most difficult to accept; and so the Lord calls me to be, even briefly, close to these babies and children as well as their families.  Many times, I ask time and time again: why do children have to suffer? ... and I still cannot find an explanation.  I can only look to the cross and stop there.

I greet all of you who work in this renowned structure, who for the past eighty years have dedicated your efforts with passion and competence to caring for infants, wit the important support of relevant research.  I express my appreciation to the leaders of this hospital, beginning with the President of the Foundation, the Archbishop of Genoa, the doctors, the paramedics, and all those who collaborate in various specializations, as well as the Cappuccin Friars Minor and all those who assist and help the children with love and dedication.  In fact, they also need your gestures of friendship, your understanding, your affection and your paternal and maternal support.

This Institute is an act of love on the part of Senator Gerolamo Gaslini.  In order to honour his daughter who died at a tender age, he divested himself of all his riches - companies, establishments, buildings, money and even his home - and founded this hospital.  Therefore, this hospital, which is known and appreciated throughout Italy and around the world, has a special role: to continue as a symbol of generosity and solidarity.  In the act of establishing this hospital, Senator Gaslini stated: It is my firm will that this Institute should hold the Catholic faith as its base and guide ... so that it may ferment every activity and comfort every pain.  We know that faith works above all through charity and without charity, there is only death.  Therefore I encourage all of you to carry out your delicate work motivated by charity, mindful of the good Samaritan in the gospel: attentive to the needs of your little patients, bowing down tenderly over their fragility and seeing the Lord in their faces.  Those who serve the sick with love also serve Jesus who opens the kingdom of God to us.

I hope that this hospital, faithful to its mission, will continue its appreciated work of caring and of research through generous contributions at all levels and in all categories.  On my part, I am accompanying you with my prayer and the blessing of the Lord, which I willingly impart upon you, on all the patients and upon their families.

(Blessing)

In Genoa, meeting with youth

At 12:30pm today, the Holy Father, Pope Francis met with youth from the Diocesan Mission located near the Seminary of the Madonna of the Guard.

At the entrance, the Pope was welcomed by the Rector of the Shrine, Monsignor Marco Granara.

The Holy Father invited those in attendance to pray silently to Our Lady before he began responding to questions which were posed by four young people - two young women and two young men.

At the conclusion of the question and answer period, the Pope offered brief greetings to those who are currently imprisoned at the Genoa prison; they were following the encounter by live television feed.

Then, in the Fire Room at the Shrine, the Holy Father shared lunch with some of the poor, some refugees, the homeless and some of the inmates.

Responses of the Holy Father, Pope Francis

to questions asked by young people

and greetings offered to inmates

Prayer to Our Lady of the Guard
I invite you to pray to Our Lady in silence: everyone feel free to say whatever is on your heart.  She is our mother, the Mother of Jesus, our Mother.  In silence, everyone tell her what you are feeling in your heart.

(Prayer to Our Lady of the Guard)
(Greetings offered by Cardinal Bagnasco)

Responses of the Holy Father, Pope Francis

to questions asked by those in attendance

Chiara Parodi’s question
Holiness, how good it is to have you here! In your Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, you invited the whole Church to go out. On the suggestion of our Cardinal, we started the mission Full Joy, to take up Jesus’ words in John’s Gospel: These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full (Jn 15:11). We ask your blessing on us, on the young people we have met and will meet, and also your advice on how to be missionaries to our contemporaries who live in difficult situations of pain, and who are victims of drugs, alcohol, violence and the deceit of the Evil One. Thank you! We love you.

Luca Cianelli’s question
Holy Father, you wished that next year the Synod of Bishops should be held, and that it should be dedicated to young people. In fact, its title will be Young People, Faith and Vocational Discernment. We think that we encounter God in every day life, in the everyday, at school, in work, with friends, in the life of prayer, in the silence of prayer. Therefore, we ask you for some advice on how to live our spiritual life and our life of prayer. Thank you!

Emanuele Santolini’s question
Hello, Pope Francis. Today our lives have very high, frenetic rhythms and this makes it difficult for us to encounter, listen and especially to build true relationships, and true sharing. Thus many of us young people perhaps don’t have the time or the occasions to meet the person of our life, the person that Jesus has thought for us, to build that great project of love that is marriage. Can you give us some advice on how to succeed: to live life in fullness, and how to succeed in doing so by building true, full and sincere relationships? Thank you.

Francesca Marrollo’s question 
Holy Father, every day the media communicates realities of violence and war, distant and close stories of great suffering. Many of our contemporaries, migrants from distant countries, bloodied by egoisms, live in our cities today in very difficult conditions. We are convinced that God is speaking to us through these brothers and sisters of ours. What is He saying to us? What gestures can we undertake, together with the adult Christian community, to respond to these challenges that history, inhabited by the Holy Spirit, is proposing to us today? Thank you!

Pope Francis
Good morning! I’m somewhat fearful because Emanuele said that we are all frenetic . . . (he laughs, they laugh). I don’t know how to answer. The Cardinal spoke of your love and he said that your love is a turbulent and joyful love. And this is good. Between frenetic, turbulent and joyful we’ll make a good fruit salad and the result will be good! It is a joy for me to meet with you. It’s a meeting I always desire: to meet young people. What do they think, what do they seek, what do they desire, what are their challenges and so many things. And you, who do not want ready made answers, you want concrete but personal answers, not like ready-made clothes that are purchased, no. You don’t want ready-made answers. You want dialogue, things that touch the heart.

Chiara, thank you for sharing the experience you lived during this year. To hear Jesus’ invitation is always a full joy. And the Lord also says: in the same passage of the Gospel, and no one will take your joy from you (cf John 16:22). No one will take it — joy — away from you, which is not the same as having a good time. Yes, joy makes you happy, but it isn’t superficial. The joy that is within and is born of the heart, and this joy is that which you lived this year. I thank you.

