Pope calls entrepreneurs,
businessmen to embrace simplicity
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| Pope Francis addresses a delegation of young French businessmen and entrepreneurs (Vatican Media) |
Pope Francis reflected on the challenges of bearing
evangelical witness in professional life, as he met with young French
businessmen and entrepreneurs at the Vatican on Monday.
By Christopher Wells
Pope Francis on Monday received a group of young Catholic
business leaders and entrepreneurs from France, who are in Rome to take part in
a conference entitled a “Journey for the Common Good”. The conference aims at
promoting Catholic social teaching in people’s personal and professional lives.
Genuine Christian witness
In his address, the Holy Father welcomed the pilgrims and
expressed his appreciation for their desire to follow the social teaching of
the Church in both their personal and professional lives. He recognized that it
is not always easy to reconcile the demands of the Gospel with the demands of
business and commerce; but, he said, the “evangelical values” that
entrepreneurs and managers hope to implement in their businesses provide an
opportunity for “genuine and irreplaceable Christian witness”.
The Pope said he hoped that the conference for the “Journey
for the Common Good” would help those taking part by “enlightening their
discernment” in order to help them in making conscientious decisions. He
highlighted the teaching of Vatican II, in the Constitution Gaudium et
spes, which encourages lay people to be responsible witnesses within their
own fields, “in the light of Christian wisdom”, and with attentive respect for
the doctrine of the Church.
Pope Francis greets young French entrepreneurs
Ecological conversion
He also highlighted the importance of ecological conversion,
and recommended his own encyclical Laudato sí to nourish their
“prayer and reflection”. Although cultural change takes time, Pope Francis said
that businessmen and entrepreneurs have “an essential role to play” in making
modest, but concrete changes “to educate the world of work to a new style”.
At the same time, he reminded them that ecological
conversion must be connected to spiritual conversion, “which is its
indispensable condition”. To that end, Pope Francis called on those present to
“be committed to simplicity and sobriety”, rather than consumption, in order to
truly appreciate life. “Simplicity allows us to stop and taste the little
things”, he said, “to give thanks for the possibilities that life offers
without attaching ourselves to what we have or saddening ourselves with what we
do not have”.
Bishop Dominique Rey addresses Pope Francis
Journey for the Common Good
The Journey for the Common Good is taking place in Rome over
the course of three days, with meetings and reflections focused on the
“vocation” of Christian business leaders and entrepreneurs in light of the
social doctrine of the Church. The Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin,
and the Ambassador of France to the Holy See, Elizabeth Beton-Delègue, are
among those scheduled to address the participants.
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