Pope to Italian youth: planet requires a “good politics” that promotes peace

Meeting in the Vatican with some 150 representatives of businesses and cooperatives of the “Progetto Policoro” sponsored by the Italian Bishops’ Conference, Pope Francis highlights the urgent need to have for “better politics” in our war-torn-instances.

By Lisa Zengarini

Pope Francis on Saturday praised Italian youths involved in a Church sponsored project aimed at providing assistance to unemployed and underemployed young people today, saying their commitment contributes to a “better politics” close to people’s requires and consequently to constructing peace in the planet.

The Pope was addressing representatives of businesses and cooperatives component of the “Progetto Policoro”, a project sponsored by the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI) to enable young people today integrate in the labour industry by organizing vocational instruction programmes, advertising cooperatives and developing 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 instances make the need to have for “good politics”, that listens to the people today  and fosters peace, even far more urgent right now.

“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 created for a year, hunger in the planet could be eliminated.”

Citing the biblical King Ahab of Israel and his wife Jezebel as an instance of the worst politics “which pursues unique interests and utilizes any implies to satisfy them”, and recalling the words of St. Ambrose, Pope Francis insisted that “A  politics that workout routines 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 good 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 people today, pays in individual for the typical great, becomes a peacemaker, weaves relationships capable of innovating society”.

Tenderness and fruitfulness in politics

These two biblical examples, mentioned Pope Francis, enable us to far better comprehend what spirituality need to underpin political activity. He focused on two elements: tenderness and fruitfulness.  

Tenderness, he mentioned,  “is the really like that becomes close” to the least, the weakest, the poorest, whilst fruitfulness “is created of sharing, of extended-term vision, of dialogues, of trust, of understanding, of listening. It implies hunting 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, consequently, urged participants in the Policoro Project to concentrate not on individual or political obtain, but on fostering entrepreneurship, creating dreams flourish by means of advertising people’s participation which, he mentioned,  “is the balm of the wounds of democracy.”

“Your concern need to not be not electoral assistance or individual good results, but involving people today, producing entrepreneurship, creating dreams flourish, creating people today really feel the beauty of belonging to a neighborhood. The politician is a servant when the politician is not a servant, he is a undesirable politician.”

Concluding the Pope encouraged them to continue their perform “always with the aim of serving” the neighborhood.