Meeting in the Vatican with some 150 representatives of firms 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 men and women, saying their commitment contributes to a “better politics” close to people’s wants and as a result to developing peace in the globe.
The Pope was addressing representatives of firms and cooperatives aspect of the “Progetto Policoro”, a project sponsored by the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI) to enable young men and women integrate in the labour industry by organizing vocational instruction 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 men and women and fosters peace, even additional urgent nowadays.
“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 have been not produced 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 distinct interests and makes use of any implies to satisfy them”, and recalling the words of St. Ambrose, Pope Francis insisted that “A politics that workouts 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 constructive 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 men and women, pays in individual for the prevalent superior, becomes a peacemaker, weaves relationships capable of innovating society”.
Tenderness and fruitfulness in politics
These two biblical examples, mentioned Pope Francis, enable us to superior realize what type of “spirituality” must underpin political activity. He focused on two elements: tenderness and fruitfulness.
Tenderness, he mentioned, “is the like that becomes close” to the least, the weakest, the poorest, whilst fruitfulness “is produced of sharing, of lengthy-term vision, of dialogues, of trust, of understanding, of listening. It implies 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, as a result, urged members of the Policoro Project to concentrate not on individual or political get, but on fostering entrepreneurship, producing dreams flourish by means of advertising people’s participation which, he mentioned, “is the balm of the wounds of democracy.”
“Your concern must not be not electoral help or individual achievement, but involving men and women, creating entrepreneurship, producing dreams flourish, producing men and women 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 perform “always with the aim of serving” the neighborhood.