Now, I would like to ask – it would please me, but there isn’t any time and it can’t be done, but . . . how did you feel this experience you lived transformed you: is this true or just words? Why – this is the question – why we go on mission means letting ourselves be transformed by the Lord? Normally, when we live these things, these activities, as Chiara well stressed, we rejoice when things go well. And this is good. However, there is also another transformation, which so often is not seen, it is hidden and is born in the life of every one of us. The mission, our being missionaries leads us to learn to look. Hear this well: learn to look; learn to look with new eyes because the mission renews the eyes. Learn to look at the city, at our life, at our family, at all that is around us. The missionary experience opens the eyes and the heart: to learn to look also with the heart. And thus, we stop being – allow me the word – tourists of life, to become men and women, young people that love with commitment in life. Tourists of life: you have seen these who take photographs of everything, when they come for tourism, and don’t look at anything. They don’t know how to look . . . and then they look at the photographs at home! However, it is one thing to look at reality, and something else to look at a photograph. And if our life is that of a tourist, we will only look at the photographs or the things that we think about reality. It is a temptation for young people to be tourists. I’m not saying to have an outing here or there, no, this is good! I mean to look at life with the eyes of a tourist, namely, superficially, and to take photographs to look at them later. This means that I don’t touch the reality, I don’t look at the things that are happening. I don’t look at things as they are. The first thing I would answer, in regard to your transformation, is to abandon this tourist attitude to become young people with a serious commitment in life, seriously. The time of the mission prepares us and helps us to be more sensitive, more attentive and to look carefully. And to the many people that live with us, in daily life, in the places where we live and that, by not knowing how to look, we end up by ignoring. How many people are there of whom we can say: yes, yes, it’s he, it’s he, but we are unable to look at their hearts, we don’t know what they think, what they feel, because our hearts have never been close to them. Perhaps, I’ve talked with them many times, but superficially. The mission can teach us to look with new eyes, it brings our hearts close to so many persons, and this is a most beautiful thing, it’s a most beautiful thing!

And it destroys hypocrisy. To meet grownup people, hypocritical adults is awful, but it is grownup people that do with their life what they want, they know what they do . . . However, to meet a young man or young woman that begins life with a hypocritical attitude, this is suicidal. Have you understood? It’s suicidal. It is not to abandon the tourist’s way of life, and to spend it feigning, and not looking at people’ hearts to talk with authenticity, with transparency.

And then, there is something else: you said that the mission is good and that you learned. However, when I go on mission, it’s not only my decision, which makes me go. There is Another who sends me, who sends me to do the mission. And one can’t do the mission without being sent by Jesus. It is Jesus Himself who sends you; it is Jesus who pushes you to the mission and He is beside you; it is in fact Jesus who works in your heart, who changes your look and makes you look at life with new eyes, not with the eyes of a tourist. Have you understood?

Thus, one learns that to live shut-in on oneself, also closed in tourism, is futile, it doesn’t help. We must live on mission, which implies that I listen to Him who sends me, who is always Jesus, and I go to people, I go to others to talk to them of my life, of Jesus and of so many things but with a transformation of my personality that makes me look in another way, and also feel things in another way. To understand this, let us think of Jesus when He went on the road, always among the people. Once Jesus paused and said: Who touched me (cf Mark 5:25-34). And the disciples said to Him: You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say ‘Who touched me? Who touched me.’ Jesus was not used to the fact of being touched. No, He wasn’t a tourist: He understood people’s intentions and He understood that a person touched him to be cured. And that woman said to herself: If I touch Him, I shall be healed. So should we act. We must know people as they are, because we have an open heart and are not tourists among the people: we are sent and we are missionaries.

The mission also helps us to look among ourselves, to look others in the eyes, and to recognize that we are brothers among ourselves, that there is no city and less so a Church of the good and a city and a Church of the evil. The mission helps us not to be Cathars. The mission purifies our thinking that there is a Church of the pure and one of the impure: we are all sinners and we are all in need of the proclamation of Christ, and when I proclaim Jesus Christ in the mission, if I do not think, if I don’t feel that I am saying it to myself, I detach myself from the person and believe myself – I can believe myself – pure and the other as impure who is in need. The mission involves us all, as People of God, it transforms us: it changes our look, it changes our way of being in life, from a tourist to one who is involved, and who takes out of his head the idea that there are groups, that there are the pure and the impure in the Church: we are all children of God, all sinners and all with the Holy Spirit within Who has the capacity to make us saints.

You asked me – Emanuele also asked the same thing – how to be missionaries to our contemporaries, especially those living in difficult situations, who are victims of drugs, alcohol, violence, the deceit of the Evil One? I believe the first thing is to love them. We can’t do anything without love – a gesture of love, a look of love . . . One can make programs to help them, but without love . . . And love is to give one’s life. Jesus says: No one has greater love than he who gives his life (cf John 15:13). He gave us the example, He gave His life. To love. If you don’t feel it, or at least don’t have – and I say you but I mean all, because she asked the question, but I say it to all – if you don’t have a heart willing to love – the Lord teaches us to love – you won’t be able to carry out a good mission. The mission is like an adventure, tourism. To prepare oneself is to go with a heart willing to love; to help them to love. One of the things I ask, not every person, but when there is an opportunity in the confessional to ask: But do you help people? Do you give alms? Many say yes. Yes, because people are good, people want to help. And, tell me, when you give alms, do you touch the hand of the person to whom you give alms, do you look into the eyes of homeless person who asks you for alms? Or do you pass in a hurry? To love. To love is to have the capacity to shake a dirty hand and the capacity to look into the eyes of those in a situation of degradation and say: For me, you are Jesus. And this is the beginning of every mission; I must go to talk with this love. If I speak to people thinking: Oh, these stupid people who don’t know about religion, I will give them, I will teach them how to do ...  Please! It’s better to stay at home and pray a Rosary, it will do you better than to go on mission. I don’t know if you’ve understood this thing.

And why must I love these people? — those victims of drugs, of alcohol, of violence, of the deceit of the Evil One? Behind all these situations that you have mentioned, there is a certainty that we cannot forget, a certainty that must make us hard-headed in hope: to engage in mission one needs to be hard-headed in hope – not only love but also hope, and be hard-headed. In every one of these persons that are victims of difficult situations; there is the image of God that for different reasons has been mistreated, stricken. There is a story of pain, of wounds that we cannot ignore. And this is the madness of the faith. When Jesus says to us: I was in prison and you came to me – But you are mad!: it’s the madness of the faith, the madness of the cross, of which Saint Paul speaks; the madness of the proclamation of the Gospel. Jesus is there, and this means to learn to look with Jesus’ eyes: as Jesus looks at these people, as He looks at them. If Jesus, when He says to us – the questions that we will be asked when we go to the other side (cf Matthew 25:31-46) – He says to us that he was those people, it’s the mystery of love in Jesus’ heart.

