SUMMARY:
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The Pope in the World Meeting of Popular Movements: combat the
structural causes of poverty
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Other Pontifical Acts
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The
Pope in the World Meeting of Popular Movements: combat the structural
causes of poverty
Vatican
City, 2014 (VIS) – This morning in the Synod Hall the Holy Father
met with participants in the World Meeting of Popular Movements (27
to 29 October), organised by the Pontifical Council “Justice and
Peace” in collaboration with the Pontifical Academy for Social
Sciences and with the leaders of various movements.
The
Pope spoke about the term solidarity, “a word that is not always
well accepted”, that is much maligned and almost “unrepeatable”;
however it is a word that indicates much more than a few sporadic
acts of generosity. It means thinking and acting in terms of
community, of prioritising the life of all over and above the
appropriation of goods by the few. It also means fighting the
structural causes of poverty, inequality, unemployment, lack of land
and housing, and the denial of social and labour rights. It means
facing the destructive effects of the empire of money: forced
displacement, painful migration, human trafficking, drugs, war,
violence and all these situations that many of you suffer and that we
are all called upon to transform. Solidarity, in its deepest sense,
is a way of making history and this is what the popular movements
do”.
He
went on to remark that this meeting does not correspond to any form
of ideology and that the movements work not with ideas, but with
reality. “It is not possible to tackle poverty by promoting
containment strategies to merely reassure, rendering the poor
'domesticated' , harmless and passive”, he continued. “This
meeting corresponds to a more concrete desire, that any father or
mother would want for their children: an aspiration that should be
within the reach of all but which we sadly see is increasingly
unavailable to the majority: land, housing and work. It is strange,
but if I talk about this, there are those who think that the Pope is
communist”.
“Today,
the phenomenon of exploitation and oppression assumes a new
dimension, a graphical and hard edge of social injustice: those that
cannot be integrated, the marginalised, are discarded, “cast-offs”.
This is the throwaway culture … This happens when the centre of an
economic system is the god of money and not humanity, the human
person. At the centre of every social or economic system there must
be the person, the image of God, created as the denominator of the
universe. When humanity is displaced and supplanted by money, this
disruption of values occurs”.
Pope
Francis mentioned the problem of unemployment, and added that “every
worker, whether or not he is part of the formal system of paid work,
has the right to fair remuneration, social security and a pension.
'Cartoneros', those who live by recycling waste, street vendors,
garment makers, craftspeople, fishermen, farmers, builders, miners,
workers in companies in receivership, cooperatives and common trades
that are excluded from employment rights, who are denied the
possibility of forming trades unions, who do not have an adequate or
stable income. Today I wish to unite my voice to theirs and to
accompany them in their struggle”.
He
went on the mention the theme of peace and ecology. “We cannot
strive for land, housing, or work if we are not able to maintain
peace or if we destroy the planet. … Creation is not our property,
that we may exploit as we please; far less so, the property of the
few. Creation is a gift, a wonderful gift that God gave us, to care
for and to use for the benefit of all, always with respect and
gratitude”.
“Why,
instead of this, are we accustomed to seeing decent work destroyed,
the eviction of many families, the expulsion of peasants from the
land, war and the abuse of nature? Because this system has removed
humanity from the centre and replaced it with something else! Because
of the idolatrous worship of money! Because of the globalisation of
indifference – 'what does it matter to me what happens to others,
I'll defend myself'”. Because the world has forgotten God, the
Father: it has become an orphan because it has turned aside from
God”.
He
emphasised that “Christians have something very good, a guide to
action, a revolutionary programme, we might say. I strongly recommend
that you read it, that you read the Beatitudes”.
He
concluded by highlighting the importance of walking together and
remarking that “popular movements express the urgent need to
revitalise our democracies, that are so often hijacked by many
factors. It is impossible to imagine a future for society without the
active participation of the majority, and this role extends beyond
the logical procedures of formal democracy”.
Other
Pontifical Acts
Vatican
City, 2014 (VIS) – The Holy Father has appointed Bishop Richard
Daniel Alarcon Urrutia of Tarma, Peru as metropolitan archbishop of
Cuzco (area 23,807, population 1,594,000, Catholics 1,538,000,
priests 138, religious 318), Peru.
You
can find more information at: www.visnews.org
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