Meeting in the Vatican with some 150 representatives of corporations and cooperatives of the “Progetto Policoro” sponsored by the Italian Bishops’ Conference, Pope Francis highlights the urgent want for “better politics” in our war-torn occasions.
By Lisa Zengarini
Pope Francis on Saturday praised Italian youths involved in a Church sponsored project aimed at supplying help to unemployed and underemployed young folks, saying their commitment contributes to a “better politics” close to people’s requirements and thus to constructing peace in the globe.
The Pope was addressing representatives of corporations and cooperatives aspect of the “Progetto Policoro”, a project sponsored by the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI) to assistance young folks integrate in the labour market place by organizing vocational education programmes, advertising cooperatives and producing intermediaries, such as “community animators”.
War is the failure of politics
Referring to the theme of peace selected by the project for this year, the Pope highlighted that our war-torn occasions make the want for “good politics”, that listens to the folks and fosters peace, even much more urgent right now.
“War – he emphasized – is the failure of politics. It tends to make us touch the absurdity of the arms race and its use for solving conflicts.”
“If armaments had been not created for a year, hunger in the globe could be eliminated.”
Citing the biblical King Ahab of Israel and his wife Jezebel as an instance of the worst politics “which pursues certain interests and utilizes any indicates to satisfy them”, and recalling the words of St. Ambrose, Pope Francis insisted that “A politics that workout routines energy as domination and not as a service is not capable of caring, tramples upon the poor, exploits the Earth and reacts to conflict with war.”
On the other hand – he continued – a optimistic biblical instance we can draw from is Joseph, the son of Jacob: “Joseph, who personally suffered injustice, does not seek his personal interest but that of the folks, pays in individual for the widespread fantastic, becomes a peacemaker, weaves relationships capable of innovating society”.
Tenderness and fruitfulness in politics
These two biblical examples, stated Pope Francis, assistance us to greater recognize what sort of “spirituality” should really underpin political activity. He focused on two elements: tenderness and fruitfulness.
Tenderness, he stated, “is the appreciate that becomes close” to the least, the weakest, the poorest, whilst fruitfulness “is created of sharing, of extended-term vision, of dialogues, of trust, of understanding, of listening. It indicates seeking to the future and investing in future generations beginning processes rather than occupying spaces”.
“Time is higher than space”
The politician is a servant of the neighborhood
In light of this, Pope Francis, thus, urged members of the Policoro Project to concentrate not on private or political obtain, but on fostering entrepreneurship, producing dreams flourish by means of advertising people’s participation which, he stated, “is the balm of the wounds of democracy.”
“Your concern should really not be not electoral help or private accomplishment, but involving folks, producing entrepreneurship, producing dreams flourish, producing folks really feel the beauty of belonging to a neighborhood. The politician is a servant when the politician is not a servant, he is a poor politician.”
Concluding the Pope encouraged them to continue their operate “always with the aim of serving” the neighborhood.