Once I had the occasion – in Argentina I was used to visiting prisons – and on one occasion I greeted someone who had committed more than 50 homicides. And I remained thinking: But you are Jesus, because He said if you come to me in prison, I am there, in that man. To be missionaries we must have this madness of the cross, this madness of the proclamation of the Gospel in order to believe that Jesus does miracles, that Jesus is not a witch doctor who cures. Jesus is in each one of us. And perhaps at this moment one of you is in a situation of mortal sin, is in a situation of estrangement, far from Jesus, perhaps . . . But Jesus is there, He waits. He is there with you, but He lets you be. If I go with love, not as a tourist, and this transforms me, I go as a hardhead in hope and I go knowing that I touch, see, hear Jesus who works in the heart of each one I encounter in the mission. Understood? And, in connection with what you mentioned, the most rejected of society – it is important – I said we must not feel bad to shake the dirty hand of a tramp, of these people, to give an example.

We are all dirty. And if He has saved me, I say: thank you, Lord, because I could also be that person . . . If I don’t end up drugged, why Lord? By your will, but if the Lord had let go of my hand, I also, all of us (where would we have ended up?) And this is love, grace, which we must proclaim: Jesus is in those people. Please, don’t give adjectives to people! I go to do the mission with love, the hard-headedness of hope, to bring a message to people with a name, not with adjectives. And how often our society scorns and classifies: No, he is a drunk! No, I don’t give alms to this one because he’s going to buy himself a glass of wine and has no other happiness, poor man, in life’; ìOh no, this one is a drug addict; This one, that one, this one, that one . . . Never give adjectives to persons! Only God can give adjectives to people, only God’s judgment can do so. And He will do so: in the Last Judgment, definitively, on every one of us: Come, blessed of my Father, go away accursed . . . The adjectives: He will do so, but we must never use adjectives: this one and that one, this one, that one. I go on mission to bring great love.

Then, in that transformation — I was enthused by your question, I wrote it down and I reflected on it – we are used to a culture of emptiness, a culture of loneliness. People, we also, are lonely within and we need noise in order not to feel this emptiness, this loneliness. This is the world’s proposal and this has nothing to do with the joy of which we spoke. The emptiness: if there is something that destroys our cities it is this isolation. To go on mission is to help us to come out of the isolation and to create community, fraternity. But I don’t like him . . . He is like this . . . Never use adjectives: Jesus loves all people. If I go on mission I must be willing to love all people. Otherwise, there is not that full joy, which is what you said the mission gave you. Whereas there are so many of our brothers with their faces disfigured by a society that defends only with exclusion, isolating people, ignoring them. However, if we want to be missionaries and take the Gospel and have this joy, never exclude, never isolate anyone, never ignore. I don’t know if I’ve answered in some way.

And thank you, Luca, for your anxiety. Genoa is a port city, which historically has been able to receive many ships and which has furnished great navigators! To be a disciple one must have the same heart as a navigator — possess both a horizon and courage. If you don’t have a horizon and are even incapable of looking at your nose, you will never be a good missionary. If you don’t have courage, you won’t be one. It is the virtue of navigators: they are able to read the horizon, to go, and they have the courage to go. We can think of the great navigators of the 15th century, so many left from here. You have the opportunity to know everything with the new technologies but these technologies of information make us fall into a trap very often, because instead of informing us they saturate us, and when you are saturated, the horizon comes closer, it comes closer, and you have a wall in front of you, you have lost the capacity of a horizon. Be careful: always look at what they sell you! – what they sell you in the media also; contemplation, the capacity to contemplate the horizon, to make a proper judgment, and not eat what they serve you on a plate. This is a challenge: it is a challenge that I think must lead us to prayer, and to say to the Lord: Lord, I ask you for a favor: please, don’t stop challenging me – with challenges on the horizon that require courage. Are you Genovese? A navigator: have horizon and courage. And I say to all the Genovese: go on ahead! That prayer, which I proposed to you: Lord, I ask you for a favor, challenge me today. Yes, Jesus, please come, challenge me, give me the courage to be able to respond to the challenge and to you. I very much like this Jesus that disturbs, that challenges, because it is the living Jesus, who moves you within with the Holy Spirit. And how good is a boy or a girl who lets him/herself be challenged by Jesus; it is the boy or girl who doesn’t let his/her mouth be easily covered, who learns not to stand with his or her mouth closed, who is not happy with simplistic answers, who seeks the truth, seeks the profound, goes the long , goes ahead, ahead, and has the courage to ask him/herself questions about truth and so many things. 

We must learn to challenge the present. A healthy spiritual life generates young people who are awake, who in the face of some things that this culture – normal they say, it might be, I don’t know –, proposes to us today, can ask themselves Is this normal or not normal? And so often — I say this with sadness – young people are the first victims of these vendors of smoke ; they make them believe so many things, they put in their heads so many things . . . But one of the first forms of courage that you must have is to ask yourselves: But is this normal or isn’t it normal? – the courage to seek the truth. Is it normal that every day that sense of indifference grows? I don’t care what happens to others; indifference with friends, neighbors, in the neighborhood, at work, in school . . . Is it normal – as Francesca invited us to reflect – that many of our contemporaries, migrants or those from distant countries, difficult situations, bloodied by egoisms that lead to death, live in our cities in truly difficult conditions? Is this normal? Is it normal that the Mediterranean has become a cemetery? Is this normal? Is it normal that many, so many countries — and I don’t say it of Italy, because Italy is so generous – many countries close the doors to these people who come wounded and fleeing from hunger, from war , these exploited people, who come to seek some security … is it normal? This question: is it normal? If it’s not normal, I must get involved so that this won’t happen; beloved, one needs courage for this, one needs courage.

