Vatican City, 14 December 2015 (VIS) –
Finding answers to the existential question of many young people who
risk passing from a lack of employment to detachment from life in
general is the aim of the Policoro Project undertaken twenty years
ago in the ecclesial Convention of Palermo. This morning, in the
Vatican's Paul VI Hall, its members were received by the Holy Father
who remarked that, in seeking to combine the Gospel with the reality
of life, the Project represented an important initiative for the
promotion of youth and a true opportunity for local development at
national level. “Its key ideas have guided its success: the
formation of the young, the establishment of cooperatives, the
creation of mediation figures such as 'community animators' and a
long series of concrete gestures, a visible sign of commitment
throughout these twenty years of active presence”.
“With its concrete attention to the
territory and the search for shared solutions, the Policoro Project
has shown how the quality of 'free, creative, participatory and
mutually supportive labour that human beings express and enhance the
dignity of their lives'. Let us not lose sight of the urgency of
reaffirming this dignity! It belongs to each and every one of us. ..
When there is no work, dignity is at risk, as unemployment not only
prevents you from putting food on the table; it also makes you feel
unworthy of earning a living. Today young people are victims of this.
How many of them have given up looking for work, resigned to
continual rejection or the indifference of a society that rewards
only the usual privileged few – even if they are corrupt – and
obstructs those who deserve affirmation. The reward seems to go to
those who are sure of themselves, even if this security is gained
through corruption. Work is not a gift to be kindly granted to the
select few: it is a right for all!”
He added, “You represent without
doubt a sign of real hope for many people who have not resigned
themselves but have instead decided to commit themselves courageously
to creating or improving their opportunities for work”, and he
invited them to “continue to promote initiatives for participation
for young people in a community and participatory form. … Here you
can play your role. To the question, 'what has the Church to do with
my situation?', that you have said and heard many times, the answer
is 'witness'. And here you are able to provide your witness, face to
face with those who are in need of courage and support”.
Francis concluded by emphasising that
his task is not simply that of helping the young to find a job but
rather “a responsibility of evangelisation through the sanctifying
value of work. But not any form of work: not work that exploits,
crushes, humiliates and abuses, but work that makes man truly free,
in accordance with his noble dignity”.
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