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Pope Francis’ Address to the delegation of “the Economy of Francis of Assisi”
Room adjacent to Paul VI Audience Hall
Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Dear friends,
I am happy to know that you, together with the Bishop of Assisi and the other promoters I have appointed, have given life to “The Economy of Francis Foundation”.
Your ideals have given birth to an institution.
It is important because it will serve to sustain these ideals; and you will not only be its beneficiaries, but also its protagonists, taking on the tasks assigned to you with enthusiasm and a sense of availability.
In these five years you have accomplished so much. Thank you for having taken seriously my invitation to “revitalize” the economy, and for accepting the guidelines I have given you at your annual meetings. They are part of the social doctrine of the Church and ultimately have their roots in the Gospel.
You may have met many teachers in the course of your studies or professional experience, or you may have engaged in sincere dialogue with all of them, but turning to the Gospel guarantees you an exceptional Master, Jesus, the only one who could say: “I am the way, and the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6).
Now a new phase is beginning for you. This beautiful reality of yours must grow, become stronger, reach more and more young people, and bear the fruits typical of the Gospel and goodness. Thank you for all that you have done and continue to do, which has exceeded all expectations. I wanted to focus on you, because young people have their whole lives ahead of them, they are a living “road” and from such a road good things can come, while at the same time being careful to avoid the bad things.
The world of economics needs to change. You will not change it simply by becoming ministers, Nobel Prize winners or great economists, which are all good things. Rather you will change it above all by loving it, in the light of God, by injecting into it the values and the strength of the good, with the evangelical spirit of Francis of Assisi: he was the son of a merchant, he knew the merits and the defects of that world! Love the economy, concretely love the workers, the poor, prioritizing the situations of greatest suffering.
That is why I wanted to base the whole “Economy of Francis” movement on Saint Francis of Assisi who, by simply stripping himself of everything for the love of Jesus and the poor, also gave a new impetus to the development of the economy.
Today I would like to leave you with three words: be witnesses, do not be afraid, hope without tiring. Be witnesses, do not be afraid, hope without tiring.
First of all, be witnesses.
If you want other young people to approach the economy with your ideals, those that we agreed to in the Assisi Covenant of 24 September 2022, it will be your witness of life that will attract them. Be consistent in your choices – consistency is not fashionable today!
Seek to be appreciated for your projects and achievements, not for being numerous and powerful. Instead, pass on to many what you have received, namely the “good news” that, inspired by the Gospel, even the economy can change for the better.
Secondly: do not be afraid.
I repeat what I said to the young people at World Youth Day in Lisbon: “do not be administrators of fears, but entrepreneurs of dreams”. Follow your dreams.
There is so much to do, we must dare to use new words: Christians have always done this, they have never been afraid of new things.
They know that God is the master of history.
It pains me to see those Christians who hide in the sacristies because they are afraid of the world. They are not Christians, they are “defeated pensioners”.
Christians know that God is the Lord of history and they go forward.
Thirdly: hope without fatigue.
I know it is not easy to propose a new economy against the background of wars, old and new, while the arms industry prospers by taking resources from the poor. Did you know that in some countries the most profitable investments are in arms production? They profit by killing.
In these cases, democracy is threatened, populism and inequalities grow, and the planet is increasingly wounded. It is not easy, in fact, it is very difficult. You may sometimes feel that you are “tilting at windmills”. So let us remember what Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not be afraid”.
He will help you, and the Church will not leave you alone.
The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development – Sr. Alessandra Smerilli is here – will continue to be at your side, opening, as far as possible, the doors of collaboration with the particular Churches scattered throughout the world.
This will help you to establish contacts and synergies with many realities and networks of people who share your same ideals.
The Dicastery will also accompany the activities of the Foundation, whose constitutional documents I am receiving today, and it will be the reality with which you will be able to give life and substance to the dream of transforming the economy of today and giving a soul to the economy of tomorrow. May a new way of living together and of doing business be born in your midst that does not produce waste but material and spiritual well-being.
Have courage, dear friends, have courage! If you are faithful to your vocation, your life will flourish, you will have wonderful stories to tell your children and grandchildren. I see that there are some children here, which is very nice in a culture where people often prefer to have puppies or cats and not children. We need to shake Italy up a bit! It is worth it, believe me; it is worth spending your life to change the world for the better. Go forward! I am with you, I accompany you and I bless you. And I ask you to please pray for me as well.