Turning to the navigators, Christopher Columbus, who they say was one of yours – but it’s known that so many like him or he himself, perhaps, left from here –, of him they said: This madman the ‘normality’ of certain things and he engaged in a great challenge: he had the courage. Is it normal that in the face of the pain of others our attitude is one of closing the doors? If it’s not normal, get involved. And if you don’t have the courage to get involved, be quiet and lower your head and humble yourself before the Lord, and ask for courage. To challenge the present is to have the courage to say: There are things that seem normal but are not normal. And you, you must think about this: they are not things willed by God and they should not be willed by us! And this must be said forcefully! This is Jesus: unseasonable, who breaks our systems, our projects. It is Jesus who sows in our hearts the anxiety to ask ourselves this question. And this is good; this is very good!

I am sure that you Genovese are capable of great horizons and much courage, but it depends on you if you want to do it, it does not depend on me. I return this evening and leave the seed. I leave you the challenge, or as we say in my land: I throw the glove in your face. You will see to it.

I finish with a suggestion: every morning say a simple prayer: Lord, I ask you, please, today do not fail to challenge me. Yes, Jesus, please, come to challenge me a bit and give me the courage to be able to respond. Thank you!

You are here, seated, in the shade: here we are cool (in the Shrine). But outside there, there are – do you hear them? They know how to make noise – so many who have endured the sun, standing . . . Applaud them! I can see them; I can see them from here. They were all quiet because they were listening and following everything. It seems to be that they have some courage and horizons: at least they ; I hope you do also! Now I’ll give you the blessing, but before receiving the blessing, we greet Our Lady:

Hail Mary . . .

(Blessing)

Greeting to Detainees

I would also like to greet and bless all the detainees of Genoa and Liguria who have followed this meeting. I will give – you in silence – the blessing to them.

In Genoa, a meeting with workers

At 7:30am today, the Holy Father, Pope Francis departed from Rome's Ciampino International Airport and flew to the Archdiocese of Genoa.

Upon his arrival at the airport in Genoa, the Pope was welcomed by His Eminence, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, Archbishop of that city; the Honourable Giovanni Toti, President of the Region of Liguria; Doctor Fiamma Spena, Prefect of Genoa; Doctor Marco Doria, Mayor of Genoa; and Doctor Paolo Sirigu, Director of the airport.

The Holy Father then travelled by car to the Ilva Establishment for a meeting with members of the world of work.

During his meeting, Pope Francis responded to four questions which had been presented to him by a manager, a union representative, a labourer and someone who is unemployed.  At the conclusion of the meeting, His Holiness went to the Genoa Cathedral for a meeting with the Bishops of the region of Liguria as well as priests, seminarians, religious men and women, lay collaborators working in the Diocesan curia and representatives of other religious traditions.

Responses of the Holy Father, Pope Francis

to questions asked by workers

Question from a manager 
Ferdinando Garré 
Naval Repairs district

In our work, we find ourselves struggling with so many obstacles – excessive bureaucracy, slowness in public decision-making, lack of services or adequate infrastructure – which often do not allow the best energies of this city to be released. We share this challenging journey with our chaplain and are encouraged by our archbishop, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco. We turn to you, Holiness, to ask for a word of closeness. A word of comfort to encourage us before the obstacles we businessmen come up against every day.

Pope Francis
Good morning, everyone!
It is the first time I have come to Genoa, and being so close to the port reminds me of where my father left … This is very emotional for me. And thank you for your welcome. Mister Ferdinando Garré: I knew the questions, and for some I wrote down some ideas to respond; and I also keep my pen in my hand to note down something that comes to mind at the time, to answer. But for these questions on the world of work I wanted to think well so as to answer well, because today work is at risk It is a world where work is not considered with the dignity it has and gives. Therefore, I will answer with the things I have thought about, and some that I will say at the time.

First, a premise. The premise is: the world of work is a human priority. It is, therefore, a Christian priority, our priority, and also a priority of the Pope. Because it comes from that first command that God gave to Adam: Go, till the earth, work the earth, tame it. There has always been friendship between the Church and work, starting with a working Jesus. Where there is a worker, there is the interest and the gaze of love of the Lord and of the Church. I think this is clear. It is beautiful that this question comes from a businessman, an engineer; from his way of speaking about enterprise, the typical entrepreneur’s virtues emerge. And since this question was posed by a businessman, we will talk about them. Creativity, love for your business, passion and pride for the work of your hands and intelligence - both your own and that of your workers. The businessman is a key figure in any good economy: there is no good economy without a good entrepreneur. There is no good business without good entrepreneurs, without your ability to create, to create jobs, to create products. In your words we also perceive your esteem for the city – and we understand this – for its economy, the quality of the workers, and also for the environment, the sea … It is important to recognize the virtues of workers. Their need – workers – is the need to work well so that the job is done well. Sometimes it is thought that a worker works well just because he is paid: this is a serious disrespect towards workers and labour as it denies the dignity of work, which begins precisely in working well for dignity, for honour. The true manager – I will try to make the profile of a good manager – the real manager knows his workers, because he works alongside them, he works with them. Let’s not forget that the entrepreneur must be first of all a worker. If he does not have this experience of dignity, he will not be a good manager. He shares the workers’ efforts and shares the joys of work, of solving problems together, of creating something together. If and when he has to lay off someone, this is always a painful decision and he would not do it if possible. No good manager likes to lay off his people – no, he who thinks he can solve the problem of his job by firing people, is not a good entrepreneur, he is a trader, who sells his people today and tomorrow sells his dignity. He always suffers, and sometimes from this suffering new ideas emerge to avoid dismissal. This is the good entrepreneur. I remember, almost a year ago, a little less, at Mass at Santa Marta at 7 am, at the exit I was greeting the people who were there, and a man approached. He was crying. He said, I came to ask for a grace: I am at my limit and I have to make a statement of bankruptcy. That would mean firing sixty workers, and I do not want to, because I feel like I am firing myself. And that man was crying. He was a good manager. He fought and prayed for his people because they were his: They are my family. They were attached to one another.

