«He is a young man like you who has witnessed the joy of the Gospel with his life. I invite you to get to know him and imitate his coherence and his courage, his joy.” Pope Francis entrusts the young people «to Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. As a child I had heard about him, because my father was a member of Catholic Action”, he comments. Meeting the members of the National Youth Council, twenty years after the organization’s birth, he urged them to “continue to engage with confidence, before the youth goes away”. He talks about the theme of the Jubilee, of the «hope that does not disappoint» and reveals that he was «pleased to read from your “Fourth Confidence Index Survey” that hope is the internal attitude in which young Italians today recognize themselves more. We often meet people who are disheartened because they look to the future with skepticism and pessimism. Those long-faced people, like that… pessimism. It is therefore important to know that young Italians know how to be artisans of hope because they are capable of dreaming. Please don’t lose the ability to dream: when a young person loses this ability, I don’t say he becomes old, no, because old people dream. Become a “pensioner of life”. It’s very bad. Please, young people, do not be “pensioners of life”, and do not let yourselves be robbed of hope! Never! Hope never disappoints!
Furthermore, the Pontiff recalls, «in dialogue with the institutions, you are the consultative body called to represent the world of youth at a local, national and European level. And for this purpose you must promote the active participation of young people, creating a “network” between the many associations inspired by values such as solidarity and inclusion. Making “network”, but also making “noise”. It’s very important. In this task – of “networking” and making “noise” – I invite you to be the voice of everyone, especially those who have no voice. And today there are many people who have no voice, many excluded, not only socially, due to the problems of poverty, lack of education, drug dictatorship… but also those who do not know how to dream. Networking to dream, and not losing this ability. Dream”.
Young people are called to face many challenges: «The dignity of work, family, education, civic commitment, care for creation and new technologies. The increase in acts of violence and self-harm, up to the most extreme act of taking one’s own life, are signs of a worrying and complex discomfort. You know that, throughout the world, youth suicides are not all published, they are hidden. It is a change of era, a metamorphosis not only cultural but also anthropological. This is why an educational path that involves everyone is essential. I can say that we need an “education village” where, in diversity, we share the commitment to generating a network of human and open relationships. We need a pact, an alliance, between those who wish to put the person at the center and, at the same time, are willing to invest new energy in the training of those who will be at the service of the community.”
And again young people are «called to be witnesses of the beauty and newness of life. There is a beauty that goes beyond appearance: it is that of every man and every woman who lives their personal vocation with love, in selfless service to the community, in generous work for the happiness of the family, in free commitment to grow social friendship. Discovering, showing and highlighting this beauty means laying the foundations of social solidarity and the culture of encounter. Your selfless service for truth and freedom, for justice and peace, for family and politics is the best and most necessary contribution you can offer to the institutions for the construction of a new society. And this is not done with ideas, it is done with human capabilities, all our capabilities, without forgetting the “extremes” of life.”
Before greeting them, the Pope asks two questions: he asks those who already have children if they know how to play with children, «And then, another question: are you capable of caressing an elderly person? Playing with children and petting old people. And today, in our culture, children are left to grow up alone, without tenderness, and the old are sent to retirement homes, to die there… We have to change: play with children and caress the old. And this will ensure that your youth is fruitful. Don’t forget this: children and old people.” Always remembering that “God loves you” and that in the face of challenges and difficulties we must not fear going through conflicts. «Conflicts make us grow. But don’t forget that conflict is like a labyrinth: you can’t get out of the labyrinth alone, you get out in the company of someone else who helps you. First. And you exit the labyrinth from above. Let others help you. And always look up so that life is not a labyrinthine tour that kills youth. To grow old in a labyrinth is to grow old in superficial values. It is sad to see a young man or woman living their life in superficiality. It’s very sad… In your life – even to overcome conflicts – you need the patience to transform them into the ability to listen, to recognize others, to grow mutually. Trying to overcome conflicts is the sign that we have aimed higher, higher than our particular interests, to get out of the quicksand of social enmity. Go forward in your service: seek, safeguard and bring the voice and hope of young Italians to institutional settings to participate together in the common good.”
