Vatican City, 19 September 2015 (VIS) –
On 17 September Pope Francis participated in a programme organised by
“Scholas Occurrentes” - an initiative organised between the
students of various countries, cultures and religions – broadcast
by CNN on Friday 18, in which two groups of students from Havana and
New York also took part. The Holy Father answered questions posed by
the students, starting with one from a girl from New York on the
responsibility of the young in the care of the environment.
“It is one of the things that we have
to learn from when we are young”, he said. “The environment, at
this time, is one of the excluded. It cries to us to pay attention
and to take care of it. So, how can a young person take care of the
environment? First of all, by seeing the problems that exist in his
or her neighbourhood, city and nation. … By looking for concrete
measures you can take. The waste of paper is impressive. Avoid
wasting electricity … What little you can do, but it is still a
little more, a little more, a little more. Add to the will to save
our common home”.
A girl from Havana asked the second
question, regarding the capacity for leadership attributed to the
Pope. “A leader is a good leader if he is capable of making other
leaders emerge among the young”, he said. “If a leader wishes to
lead alone, then he is a tyrant. Or rather, true leadership is
fruitful. ... Sole leaders are here today and gone tomorrow. There
are those who are born leaders: leaders in thought, leaders of
action, leaders of joy, leaders of hope, leaders in building a better
world. This is the path for you to follow; but you already have the
seed of leadership within you. If they do not sow leadership in
others, if they do not serve, they are dictators. I have no desire to
be a dictator. I like to plant the seed of leadership in others”.
The third question was asked by a girl
from New York, who showed the Pope a photograph of a dead tree with a
bird perched on a branch.
“Yes, in the photo the tree is dead
and the bird is alive”, observed Francis. “In a few months' time
the bird will need to build a nest to lay its eggs and care for its
young, but if the tree is dead, how will it be able to make a nest?
This is what happens when we do not take care of the environment. One
death leads to another, and then, instead of sowing growth, instead
of sowing hope, we sow death. The way is the opposite: caring for
life”.
A boy from Havana then spoke about the
need to lift the embargo against Cuba. “I too will do everything
possible not to forget”, replied the Holy Father. “Building
bridges and removing obstacles to communication, so that
communication can lead to friendship. One of the most beautiful
things is social friendship. That's what I would like you to seek:
friendship”.
The final two questions regarded
education of boys and girls. “Education is one of the human
rights”, affirmed Pope Francis. “A child has the right to be
loved … to play … and to receive an education. Do you think about
the number of children who, in countries at war at the moment, do not
receive an education? … It is a challenge that must be faced. And
it is up to us to start. … Do not wait for States to make
agreements or governments to agree. Many years will pass in the
meantime, as it is difficult. … So many children of your age, so
many boys and girls devote their weekends and holidays to teach them.
… A people that is not educated, who either because of war or for
other reasons cannot receive an education, decays; it decays and
declines even to the level of mere instinct. … We must be committed
to the education of the young”.
“This morning I received a group of
young people”, the Pope revealed. “One boy was from a country at
war and he gave me a bullet, one of the many that rain down
continually on his city. The young, in order to survive, have to stay
closed up inside their homes, and no longer have the right to play. …
We have lost the idea of how many children do not experience the joy
of play, either because of war, or poverty, or because they live on
the streets. And these children do not know how to communicate with
the joy of play. They become easy prey to traffickers, who use them
and lead them into delinquency, theft, drug abuse, prostitution, and
many other things. So, the best way to begin to educate children is
to give them the opportunity to play”.
At the end of the broadcast, the
presenter invited the Pope to plant an olive tree in a pot placed
nearby, and asked the Pope to give him the bullet so as to bury it in
the ground on which the olive tree will grow.
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