A disease of the economy is the progressive transformation of entrepreneurs into speculators. The entrepreneur must not be confused with the speculator: there are two different types. The entrepreneur must not be confused with the speculator: the speculator is a figure similar to what Jesus in the Gospel calls a mercenary, as opposed to the Good Shepherd. The speculator does not love his company, he does not love his workers, but sees business and workers only as a means to make a profit. He uses, uses the company and the workers to make a profit. Firing, closing down, moving the company is not a problem to him, because the speculator uses, exploits, eats people and means in order to reach profit targets. When the economy is inhabited by good entrepreneurs, businesses are friendly to people and even to the poor. When it falls into the hands of speculators, everything is ruined. With the speculator, the economy loses face and loses its faces. It is a faceless economy. An abstract economy. Behind the speculator’s decisions there are no people, and therefore we do not see the people who are to be dismissed and cut out. When the economy loses contact with the faces of concrete people, it itself becomes a faceless economy and therefore a ruthless economy. We must fear the speculators, not the entrepreneurs; no, do not fear businessmen because there are so many good ones! No. Fear speculators. But paradoxically, sometimes the political system seems to encourage those who speculate on work and not those who invest in and believe in the job. Why? Because it creates bureaucracy and controls, starting from the hypothesis that the agents of the economy are speculators, so those who are not speculators remain disadvantaged, and those who can find the means to circumvent controls and reach their goals. It is known that regulations and laws intended for the dishonest end up penalizing the honest. And today there are so many real entrepreneurs, honest managers who love their workers, who love their company, who work alongside them to help the business to progress, and these are the most disadvantaged by these policies that favour speculators. But honest and virtuous entrepreneurs go ahead, in the end, despite everything. I like to quote a good phrase of Luigi Einaudi, economist and president of the Italian Republic. He wrote: Thousands, millions of individuals work, produce and save despite everything we can invent to molest them, to obstruct them, and to discourage them. It is a natural vocation that drives them, not just the thirst for gain. The taste, the pride of seeing your business thrive, obtain credit, inspire trust in an increasingly broad clientele, expand their factories: all these are a springboard for progress just as powerful as profit. If that were not the case, it would not be possible to explain why there are entrepreneurs who in their own companies exhaust all their energies and invest all their capital, often earning an income far more modest what they could surely and comfortably obtain with other efforts. They have that mystical love …

Thank you for what you said, because you are a representative of these entrepreneurs. Be mindful, entrepreneurs, and also you, workers: beware of speculators, also of the rules and laws that in the end favour speculators and not true entrepreneurs. In the end they leave people without work. Thank you.

Question from Micaela
A union representative
Today we talk about industry again, thanks to the fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0. Well: the world of work is ready to accept new productive challenges that bring prosperity. Our concern is that this new technological frontier and the economic and productive recovery that sooner or later will come, will not bring with it new quality employment, but will instead contribute to the rise in precariousness and social hardship. Today, the real revolution would be to transform the word work into a concrete form of social redemption.

Pope Francis
It first came to my mind that I should answer with a play on words … You finished with the word social redemption (in Italian – riscatto), and I think of social blackmail (in Italian – ricatto). What I am about to say is a real thing that happened in Italy about a year ago. There was a line-up of unemployed people applying for a job, an interesting job, in an office. The girl who told me this story – an educated girl, who spoke several languages, which was important for that role – said they had told her Yes, you can start …; there will be 10-11 hours a day … – Yes, yes! she said, immediately, because she needed work – and it starts with – I think they said, I do not want to make a mistake, but it was no more than 800 euros per month. And she said, But … just eight hundred? For eleven hours?. And the man – the speculator, he was not a businessman, the employee of the speculator – said to her, Miss, look at the line of people behind you: if you don’t like it, you can go. This is not riscatto, redemption, but rather ricatto, blackmail!

I will now say what I had written, but your last word reminded me of this. lllegal work. Another person told me that he had a job, but from September to June; he was laid off in June and taken on again in October, September. And this is how it goes – illegal work.

I welcomed the proposal to have this meeting today, in a workplace and with workers, because these too are places of the people of God. Dialogues in workplaces are no less important than the dialogues we have in parishes or solemn conferences, because the places of the Church are the places of life and therefore also squares and factories. Because someone can say, But this priest, what does he say to us? Go to the parish! No, the world of work is the world of the people of God: we are all Church, all people of God. Many of the meetings between God and men, spoken of in the Bible and the Gospels, occurred while people were working: Moses hears the voice of God calling him, and revealing his name while grazing his father-in-law’s flock; Jesus’ first disciples were fishermen and were called by Him while working by the lake. It is very true what you say: lack of work is far more than not having a source of income to live on. Work is also this, but it is much, much more. By working we become a fuller person, our humanity flourishes, young people become adults only by working. The Church’s social doctrine has always seen human work as a participation in creation that continues every day, also thanks to the hands, mind and heart of the workers. On Earth there are few joys greater than the joy we experience while working, just as there are fewer pains greater than those of work, when work exploits, crushes, humiliates, kills. Labour can do great harm because it can do great good. Work is the friend of man, and man is the friend of work, and for this reason it is not easy to recognize it as an enemy, because it presents itself like a person at home, even when it strikes us and hurts us. Men and women are fed through work: by work they are anointed with dignity. For this reason, the entire social pact is built around work. This is the core of the problem. Because when you do not work, or you work badly, you work little or you work too much, it is democracy that enters into crisis, and the entire social pact. This is also the meaning of Article 1 of the Italian Constitution, which is very beautiful: Italy is a democratic republic founded on labour. On this basis we can say that taking work away from people or exploiting people with work that is unworthy, or poorly-paid or whatever, is unconstitutional. If it were not founded on labour, the Italian Republic would not be a democracy, because the place of work is occupied and has always been occupied by privileges, castes, and revenues. It is therefore necessary to look without fear, but with responsibility, to the technological transformations of the economy and life, and not to be resigned to the ideology that is gaining ground everywhere, that imagines a world where only half or maybe two-thirds of the workers will work, and the others will be maintained by social subsidies. It must be clear that the real goal to reach is not that of income for all but rather, work for all. Because without work, without work for all, there will be no dignity for all. The work of today and that of tomorrow will be different, perhaps very different – we think of the industrial revolution, there has been a change; here too there will be a revolution – it will be different from yesterday’s work, but it will have to be work, not pension, not retirement: work. One retires at the right age, it is an act of justice; but it goes against the dignity of the person to put them in retirement at the age of 35 or 40 years, to give them state benefits, and say, get by. But do I have enough to eat? Yes. Can I support my family, with this cheque? Yes. Do I have dignity? No! Why? Because I do not work. Today’s work will be different. Without work, you can survive; but to live, you need work. The choice is between surviving and living. And there needs to be work for everyone. For young people … Do you know the percentage of young people aged 25 and under who are unemployed in Italy? I will not say it: look for the statistics. And this is a debt to the future. Because these young people grow up without dignity, because they are not united by the labour that gives dignity. But the cornerstone of this question is this: a monthly cheque, a monthly allowance that enables you to support a family does not solve the problem. The problem must be resolved with work for everyone. I think I have answered more or less …

