Pope meets Italian mayors, municipalities
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| Pope Francis meeting members of the National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI) in the Vatican, Sepi.30, 2017. |
(Vatican Radio) The image of a city that the New
Jerusalem evokes is one of a human society that is based on true solidarity,
whereas where envy, unbridled ambitions and spirit of adversity grow, it
condemns itself to the violence of chaos.
The common good
Pope Francis made the point on Saturday while addressing
some 300 members of the National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI)
in the Vatican. The model of the city or town that the Pope
proposed to them is one that “does not permit a one-way traffic of exasperated
individualism,” that does not tolerate the “blind alleys of corruption”
that breeds disintegration, and where there are no “walls of the
privatization of public spaces, where the "us" is but a rhetoric ploy
that “masks the interest of a few.”
The Pope urged the town and city officials to have “the
passion for the common good” that grants each one and his family the
possibility to realize themselves and open themselves in communion with
others.
Solidarity and human brotherhood
Speaking about areas that lack quality services he said it
is here where new “pockets of poverty and marginalization” breed.
“This,” he said, “is where the city moves on a double lane.”
“On the one hand there is a highway of those who are overly cared
for and on the other there are the “bottlenecks of the poor and
unemployed, the numerous families and immigrants who have no one to count
on.” “We must not accept these plans that divide and make the life of one
be the death of the other,” the Pope said, adding, “the struggle itself ends up
destroying any sense of solidarity and human brotherhood.”
Learn from the poor
The Pope thus urged the city and town administrations to
visit the urban, social and existential peripheries under
them, saying the “point of view of the least is the best school that will make
us understand the true needs” and their solutions.
While making us feel the “pulse of injustice” they will also show
us the way to eliminate it and create a community where each one is recognized
as a person and citizen with rights and duties. The Pope said that
if a mayor is close to his people, things go well always.
Migrants, refugees
Speaking about Italy’s massive problem with migrants and
refugees, the Pope said he can well understand the difficulties of the nation
grappling with an economic crisis, local communities’ unpreparedness and
inadequate measures to deal with the emergencies. He said this difficulty
can be overcome by offering spaces for personal encounter and knowledge
of one another.
He commended initiatives that “promote the culture of
encounter, mutual exchange of artistic and cultural riches, and the knowledge
of the places and communities of origin of the new arrivals.” Pope
Francis expressed satisfaction that many city and town administrations have
adopted the “the good practice of welcome and integration, with encouraging
results” which he said should be spread wide.
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