2009-01-12 15:04:51

Pope urges Rome and regional administrations to do more for needy, especially youth


(January 12, 2009) Pope Benedict XVI on Monday urged officials of the administrations of Rome city and province as well as of Italy’s Lazio region to combine efforts with Church institutions at this moment of global economic crisis, to bring adequate help to the needy, especially the young people. “I am thinking of families, especially those with small children who have the right to a serene future, and old people, many of whom live in solitude and difficult conditions,” he told the officials in a traditional New Year meeting in the Vatican. The Pope said he was also thinking about the housing and job crisis, particularly unemployed youth, an uneasy coexistence among diverse ethnic groups and the great question of immigration and of nomads. Pope Benedict focussed particularly on the problem of youth, saying whenever he hears news of youth violence or road accidents in which many youth die, he thinks of the emergency of education which calls for broader cooperation. Pope Benedict spoke of the weakening of natural and Christian values among the young, and instead the emergence of transitory desires, which ultimately lead to boredom and failure. The harmful result of all these, he said, is the tendency to trivialize the value of life in order to seek refuge in transgression, drugs and alcohol, which for some have become a weekend habit. Love risks being reduced to becoming a mere object that can be bought and sold, or rather man himself has become a commodity, the Pope warned. Faced with growing nihilism that is sweeping the world of youth, Pope Benedict said, the Church invites all to dedicate themselves seriously to youth, so that they are not left to themselves, exposed to the so-called “bad teachers”, but rather are helped to commit themselves in serious initiatives that will lead them to understand the value of life in a family based on marriage.







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