Pope : Sardinia , unemployment result of a system without ethics that idolizes money
Cagliari ( AsiaNews) - Unemployment "is the consequence of a world ," a "system without ethics " that " has at its center an idol which is called money ," while God has willed that "the centre of the world is not an idol, but a man and a woman" with their work.
Pope Francis chose to speak spontaneously
from the heart at the first appointment of his one day visit to Sardinia ,
where he arrived this morning. At
Largo Carlo Felice in Cagliari there were perhaps 20 thousand people there to
warmly welcome him. Among them many cried out with one word "work".
And
so the Pope, immediately after greeting them, expressed "my closeness, especially
to those in situations of suffering to the so many young people who are unemployed,
and people in precarious employment, entrepreneurs and traders who are
struggling to move forward", completely abandoning his prepared text. " I
had written - he explained at the end of his address - some words for you, but
seeing you these words came to my mind, I wanted to speak to you from the heart
."
Lack
of work, he said "is a reality I know well from my experience in Argentina.
Though I have not personally experienced it my family has. My father as a young
man went to Argentina full of
illusions, to succeed in America and instead he suffered the terrible crisis of
the 1930s , they lost everything. There was no work. I heard this in my
childhood. I did not see it, I was not born yet, but I heard all about this
suffering in my home. I know this well . "
"Where there is no work , there is no dignity ! And this is not only a problem in Sardinia - but is a big problem here, it is big here - it is not only a problem in Italy or some European countries, it is the consequence of a global choice, of an economic system that leads to this tragedy, an economic system that has at its center an idol, called money. God did not want an idol to be at the centre of the world but man, man and woman, who nurture the world with their work. But now in this system, deprived of ethics, there is an idol at the centre and the world has become idolatrous of this "god of money". Money rules! Money rules! All of these things that money needs, that this idol needs are in control".
"And what happens? In order to defend this idol everyone piles up in the middle and the weakest fall by the wayside, the elderly fall, because there is no place for them in this world! Even some talk of this habit of hidden euthanasia of not treating them, or taking them into account ... Yes , let's forget about them .... And the young who can not find work, dignity, fall by the wayside. But just think, a world where young people - two generations of young people - do not work. It has no future, this world. Why, because they have no dignity! It is difficult to have dignity without work. This is what you are suffering here".
"This is the prayer that you were shouting : Work, work, work. It is a necessary pray. Work means dignity, work means bring the bread home, work means to love! . To defend this idolatrous economic system a "culture of waste" has been established, where grandparents are discarded, young people are discarded. We must say no to this ' culture of waste'. We must say: We want a fair system ! A system that allows us all to move forward. We have to say: We do not want this globalized economic system, that hurts us so much! Man and woman must be at its centre as God wants, and not money . "
Francis again called on people not to lose hope, not to be "robbed of hope". "But to all, to all of you, those who have jobs and those who do not, I tell you: Do not allow them to steal your hope from you! Do not be robbed of hope". "Perhaps the hope is like the embers under the ashes : let us help with solidarity, blowing on the ashes, so that the fire is rekindled . Yet hope leads us forward ... That's not optimism, it is something else. But hope does not belong to only one person: hope belongs to us all! We must all support hope, all of you and all of us who are far away. Hope is yours and ours . It belongs to all! Therefore I tell you: do not be robbed of hope! We must be clever because the Lord tells us that the idols are cleverer than we. The Lord invites us to have the cunning of the serpent, but also the goodness of the dove. We must have this cunning and call things by their name . At this time , in our economic system , in our globalized system of life, the center is an idol and this can not go on! Let's fight together so that at the centre , at least in our own life, there is man and woman , the family , all of us, so that hope may go on ... Do not be robbed of hope".
The Pope concludes with a prayer, also unscripted. "Lord God, look at us ! See this city , this island. Look at our families. Lord , you did not lack work, you were a carpenter ... You were happy . Lord , we lack work. Idols want to steal our dignity. Unjust systems I want to steal our hope. Lord, do not abandon us . Help us to help each other, to forget our selfishness, to hear the "we" in our hearts, the we, the people , who want to go forward. Lord Jesus , you who did not lack work, give us work and teach us to fight for our jobs, and bless us all. "
Employment
was also at the center of the speech that the Pope had prepared and of which,
he said , "is given as read" which confirms its content . "The
economic crisis has a European and global dimension, but the crisis is not only
economic, it is also ethical , spiritual and human . At the root is a betrayal
of the common good, both by individuals and groups of power. It is therefore
necessary to remove the centrality of the law of profit, and replace it with the
person and the common good . A very important factor for the dignity of the
person is their own work , because there is a genuine promotion of the person
to be guaranteed by work " .
"At
this stage , the whole society, in all its components , should make every
effort possible to favour work, which is
a source of dignity, and of central concern ."
The
second element indicated by Francis is " the Gospel of hope ." "To
face the reality, know it well , understand it , and try all roads , with the
method of collaboration and dialogue , experiencing the closeness that brings
hope . Never give up hope! Do not confuse it with optimism - that is simply a psychological
attitude - or with other things. Hope is creative, it is capable of creating
the future.
Third: decent work
for all . A
society open to hope does not close in on itself, in defending the interests of
a few, but looks forward in view of the common good . And
this requires a strong sense of responsibility on all parts. There
is no hope for society without decent work for all. "
.png)