Question from Sergio
A worker on a training course promoted by the Chaplains
Not infrequently in the workplace, competition, career, and economic aspects prevail, but work is a privileged occasion for witnessing and proclaiming the Gospel, lived by adopting attitudes of brotherhood, collaboration, and solidarity. We ask your Holiness for advice on how to journey better toward these ideals.

Pope Francis
The values of work are changing very fast, and many of these new values of large businesses and high finance are not values in line with the human dimension or, therefore, with Christian humanism. The emphasis on competition within the company, besides being an anthropological and Christian error, is also an economic mistake as it neglects the fact that the business is based first of all on cooperation, mutual assistance, and reciprocity. When a business scientifically creates a system of individual incentives that put workers in competition with each other, perhaps an advantage can be gained in the short term, but it soon ends up undermining that fabric of trust that is the soul of any organization. And so, when a crisis arises, the company unravels and implodes, because there is no longer any rope to hold it together. It must be said strongly that this competitive culture among workers within a business is a mistake, and is therefore a vision that needs to be changed if we truly seek the good of enterprise, workers and the economy. Another value that is actually a disvalue is so-called meritocracy. Meritocracy is very appealing because it uses a beautiful word: merit; but since it is exploited and used ideologically, it is distorted and perverted. Meritocracy, beyond the good faith of the many who invoke it, is becoming a way of ethically legitimizing inequality. The new capitalism, through meritocracy, gives a moral appearance to inequality because it interprets the talents of people not as a gift: talent is not a gift according to this interpretation: it is a merit, determining a system of cumulative advantages and disadvantages. Thus, if two children are born differently in terms of talent or social and economic opportunities, the economic world will interpret the different talents as merits and will pay them otherwise. And so, when those two children retire, the inequality between them will be multiplied. A second consequence of the so-called meritocracy is the change of the culture of poverty. The poor person is considered undeserving and therefore to blame. And if poverty is the fault of the poor, the rich are exonerated from doing anything. This is the old logic of Job’s friends, who wanted to convince him that he was guilty of his misfortune. But this is not the logic of the Gospel, it is not the logic of life: meritocracy in the Gospel is instead found in the figure of the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son. He despises his younger brother and thinks he must remain a failure because he deserves it; instead the father thinks no son deserves the acorns that are for the pigs.

Question from Vittoria
Unemployed
We unemployed feel that the Institutions are not only distant, but like stepmothers, more intent on passive assistance than committing themselves to creating the conditions favourable to work. We are comforted by the human warmth with which the Church is close to us and the welcome that each one of us finds at the house of the Chaplains. Your Holiness, where can we find the strength to continue to believe, and never to give up despite all this?

Pope Francis
That’s it! Those who lose their job and can not find another good job, feel that they lose their dignity, just like those who are forced by necessity to accept bad or unsuitable jobs. Not all jobs are good: there is still too much bad work without dignity, in the illegal trafficking of weapons, pornography, gambling and all those businesses that do not respect the rights of workers or nature. How bad is the work of those who are paid a lot because they do not have timetables, limits, boundaries between work and life because the job becomes their entire life. A paradox of our society is the presence of a growing share of people who would like to work but are not able to, and others who work too hard, who would like to work less but who are unable to because they have been bought by businesses. Work, on the other hand, becomes brother work when alongside it there is the time for non-work, rest days. Slaves do not have free time: without a rest day, work becomes slavery, even if we are well-paid; and in order to rest, we have to work. In families where there is unemployment, it is never really Sunday and days when we should be celebrating sometimes become sad days because work is lacking on Monday. To celebrate a feast, you need to celebrate labour. One marks the time and rhythm of the other. They go together.

I also believe that consumption is an idol of our time. Consumption is the centre of our society, and therefore also the pleasure that consumption promises. Grand shops, open twenty-four hours a day, every day, new temples that promise salvation, eternal life; cults of pure consumption and therefore of pure pleasure. This is also the root of the labour crisis in our society: work is fatigue, sweat. The Bible knew it very well and reminds us of it. But a hedonistic society, that sees and wants only consumption, does not understand the value of fatigue and sweat and therefore does not understand labour. All idolatries are experiences of pure consumption: idols do not work. Work is labour: there are pains in the generation of joy for what has been generated together. Without regaining a culture that values fatigue and sweat, we will not find a new relationship with work and we will continue to dream of the consumption of pure pleasure. Work is the centre of every social pact: it is not a means for consumption, no. It is the centre of every social pact. Between work and consumption there are so many things, all important and beautiful, called dignity, respect, honour, freedom, rights, rights of all, women, children, the elderly … If we sell out labour for consumption, with work we will soon sell out these accompanying words: dignity, respect, honour, freedom. We must not allow this, and we must continue to ask for work, to generate it, to estimate it, to love it. We must also pray for it: many of the most beautiful prayers of our parents and grandparents were work-related prayers, learned and recited before, after, and during work. Work is a friend of prayer; work is present every day in the Eucharist, whose gifts are the fruit of man’s land and work. A world that no longer knows the values, and the value, of work does not understand the Eucharist either, the true and humble prayer of workers and labourers. The fields, the sea, factories have always been altars from which beautiful and pure prayers have been raised, which God has received and gathered. Prayers said and recited by those who knew and wanted to pray, but also prayers said with the hands, with sweat, with the fatigue of work by those who did not know how to pray with their mouths. God has also welcomed them and continues to welcome them today too.

For this reason, I would like to end this dialogue with a prayer: it is an ancient prayer, the Veni Creator Spiritus which is also a prayer for work and for work.

