Vatican City, 12 July 2015 (VIS) –
The Leon Condou Sports Centre in Asuncion was the location of the
Pope's meeting with the so-called “society-builders” in Paraguay
– that is, school and university professors, artists and
businesspeople, journalists, women's associations, agriculturalists
and indigenous groups. The Holy Father answered various questions
from those present, whom he greeted first with the following words:
“Seeing all of you together, each
coming from his or her own sector or organisation within beloved
Paraguayan society, each bringing his or her own joys, concerns,
struggles and hopes, makes me grateful to God. In other words, it
seems that Paraguay is anything but dead, thank God. When a people is
unengaged and listless, passively accepting things as they are, it is
a dead people. On the contrary, I see in you great vitality and
promise. And God always blesses this. God is always on the side of
those who help to uplift and improve the lives of His children. To be
sure, problems and situations of injustice exist. But seeing you and
listening to you helps renew my hope in the Lord Who continues to
work in the midst of His people. You represent many different
backgrounds, situations and aspirations; all together, you make up
Paraguayan culture. All of you have a part to play in the pursuit of
the common good. In the present condition of global society, where
injustices abound and growing numbers of people are deprived of basic
human rights and considered expendable, to see you here before me is
a real gift.
The first question was from a young
person who expressed his concern regarding the construction of a
society characterised by fraternity, justice, peace and dignity for
all.
“Youth is a time of high ideals”,
said the Pope. “I often say that it is really sad to see a young
person who is out of work. It is important that you, the young, and
there are indeed many young persons here in Paraguay, realise that
genuine happiness comes from working to make a more fraternal
country! It comes from realising that happiness and pleasure are not
synonymous. Happiness, joy, is one thing, but fleeting pleasure is
another. Happiness is built up, it is something solid which edifies.
Happiness is demanding, it requires commitment and effort. …
Paraguay has a large population of young people and this is a great
source of enrichment for the nation. So I think that the first thing
to do is to make sure that all that energy, that light, does not
disappear from your hearts, and to resist the growing mentality which
considers it useless and absurd to aspire to things that demand
effort. … Be committed to something, be committed to someone. This
is the vocation of young people so don’t be afraid to take a risk
on the field, but play fairly and give it your best. Don’t be
afraid to give the best of yourselves! Don’t look for easy
solutions beforehand so as to avoid tiredness and struggle. And don’t
bribe the referee. I ask you not to fight the good fight alone. Try
to talk about these things among yourselves, profit from the lives,
the stories of your elders, of your grandparents, for there is great
wisdom there. 'Waste' lots of time listening to all the good things
they have to teach you. They are the guardians of that spiritual
legacy of faith and values which define a people and illumine a path.
... Jesus extends to you an invitation through the memory of your
people. … Fraternity, justice, peace and dignity are concrete and
real, otherwise they are useless. They are constructed with the work
of each day. And so, how do you shape those ideals, daily and
concretely? Even if you make mistakes, make amends, get up again and
move forward – make progress with concrete steps. I confess to you
that I feel somewhat allergic … to very eloquent discourses; those
who know the speaker end up saying, 'What are liar you are!' This is
why words on their own are not enough. If you give your word of
honour, then make sacrifices each day to be faithful to that word, to
be committed!
The second question related to dialogue
as a means to advance the project of a fully inclusive nation.
“Dialogue is not easy. There exists also a 'theatrical dialogue' by
which I mean that we rehearse dialogue, play out the conversation,
but it is subsequently all forgotten. ... For example, I think about
that dialogue we have in the Church, interreligious dialogue, where
different representatives of religions speak to each other. We
sometimes meet to speak and share our points of view, and everyone
speaks on the basis of their own identity: 'I’m Buddhist, I’m
Evangelical. I’m Orthodox, I’m Catholic'. Each one explains their
identity. They do not negotiate their identity. This means that, for
there to be dialogue, that fundamental basis of identity must exist.
And what is the identity of a country? – and here we are speaking
about a social identity – to love the nation. The nation first, and
then my business! … That is identity. That is the basis upon which
I will dialogue. If I am to speak without that basis, without that
identity, then dialogue is pointless. Moreover, dialogue presupposes
and demands that we seek a culture of encounter; an encounter which
acknowledges that diversity is not only good, it is necessary.
Uniformity nullifies us, it makes us robots. The richness of life is
in diversity. For this reason, the point of departure cannot be, 'I'm
going to dialogue but he’s wrong'. No, no, we must not presume that
the other person is wrong. I dialogue with my identity but I'm going
to listen to what the other person has to say, how I can be enriched
by the other, who makes me realise my mistakes and see the
contribution I can offer. It is a process of going out and coming
back, always with an open heart. … This is the culture of
encounter. Dialogue is not about negotiating. Negotiating is trying
to get your own slice of the cake. … Dialogue is about seeking the
common good. Discuss, think, and discover together a better solution
for everybody. … During dialogue there is conflict. This is logical
and even desirable. Because if I think in one way and you in another
and we walk together, there will be conflict. But we mustn't fear it,
we mustn’t ignore it. On the contrary, we are invited to embrace
conflict. … Conflict exists: we have to embrace it, we have to try
and resolve it as far as possible, but with the intention of
achieving that unity which is not uniformity, but rather a unity in
diversity. … True cultures are never closed in on themselves –
cultures would die if they closed in on themselves – but are called
to meet other cultures and to create new realities. ... Without this
essential presupposition, without this basis of fraternity, it will
be very difficult to arrive at dialogue. If someone thinks that there
are persons, cultures, or situations which are second, third or
fourth class surely things will go badly, because the bare minimum, a
recognition of the dignity of the other, is lacking. There are no
first, second, third, fourth categories of persons: they are all of
the same lineage”.
