Vatican City, 23 May 2015 (VIS) - “We
must ensure that through work – free, creative, participatory and
mutually supportive – human beings may express and increase the
dignity of their lives”, said Pope Francis this morning as he
received in audience the members of the Christian Associations of
Italian Workers (ACLI), who celebrate the 70th anniversary of their
foundation this year.
The Holy Father took the opportunity to
reflect on the scale and urgency of the employment problem in today's
world and the need to propose equitable, fraternal and genuinely
practicable solutions. “The spread of precariousness, illegal work
and organised crime, especially among the younger generations, ensure
that the lack of work robs dignity and obstructs the fullness of
human life. This demands an immediate and vigorous response”, he
said, then indicating the four features that should be present in all
work.
Firstly, work must be free: the true
freedom of work means that man, continuing the work of the Creator,
ensures that the world reaches its objective. Too often, however,
work is a vehicle for oppression at several levels: man against
another man; new forms of organised slavery that oppress the poorest.
“In particular, many children and women suffer as the result of an
economy that obliges them to carry out undignified work that
contradicts creation in its beauty and harmony. We must ensure that
work is not a tool of alienation, but rather of hope and new life”.
Creative work allows one to use his or
her unique and original abilities. This is achieved “when man is
permitted to express with freedom and creativity in certain forms of
activity, in collaborative work conducted in the community that
enable full economic and social development to him and to others. We
cannot clip the wings of those, especially the young, who have much
to give with their intelligence and capacities; they must be freed of
the burdens that oppress them and prevent them from fully entering
the world of work as soon as possible”.
Participatory work corresponds to the
relational dimension of the person, and involves the establishment of
responsible bonds of collaboration. However, “when, due to an
'economistic' vision … others are regarded as a means and not an
end, work loses its primary meaning as the continuation of God's
work, a work destined for all humanity, so that all may benefit”.
Finally, mutually supportive work means
responding to the many men and women who have lost their jobs or are
seeking employment, above all with closeness and solidarity.
Associations such as the ACLI, as places of welcome and encounter,
must also identify opportunities for formation and professional
training.
Francis went on to refer to some key
aspects of the ACLI. The first is its presence outside Italy, which
began with the phase of Italian emigration and continues to be
valuable since many young people leave Italy to seek work pertinent
to their studies or to enrich their professional experience. “Support
them on their path”, he said. “In their eyes you may see the
reflection of your parents or grandparents who travelled far to
work”.
The Association is also engaged in the
battle against poverty and that of the impoverishment of the middle
classes. “Offering support, not only of an economic nature, to
those below the poverty line, who have increased in number in Italy
in recent years, can bring benefits to all of society. At the same
time, those who yesterday lived a dignified life must be prevented
from slipping into poverty. It takes very little these days to become
poor: the loss of a job, an elderly relative who is no longer
self-sufficient, sickness in the family, or even – think of this
terrible paradox – the birth of a child. It is an important
cultural battle, that of ensuring that welfare is considered to be
the infrastructure of development rather than a cost. You can act as
a coordinator and motor for the 'alliance against poverty', which
proposes the development of a national plan for decent and dignified
work”.
“Christian inspiration and the
popular dimension determine that way of understanding and
implementing the ACLI's historic triple fidelity to workers,
democracy and the Church. In the current context, it may be said that
these three attitudes may be summarised in one, new and simple:
fidelity to the poor”.
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