Come, Holy Spirit,send forth the heavenly radiance of your light.Come, father of the poor,Father of workers.Come, giver of gifts,come, light of the heart.Greatest comforter,sweet guest of the soul,sweet consolation.In labour, rest,in heat, temperance,in tears, solace.Cleanse that which is unclean,water that which is dry,heal that which is wounded.Bend that which is inflexible,fire that which is chilled,correct what goes astray.Grant the reward of virtue,grant the deliverance of salvation,grant eternal joy.Amen.

Thank you!

And now, I ask the Lord to bless you all, to bless all workers, businessmen, the unemployed. Each one of us, think of the entrepreneurs who do everything to provide work; think of the unemployed, think of workers. And may this blessing descend upon all of us and all of them.

(Blessing)

Many thanks!

Condolences to Minya (Egypt)

This morning, the Cardinal Secretary of State sent a telegram of condolence in the name of the Holy Father to express condolences for victims of a terrorist attack that took place in Minya (Egypt).

Telegram of Condolence

for victims of a terrorist attack

in Minya (Egypt)

His Excellency Abdel Fattah Al Sisi
President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Cairo

Deeply saddened to learn of the barbaric attack in central Egypt and of the tragic loss of life and injury caused by this senseless act of hatred, Pope Francis expresses his heartfelt solidarity with all those affected by this violent outrage. Mindful in a particular way of those children who have lost their lives, His Holiness commends the souls of the deceased to the mercy of the Almighty. He assures their grieving families and all who have been injured of his ardent prayers, and he pledges his continued intercession for peace and reconciliation throughout the nation.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin
Secretary of State

Pope tells nuns to be missionaries without borders

At 12:30pm today, in the Consistory Hall at the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience the participants taking part in the XII General Chapter of the Little Missionary Sisters of Charity (Don Orione), which is taking place in Rome from May 1 to 30, 2017, focused on the theme: To give oneself completely to God, to be completely given to the neighbour! PSMC: missionary disciples, joyful witnesses to charity in the suburbs of the world

Speech of the Holy Father, Pope Francis

for the audience with the

Little Missionary Sisters of Charity (Don Orione)

Dear sisters,

Thank you for this visit during your General Chapter. I would particularly like to thank the Superior General and the advisors. And through you I also greet all the sisters of the Institute, especially those who are weaker and sick. I also greet the Contemplatives of the Crucified Jesus and the sight-impaired Sacramentine sisters.

Founded by Don Orione, your institute is called upon to exercise charity towards your neighbour, especially towards the poor, the abandoned and the excluded, as is well expressed by the theme you chose for this General Chapter: To give oneself completely to God, to be completely given to the neighbour! PSMC: missionary disciples, joyful witnesses to charity in the suburbs of the world. On behalf of the Church and many poor people, especially women and children, and so many people who suffer physically and psychologically, whom you assist, I thank you for your apostolic work in the various activities of youth ministry, in schools, in homes for the elderly, in the little Cottolengo institutes, in catechesis and oratories, with new forms of poverty, and in all places where Divine Providence has placed you.

You are called, and are by vocation, missionaries; that is, evangelizers, and at the same time you are at the service of the poor. Sisters, be missionaries without borders. To all, but especially to the poor, in whom you are called to recognize the flesh of Christ, bring the joy of the Gospel that is Jesus Himself. To all, show the beauty of God’s love manifested in the merciful face of Christ. With this beauty fill the hearts of those you encounter. Closeness, encounter, dialogue, and accompaniment are your missionary approach. And do not let yourselves be robbed of the joy of evangelization.

Mission and service to the poor mean you are outbound, and help you overcome the risks of self-referentiality, of limiting yourselves to survival and self-defensive rigidity (cf Evangelii gaudium , 27, 45). Mission and service make you take on the dynamics of exodus and giving, of coming out of yourselves, of walking and sowing; as well as pastoral conversion, so that all structures are evangelizing and at the service of your charism (cf EG, 21, 25.131). For all these purposes, it is vital to nurture communion with the Lord, knowing that your intimacy with Him is part of a common journey; communion and mission are profoundly interconnected (EG, 23); it is never still. In prayer, in communion.

In the Church, mission is born of the encounter with Christ (cf Phil 3: 12-16). The Father’s envoy now sends us. It is He Who calls us and sends us. The centre of the Church’s mission is Jesus. As His disciples, you are called to be women who work assiduously to transcend, projecting towards the encounter with the Master and the culture in which you live.

The missionary is required to be a bold and creative person. The convenient criterion of it has always been the case is not valid. It is not valid. Think of the aims, the structures, the style and the methods of your mission (cf EG, 33). We are living in a time when we need to rethink everything in the light of what the Spirit asks us. This demands a special look at the recipients of the mission and reality itself: the look of Jesus, which is the look of the Good Shepherd; a gaze that does not judge, but which grasps the presence of the Lord in history; a gaze of closeness, to contemplate, to be moved, and to stay with the other as often as necessary; a deep look of faith; a respectful gaze, full of compassion, that heals, frees, and comforts. This special look will make you courageous and creative and will help you always to be in search of new ways to bring the Good News that is Christ to all.

The missionary is also required to be a free person, who lives without anything of his or her own. I never tire of repeating that comfort, lethargy and worldliness are forces that prevent the missionary from going out, starting out and moving on, and ultimately sharing the gift of the Gospel. The missionary can not walk with the heart full of things (comfort), an empty heart (lethargy) or in search of things extraneous to the glory of God (worldliness). The missionary is a person who is free of all these ballasts and chains; a person who lives without anything of his own, only for the Lord and His Gospel; a person who lives on a constant path of personal conversion and works without rest towards pastoral conversion.

The missionary is required to be a person inhabited by the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit Who reminds the disciples of all that Jesus said to them (cf Jn 14:16), Who teaches them (cf Jn 16: 14-15), Who bears witness to Jesus and leads the disciples in turn to bear witness to Him (cf Jn 15: 26-27). The missionary is asked to be a person obedient to the Spirit, to follow His movement, the wind that pushes towards the most unimagined places to announce the Gospel there. In such obedience, he or she is called to grow continually, to become capable of perceiving the presence of Jesus in so many people discarded by society. You too, dear sisters, be in this sense spiritual people, let yourselves be led, driven and guided by the Spirit.

