Pope Francis calls on youth to find purpose in the world

Jan 06, 2017

VATICAN: Pope Francis called on the faithful to help young people find purpose in the world, noting the paradox of “a culture that idolizes youth” and yet has made no place for the young.

“We have condemned our young people to have no place in society, because we have slowly pushed them to the margins of public life, forcing them to migrate or to beg for jobs that no longer exist or fail to promise them a future,” Francis said.

More than responsibility, the Pope said the world owed young people “a debt” because they have been deprived of “dignified and genuine work” that would allow them to take part in society, instead condemning them “to knock on doors that for the most part remain closed.”

Francis urged followers not to be like the innkeeper who refused a room to Mary and Joseph, but to help youth and provide opportunities.

In his 2017 peace message titled Nonviolence: a Style of Politics for Peace, the Holy Father said, “When victims of violence are able to resist the temptation to retaliate, they become the most credible promoters of nonviolent peacemaking.

“In the local and ordinary situations and in the international order, may nonviolence become the hallmark of our decisions, our relationships and our actions, and indeed of political life in all its forms.”

Pope Francis boldly raises the moral bar and called on all nations to heed the clear nonviolent way of Jesus: “Put your sword back into its sheath, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”

“Today, sadly, we find ourselves engaged in a horrifying world war fought piecemeal. Violence is not the cure for our broken world,” he emphasised. -- Matters India