He Pope Francisco dedicated his first speech at World Youth Day (WYD), which is held in Lisbon, to reproaching Europe for not offering “creative” solutions or “peace processes” for “end the Ukrainian war” and other conflicts in the world.
“We are navigating in critical, stormy circumstances, and we perceive the lack of courageous paths towards peace. Looking at Europe with sincere affection in the spirit of dialogue that characterizes us, it would be natural for us to ask: Where are you heading if you don’t offer peace processes, creative paths to end the war? in Ukraine and so many conflicts that bloody the world?”, questioned the Pontiff.
This was stated in his speech during a meeting with Portuguese authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps at the Belém Cultural Center, on the first day of his visit to Lisbon.
In this sense, the Pope has assured that dreams of a Europe “that uses its ingenuity to turn off the lights of war and turn on lights of hope”who knows how to “rediscover his youthful soul, dreaming of the greatness of the whole and going beyond immediate needs”, with a Europe “that includes peoples and their people with their own culture, without pursuing ideological theories and colonizations” .
“Purification” of the Church of Portugal
On the other hand, the Pope asked this Wednesday the Church of Portugal “a humble and constant purification” in relation to the scandal of the abuse of minors and that the victims “are always welcomed and listened to”in the speech he delivered before the country’s clergy at the Jerónimos Monastery.
Francis pointed out that the Church “lives in difficult times” and that “countries with an ancient Christian tradition, affected by many social and cultural changes, are increasingly marked by secularism, by indifference to God and by a growing distancing from the practice of faith”. 80% of the Portuguese population claims to be Catholic, but according to the European Values Survey, Portuguese with a frequent religious practice went from 26% in 2008 to 20% in 2020.
For the Pope, this situation “is often accentuated by the disappointment and anger that some feed in relation to the Church” and, in some cases, he clarified: “because of our bad testimony and the scandals that have disfigured his face (of the Church)” This calls for “a humble and constant purification, starting from the cry of pain of the victims, who always they must be welcomed and listened to”, the Pope said before the bishops, men and women religious and seminarians, in a speech in which he did not use the word abuse.
More than 4,800 cases since 1950 are those registered in the report on the abuse of minors by members of the Church that was recently published in Portugal and for which the Church apologized, although victims expect compensation and increased care. For the moment, a meeting of victims with the Pope has been announced, although the day is not known, and more forceful words are expected from the pontiff.
The ocean, plastic dump
In addition, Francisco warned of the deterioration of the environment and considered it a “very serious global problem.” “The oceans are heating up and their depths bring to light the ugliness with which we have contaminated our common home”, said. “We are turning reserves of life into plastic landfills,” lamented the Pontiff in his speech, while he invited “careful care” of the planet to guarantee a healthy future for young people.
The Pope insisted that “the future lies with the young” but acknowledged that there are “many factors that discourage them, such as the lack of work, the hectic pace in which they are immersed, the increase in the cost of living, the difficulty in finding housing and, what is more worrying, the fear of forming families and bringing children into the world”. “In Europe and, more generally, in the West, we are witnessing a downward phase of the demographic curve,” he warned.
For the Pontiff, “good politics can do a lot” in this sense because “it is not called to exercise power, but to give people hope.” “You are called, today more than ever, to correct the economic imbalances of a market that produces wealth but does not distribute it; she is called to rediscover herself as a generator of life and care; to invest with clairvoyance in the future, in families and in children, to promote intergenerational alliances, where the past is not erased with a sponge stroke ”, she asserted.
In any case, Bergoglio highlighted that these days, Lisbon “gives reason for hope” because it has been flooded by an “ocean of young people” to participate in WYD who “are not in the streets shouting with rage, but sharing the hope of Gospel, the hope of life”.
“And if today there is a climate of protest and dissatisfaction in many parts, fertile ground for populism and conspiracy theories, World Youth Day is an opportunity to build together,” the Pope proposed.
For his part, the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, assured that the country receives Francisco “with open arms.” As he specified, the country welcomes the testimony of the Pontiff on the dignity of people, their relationship with nature, on peace, fraternity, the fight against hunger, misery, oppression, abuse, xenophobia and intolerance. . “Portugal is following his testimony with great encouragement,” he stressed.
With information from EuropaPress and EFE
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Source-www.infobae.com