A missionary is required to have a spirituality based on Christ, the Word of God, and on the liturgy. A holistic spirituality, involving the whole person in its various dimensions, based on complementarity, integrating and incorporating. It allows you to be daughters of heaven and daughters of the earth, mystical and prophetic, disciples and witnesses at the same time.

Finally, the missionary is required to be a prophet of mercy. The Year of Consecrated Life came to an end as the extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy began. This path called upon us to clean our eyes and our hearts of indifference so as to welcome and offer to the world, with humility, as servants, the prophecy of mercy, in the likeness of God the Father. Your charism of service to the poor demands that you exercise the prophecy of mercy, that is, to be people centred on God and on the crucified of this world. Let yourselves be provoked by the cry of help from so many situations of pain and suffering. As prophets of mercy, announce the Father’s forgiveness and embrace, a source of joy, serenity and peace (cf. Misericordiae Vultus , 2).

Along with the other institutes and movements founded by Don Orione, you form a family. I encourage you to walk the paths of collaboration with all the members of this rich charismatic family. No one in the Church walks in solitude. Cultivate between you the spirit of encounter, the spirit of family and cooperation.

I conclude by offering to you as an example for your mission and for your service to the poor the icon of the Visitation. Like the Virgin Mary, go on your way, in haste – not the rush of the world, but that of God – and, full of the joy that dwells in your heart, sing your Magnificat. Sing the love of God for every creature. Announce to today’s men and women that God is love and can fill the heart of those who seek Him and who let themselves be encountered by Him.

Surprise call to children in Genoa

Pope Francis has made a surprise phone call to sick children in Genoa, ahead of his one-day Apostolic Visit to the northern Italian city this Saturday, May 27, 2017.

During the course of his upcoming visit, the Holy Father will have a meeting with sick children and their families at the Giannina Gaslini Pediatric Hospital.

Established in 1931 and now considered one of the foremost children’s hospitals in Europe, the Istituto Giannina Gaslini is a tertiary level paediatric hospital affiliated with the University of Genoa. It is formally recognized as a Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Healthcare.

While many of the sick children, ahead of the Pope’s trip, have been preparing messages and small gifts for him, the Argentine Pontiff decided to do the unexpected: give them a surprise call before his arrival.

Dear children of the Gaslini Hospital in Genoa, I greet you all with affection he said through linking-up live via telephone to a parish radio in Genoa that broadcasts a Wednesday weekly program dedicated to the children’s hospital.

It is with joy, he noted, that he looks forward to meeting, being close to, listening to them, and bringing them the caress of Jesus.

Jesus is always close to us especially when we are in difficulty and in need. He always gives us trust and hope, he said.

The Holy Father concluded the call, saying he continues praying for them and their families and reminding them to pray for him.

At the bend in the road

Here is the reflection I prepared for the celebration that was held today as we commended the soul of our long-time and beloved friend into the arms of God where he will now enjoy the reward of everlasting life.

Funeral homily for Marcel Hamel

The first reading we heard today is taken from the story of Job – a humble man who had worked very hard to earn his living, a man who had provided for his family, a man who had known more than his fair share of trials, yet despite the fact that others may have encouraged him to doubt his faith, Job never stopped believing in God.  To the very end, he was convinced: I know that my redeemer lives (Job 19:25).

It was almost three years ago that we gathered in this very church for the funeral of Marcel’s wife Pat, and now we are here once again: this time to pray for our brother and to ask God to send the gift of his loving consolation upon Linda, Paul, Irene and their extended family as well as all of us who were privileged enough to count ourselves among the friends of another humble man.

I learned the other day that Marcel was born in Hagar – a little town located along Highway 17 just east of Sudbury.  To the casual passerby, Hagar is little more than a bend in the road where the speed limit gets reduced for a moment or two, but to someone who lives and works on the land that surrounds Hagar, that bend in the road speaks of the warmth of friendships forged around kitchen tables, the trust that exists among neighbours who know and care for one another and the concern that is the source of willingness to watch out for one another, to help one another, to truly rejoice together when things are going well and to support one another when times are tough.

Marcel spent much of his life here in Temagami.  He and Pat shared a life that was woven into the fabric of this community.  At another time in history, when the Sherman Mine was in full swing, Marcel took great pride – as did so many others – in making every effort to make sure that the riches extracted from the earth found their way to market.  As he may very well have experienced in his youth, Marcel made sure that there was always room at his table for others to sit, there was always food and drink to cheer a weary traveller, and there was always a keen interest to be shown as stories were told and adventures recounted.

Just two weeks ago, I sat at his table along with Paul and Ray.  Together we spoke, and with a sense of practicality, Marcel joked about the fact that his love for certain liquids had been reduced to cans of Ensure.  He spoke about heaven as though it were just around the corner with the calmness and conviction of one who has listened in prayer for years to the voice of the divine Shepherd.  His words flowed that afternoon as easily as I imagine Jesus’ words must have flowed on the night when he sat at table with his disciples.  The gospel tells us that he prayed for them that night: I desire that those whom you have given me may be with me where I am (Jn 17:24).  These are the words of a man who is convinced that death is not the end of the road.  There is another life that awaits us, in a place where we will know no more pain, suffering, doubt or fear.

Marcel spoke of heaven with a certainty that I have rarely experienced in the hearts of those I have encountered.  Such certainty is seldom witnessed in our world today, but it eloquently recalls the words that Saint Paul offered in the second reading that we heard today: We do not want you to be uninformed ... about those who have died (1 Thes 4:13) ... We believe that Jesus died and rose again ... and God will bring with him, those who have died (1 Thes 4:14) ... and we will be with the Lord forever (1 Thes 4:17).

This is the truth that is the basis of our faith: we believe that Jesus – our Redeemer - died and rose again, and that when our time comes, when this earthly life of ours is ended, we will be with the Lord forever.  We will live with him in heaven.  We have glimpses of this truth every time we slow down along the highway of life long enough to look beyond the bends in the road.  In places such as those, we encounter the gentle and loving soul who will always welcome a stranger, the trust that will always find room for a newcomer to sit at the table and the generosity that will always find time to listen, to comfort and to encourage.