April 5, 2014 : Pope Francis has given a candid interview to young people from a youth
group in Fiandre, Belgium, who interviewed him for a communications project entitled,
“Verse Vis.” on March 31. The 30 minute video, entitled “Habemus Papam”, documents
the journey of the young journalists, who come from various backgrounds and beliefs,
and culminates with their interview with the Holy Father. It was a meeting cheerful
and friendly, in a climate of great simplicity: among young people there is also a
girl who is a non-believer and claims to be inspired by the words of Pope Francis.
First they ask him why he accepted this interview. The Pope replied that for him it
is a valuable service to speak to young people. Then , a question point-blank : "
Are you happy? And why not? " "Absolutely. (smiles) I am most certainly happy. I
have a certain inner quietness, a great peace, a great happiness. That also comes
with age. Of course, problems appear in everyone's path, but my happiness does not
disappear because of those problems. But deep in my heart there is this peace and
happiness. It is a grace from God, for me, really. It is a grace. It is not on my
own merit". They then asked about the Holy Father’s focus on the poor. Pope Francis
said that the poor and those affected by poverty are at the heart of the Gospel. “Two
months ago,” the Pope recalled, “I heard a person saying, when I spoke about the poor:
‘This Pope is a communist.’ And no, this is the banner of the Gospel, not of Communism
but of the Gospel! It is poverty without ideology and that is why I believe the poor
are at the center of the proclamation of Jesus.” The young girl who is a non-believer
then asks the Pope if he has a message for all young people believers and non-believers. "We
are all brothers, believers or not, of one faith or another, Jews or Muslims, we are
all equal. Man is the centre. In this moment in history, man is pushed out of the
centre. He has been pushed to the periphery. In the centre, money and power rule,
at least in this moment. In a world in which money and power are first and foremost
important... young people have been chased out. Young people no longer want children.
Families are becoming smaller, families don't want children. The elderly are pushed
aside. Many elderly die because of a sort of hidden euthanasia, because no one cares
for them and they die. And now the young are chased out. For example, in Italy, youth
unemployment of people under the age of 25 is at almost 50%. We are part of a culture
of disposability. If it contributes nothing to globalization, it is thrown away. The
elderly, children, young people. During my years of service, now as Pope and before
that in Buenos Aires, I spoke with many young politicians. That pleased me, because
regardless of their political preferences, they spoke a new language, introduced a
new music. A new music, a new style of doing politics. That gives me hope". To
a question on the search for God , the Pope replied: Responding to a question about
our search for God, the Pope says: "I ask myself two questions about that. Where is
God? And where is man? And I also ask myself now: where are you, 21st century man?
A question of... And it also reminds me of that other question: God, where are you?
When man finds himself, he seeks God. Perhaps he won't find God, but he sets out on
a path of honesty, seeking out truth, a path of goodness and beauty. It is a long
road. Some people don't find Him during their life. They don't find Him consciously,
but they are so real, so honest about themselves, so good and such lovers of beauty,
that in the end they have a very mature and competent personality and meet God. The
encounter with God is a grace.
When asked a question on what has he learned
from past mistakes, the Pope replied laughing: “I have made mistakes and I [continue
to] make mistakes.” The 77 year old Pontiff regarded mistakes as “the great teachers
of life.” “They are great teachers, they teach you so much. I won’t say that I
have learned from all my mistakes, I haven’t because I am (knocks on desk), I’m hard-headed
and it is not easy to learn. But I have learned from many mistakes and this has done
me well.” The Holy Father spoke candidly during his role as Provincial Superior
of the Jesuits, a time where he said he made “many mistakes with authoritarianism.”
“I was very authoritarian when I was 36 years old. And then I learned that you must
dialogue, you should hear what others think, But it wasn’t learned once and for all.
The path is long and I learned from my attitude that was a bit authoritarian as a
religious superior to find a path to not be so much [...] but I still make mistakes." Another
personal question was then asked: "What makes you afraid?" "Myself. (laughs) Fears?
In the Gospel Jesus continuously repeats: Be not afraid, be not afraid. Why does He
repeat that so often? Because He knows that fear is "normal". We are afraid of life,
of challenges. We also know fears before God. Everyone is afraid. Everyone. So you
don't have to worry. You should ask yourself why you are afraid, before God, before
yourself. You should learn to delineate your fear, because there is good and bad fear.
Good fear is like prudence, a careful attitude. Bad fear is fear that limits you.
It makes you small. It paralyses you, prevents you from doing things. You must lose
that fear. Before concluding their interview, the young journalists asked the Pope
if he had a question for them. Pope Francis replied by saying he would ask them something
from the Gospel: “Where is your treasure?” “What treasure does your heart rest
in?” he asked. “Because where your treasure is, that is where your heart is. The
heart is attached to treasure, a treasure that we all have, It can be power, money,
pride, there are so many. Or is it goodness, beauty, the will to do good? There are
so many treasures we can place our heart in. So where is your heart? That is the question
that I will ask but you have to answer to yourselves alone, in your home.”