Pope tells Mexico's youth to believe in their dreams
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis
on Wednesday 16th of February was in the capital of Michoacán, Morelia, hotspot
of drug related violence to meet with young people at the ‘José Maria Morelos y
Pavòn’ stadium.
Veronica Scarisbrick is in Mexico
and reports on this joy-filled encounter
When he arrived in what
looked more like a golf cart than a pope mobile and made his way over a
makeshift lawn, the Pope was greeted by the indigenous people of
Michoacán in their traditional embroidered costumes, a splash of yellow, red,
blue and a touch of green.
And when a few of the 50.000
of the young people gathered there spoke, they thanked Pope Francis for coming
to Morelia and asked him for a word of hope.
One young man, Alberto,
highlighted how happy they all were that Pope Francis had come as a messenger
of peace and reconciliation. How in Mexico over thirty million young people
wish to live in peace.
And then another young man
touched on a sore point here. That’s to say the high rates of unemployment
which lead many to despair and consequently to avarice, corruption and
the temptation of an easy life at the margins of legality. The victims of the
drug trafficking, of violence of exploitation are on the increase, he said, and
the only thing left for many families is to shed tears for the death of our
loved ones. Impunity, he explained, has been on the side of those who kidnap,
defraud and kill. Holy Father, he begged, we wish to be builders of peace; we
would like our loved ones not to be affected by violence. How can we Catholics
receive the peace of Christ and be His messengers like you?
It was a moment of sharing
and joy and Pope Francis, who upon his arrival in Mexico had said that one of
Mexico’s greatest treasures is that it has a youthful face repeated these
words, smiled and seemed to draw energy from so much youth.
He told the young people they
should still believe in dreams. That the principal threat to hope is to allow
oneself to believe that one is only worth something when one starts wearing
the right clothes, the latest brands and fashions, or when one enjoys
prestige, or are important because one has money; but in the depths of
one heart one does not believe that one is worthy of kindness or
love. The biggest threat, he went on to say, is when a person feels that they
must have money to buy everything, including the love of others, the biggest
threat is to believe that by having a big car you will be happy.
You are the wealth of Mexico,
you are the wealth of the Church Pope Francis added. I understand, he
insisted, that often it is difficult to feel your worth when you are
continually exposed to the loss of friends or relatives at the hands of the
drug trade, of drugs themselves, of criminal organizations that sow terror. But
hand in hand with Jesus we can believe it is a lie to believe that the only way
to live or to be young, is to entrust oneself to drug dealers or others who do
nothing but sow destruction and death.
You have asked me for a word
of hope, he continued, and the one I have to give to you, is Jesus Christ. When
it seems that the world is crashing down around you embrace His Cross, draw
close to Him and please never let go of his hand. And then the Pope and the
young people burst into song and prayer. And after praying the young people
went wild with joy and more song.
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