Pope
Francis urges young Cubans to keep hope alive
(Vatican
Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday urged young Cubans to follow a path of hope,
built on solidarity and encounter with others. The Pope’s words came in a
meeting with several thousand young students gathered at the Fr Felix Varela
cultural centre in Havana at the end of his first full day in the Cuban
capital. The centre, set up in 2011 by the local Archdiocese with the support
of the Pontifical Council for Culture, offers courses in theology, philosophy,
sociology, psychology and business administration. It also houses conferences,
concerts, exhibitions and co-sponsors Havana’s Latin American film festival.
After
listening to the Rector and a young student share their hopes for the future of
their country, the Pope spoke off-the-cuff encouraging them to keep alive their
dreams and to focus on the things that unite, rather than the things which
divide them.
The
Pope also spoke about the problem of youth unemployment and the need for young
people to create a culture of encounter, urging the students to keep their
hearts and minds open, rather than being closed in on themselves.
In
his prepared text meanwhile, Pope Francis shared with the students three ways
of finding the path of hope in their lives – firstly, by drawing on the memory
of their spiritual and moral heritage. Secondly, by journeying together with
others and thirdly by showing solidarity, without which, he said, “no country
has a future”.
Please
find below the prepared text of the Pope’s words to young people in Havana:
Meeting
with Students at the Fr. Félix Varela Cultural Center, Havana
Sunday,
20 September 2015
Dear
Friends,
I am very happy to be with you here in this Cultural Center which is so
important for Cuban history. I thank God for this opportunity to meet so
many young people who, by their work, studies and training, are dreaming of,
and already making real, the future of Cuba.
I thank Leonardo for his words of welcome, and particularly because, although
he could have spoken about so many other important and concrete things such as
our difficulties, fears, and doubts – as real and human as they are – he spoke
to us about hope. He talked to us about those dreams and aspirations so
firmly planted in the heart of young Cubans, transcending all their differences
in education, culture, beliefs or ideas. Thank you, Leonardo, because,
when I look at all of you, the first thing that comes into my mind and heart,
too, is the word “hope”. I cannot imagine a young person who is listless,
without dreams or ideals, without a longing for something greater.
But what kind of hope does a young Cuban have at this moment of history?
Nothing more or less than that of any other young person in any other part of
the world. Because hope speaks to us of something deeply rooted in every
human heart, independently of our concrete circumstances and historical
conditioning. Hope speaks to us of a thirst, an aspiration, a longing for
a life of fulfillment, a desire to achieve great things, things which fill our
heart and lift our spirit to lofty realities like truth, goodness and beauty,
justice and love. But it also involves taking risks. It means being
ready not to be seduced by what is fleeting, by false promises of happiness, by
immediate and selfish pleasures, by a life of mediocrity and self-centeredness,
which only fills the heart with sadness and bitterness. No, hope is bold;
it can look beyond personal convenience, the petty securities and compensations
which limit our horizon, and can open us up to grand ideals which make life
more beautiful and worthwhile. I would ask each one of you: What is it
that shapes your life? What lies deep in your heart? Where do your
hopes and aspirations lie? Are you ready to put yourself on the line for
the sake of something even greater?
Perhaps you may say: “Yes, Father, I am strongly attracted to those
ideals. I feel their call, their beauty, their light shining in my
heart. But I feel too weak, I am not ready to decide to take the path of hope.
The goal is lofty and my strength is all too little. It is better to be
content with small things, less grand but more realistic, more within my
reach”. I can understand that reaction; it is normal to feel weighed down
by difficult and demanding things. But take care not to yield to the
temptation of a disenchantment which paralyzes the intellect and the will, or
that apathy which is a radical form of pessimism about the future. These
attitudes end either in a flight from reality towards vain utopias, or else in
selfish isolation and a cynicism deaf to the cry for justice, truth and
humanity which rises up around us and within us.
But what are we to do? How do we find paths of hope in the situations in
which we live? How do we make those hopes for fulfillment, authenticity,
justice and truth, become a reality in our personal lives, in our country and
our world? I think that there are three ideas which can help to keep our
hope alive:
Hope is a path made of memory and discernment. Hope is the virtue
which goes places. It isn’t simply a path we take for the pleasure of it,
but it has an end, a goal which is practical and lights up our way. Hope
is also nourished by memory; it looks not only to the future but also to the past
and present. To keep moving forward in life, in addition to knowing where
we want to go, we also need to know who we are and where we come from.
Individuals or peoples who have no memory and erase their past risk losing
their identity and destroying their future. So we need to remember who we
are, and in what our spiritual and moral heritage consists. This, I
believe, was the experience and the insight of that great Cuban, Father Félix
Varela. Discernment is also needed, because it is essential to be open to
reality and to be able to interpret it without fear or prejudice. Partial
and ideological interpretations are useless; they only disfigure reality by
trying to fit it into our preconceived schemas, and they always cause
disappointment and despair. We need discernment and memory, because
discernment is not blind; it is built on solid ethical and moral criteria which
help us to see what is good and just.
Hope is a path taken with others. An African proverb says: “If you want
to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go with others”. Isolation
and aloofness never generate hope; but closeness to others and encounter
do. Left to ourselves, we will go nowhere. Nor by exclusion will we
be able to build a future for anyone, even ourselves. A path of hope
calls for a culture of encounter, dialogue, which can overcome conflict and
sterile confrontation. To create that culture, it is vital to see
different ways of thinking not in terms of risk, but of richness and growth.
The world needs this culture of encounter. It needs young people who seek
to know and love one another, to journey together in building a country like
that which José Martí dreamed of: “With all, and for the good of all”.
Hope is a path of solidarity. The culture of encounter should naturally
lead to a culture of solidarity. I was struck by what Leonardo said at
the beginning, when he spoke of solidarity as a source of strength for
overcoming all obstacles. Without solidarity, no country has a
future. Beyond all other considerations or interests, there has to be
concern for that person who may be my friend, my companion, but also someone
who may think differently than I do, someone with his own ideas yet just as
human and just as Cuban as I am. Simple tolerance is not enough; we have
to go well beyond that, passing from a suspicious and defensive attitude to one
of acceptance, cooperation, concrete service and effective assistance. Do
not be afraid of solidarity, service and offering a helping hand, so that no
one is excluded from the path.
This path of life is lit up by a higher hope: the hope born of our faith in
Christ. He made himself our companion along the way. Not only does
he encourage us, he also accompanies us; he is at our side and he extends a
friendly hand to us. The Son of God, he wanted to become someone like us,
to accompany us on our way. Faith in his presence, in his friendship and
love, lights up all our hopes and dreams. With him at our side, we learn
to discern what is real, to encounter and serve others, and to walk the path of
solidarity.
Dear young people of Cuba, if God himself entered our history and became flesh
in Jesus, if he shouldered our weakness and sin, then you need not be afraid of
hope, or of the future, because God is on your side. He believes in you,
and he hopes in you.
Dear friends, thank you for this meeting. May hope in Christ, your
friend, always guide you along your path in life. And, please, remember
to pray for me. May the Lord bless all of you.
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