The third question was, “How do we
hear the cry of the poor in order to build a more inclusive
society?”. The Pope responded, “It is important not to exclude
anybody, and not to exclude oneself, because everybody needs
everybody. A fundamental part of helping the poor involves the way we
see them. An ideological approach is useless: it ends up using the
poor in the service of other political or personal interests.
Ideologies end badly, and are useless. They relate to people in ways
that are either incomplete, unhealthy, or evil. Ideologies do not
embrace a people. You just have to look at the last century. What was
the result of ideologies? Dictatorships, in every case. Always think
of the people, never stop thinking about the good of the people. …
To really help people, the first thing is for us to be truly
concerned for individual persons, and I'm thinking of the poor here,
valuing them for their goodness. Valuing them, however, also means
being ready to learn from them. The poor have much to teach us about
humanity, goodness, sacrifice and solidarity. As Christians,
moreover, we have an additional reason to love and serve the poor;
for in them we see the face and the flesh of Christ, who made Himself
poor so as to enrich us with His poverty. … Let us reflect
carefully. The poor person is just like me and, if he or she is
going through a difficult time for many reasons, be they economic
political, social or personal, it could be me in their place, me
longing for someone to help me. As well as desiring this help, if I
am in their shoes, I have the right to be respected”.
Another theme was economic growth and
the creation of wealth.
“Certainly every country needs
economic growth and the creation of wealth, and the extension of
these to each citizen, without exclusion. And this is necessary. But
the creation of this wealth must always be at the service of the
common good, and not only for the benefit of a few. On this point we
must be very clear. For 'the worship of the ancient golden calf has
returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the
dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose'.
Those charged with promoting economic development have the
responsibility of ensuring that it always has a human face. Economic
development must have a human face. … They have in their hands the
possibility of providing employment for many persons and in this way
of giving hope to many families. … I ask them not to yield to an
economic model which is idolatrous, which needs to sacrifice human
lives on the altar of money and profit. In economics, in business and
in politics, what counts first and foremost, in every instance, is
the human person and the environment in which he or she lives”.
“Paraguay is rightly known throughout
the world for being the place where the Reductions began. These were
among the most significant experiences of evangelisation and social
organisation in history. There the Gospel was the soul and the life
of communities which did not know hunger, unemployment, illiteracy or
oppression. This historical experience shows us that, today too, a
more humane society is possible. You have truly lived this here. It
is possible! Where there is love of people and a willingness to serve
them, it is possible to create the conditions necessary for everyone
to have access to basic goods, so that no one goes without. It is
possible to seek solutions in every situation, through dialogue”.
The fifth question focused on the
definition and importance of a country's culture.
“There exist enlightened cultures
which are good and which must be respected”, said Francis. “But
there is another culture, which has this same value, which is the
culture of the people, of the earliest people, and represents
different ethnic groups. I would dare to call this culture, in a
positive sense, a popular culture. People possess their own culture
and create culture”.
“Before ending, I'd like to make
reference to two things”, he continued. “In doing this, as there
are political authorities present here, I wish to say this
fraternally. Someone told me: 'Look, Mr so-and-so was kidnapped by
the Army, please do something to help! I do not know if this is true,
or if it is not true, if it is right, or if it is not right, but one
of the methods used by dictatorial ideologies of the last century,
which I referred to earlier, was to separate the people, either by
exile or imprisonment, or in the case of concentration camps, Nazis
and Stalinists excluded them by death. For there to be a true culture
of the people, a political culture, a culture of the common good,
there must be quick and clear judicial proceedings. No other kind of
strategy is required. Clear, concise judgements. That would help all
of us. … And there is a second thing I would like to say: one
method which does not bestow freedom upon people, and enable them to
work responsibly towards the construction of society, is the method
of blackmail. Blackmail is always corruption: 'If you do this, we
will do this to you, and thus destroy you'. Corruption is the
parasite, the gangrene of the people. For example, no politician can
work and carry out a function, if they are being blackmailed by
methods of corruption. … This happens in all populations around the
world, and if a society wishes to maintain its dignity, it must
banish such blackmail. I am speaking about something universal”.
The Holy Father concluded, “It is a
great pleasure to see the number and variety of associations sharing
in the creation of an ever more prosperous Paraguay. But if you do
not dialogue, all is pointless. If there is blackmail, all is
pointless. This great multitude of groups and persons are like a
great symphony, each one with his or her own specificity and
richness, yet all working together towards a harmonious end. That is
what counts. And do not fear conflict, but speak about matters and
look for paths that lead to solutions. Love your country, your fellow
citizens, and, above all, love the poor. In this way, you will bear
witness before the world that another model of development is
possible. I am convinced, by virtue of your own history, that you
possess the greatest strength of all: your humanity, your faith, your
love. Being part of the Paraguayan people is what distinguishes you
among the nations of the world”.
“I ask Our Lady of Caacupe, our
Mother, to watch over you and protect you, and to encourage you in
all your efforts. God bless you and pray for me. Thank you”.
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