Pope in Rio: culture of selfishness must give way to solidarity
July 26, 2013: Pope Francis on Thursday visited one of Rio de Janeiro's most visible
favela slums, Manguinhos, as he continues his pastoral visit to Brazil for the World
Youth Day gathering. He spoke to thousands gathered on the local soccer field.Tracey
McClure of Vatican Radio reports :
He’s the first Latin American to visit
his continent as pontiff and in his words of greeting to the people of Manguinhos,
Pope Francis straight off told them he had wanted to visit every district in Brazil,
“to knock on every door, to say ‘good morning,’ to ask for a glass of cold water,
to take a cafezinho” and talk with families about their hopes and troubles.
But
because I cannot go and knock on every door, your community, he mused, you will have
to represent all of Brazil, and he thanked them for welcoming him with such love and
generosity. Pope Francis chose the shanty town of Varginhos because it is one of the
country’s poorest and most troubled, with a long history of drug related violence
- cleaned up last year under occupation by police.
This generosity of the Brazilian
people, even the most humble, he said, offers the world a valuable lesson in solidarity
– an “uncomfortable” word all too often “forgotten or silenced.”
Appealing
to those with greater resources, public authorities and those who work in social justice,
he urged them to work for a more just world. “The culture of selfishness and individualism”
should give way to a culture of solidarity he said.
He praised efforts that
Brazil’s society is making to integrate all its members, including the poorest. “The
measure of the greatness of a society, he said, is found in the way it treats those
most in need … those who have nothing apart from their poverty!”
But he warned,
there can be no “real promotion of the common good nor real human development” when
life, and the family, education, health and security are not protected and promoted.
In
what was a likely reference to recent mass protests throughout Brazil, Pope Francis
spoke of the disappointment of many young people when they see “corruption on the
part of people who put their own interests before the common good.”
“Never
yield to discouragement” he challenged them. Do not lose “trust” or “hope” – things
can change he said. And he encouraged them to bring good and defeat evil in their
society. You are not alone! he assured them: the Church, and the Pope, are with you.
“I carry each of you in my heart.”
Below, we publish the full text of Pope
Francis' address to the people of the Community of Varginha which is part of the Manguinhos
Favela in Rio: (full text)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
It is wonderful
to be here with you! From the start, my wish in planning this visit to Brazil was
to be able to visit every district throughout the nation. I would have liked to knock
on every door, to say “good morning”, to ask for a glass of cold water, to take a
cafezinho, to speak as one would to family friends, to listen to each person pouring
out his or her heart – parents, children, grandparents ... But Brazil is so vast!
It is impossible to knock on every door! So I chose to come here, to visit your community,
which today stands for every district in Brazil. How wonderful it is to be welcomed
with such love, generosity, and joy! One need only look at the way you have decorated
the streets of the community; this is a further mark of affection, it comes from your
heart, from the heart of all Brazilians in festive mood. Many thanks to each of you
for this kind welcome! And I thank Archbishop Orani Tempesta as well as Rangler and
Joana for their kind words.
1. From the moment I first set foot on Brazilian
soil, right up to this meeting here with you, I have been made to feel welcome. And
it is important to be able to make people welcome; this is something even more beautiful
than any kind of ornament or decoration. I say this because when we are generous in
welcoming people and sharing something with them – some food, a place in our homes,
our time – not only do we no longer remain poor: we are enriched. I am well aware
that when someone needing food knocks at your door, you always find a way of sharing
food; as the proverb says, one can always “add more water to the beans”! And you do
so with love, demonstrating that true riches consist not in material things, but in
the heart!
And the Brazilian people, particularly the humblest among you, can
offer the world a valuable lesson in solidarity, a word that is too often forgotten
or silenced, because it is uncomfortable. I would like to make an appeal to those
in possession of greater resources, to public authorities and to all people of good
will who are working for social justice: never tire of working for a more just world,
marked by greater solidarity! No one can remain insensitive to the inequalities that
persist in the world! Everybody, according to his or her particular opportunities
and responsibilities, should be able to make a personal contribution to putting an
end to so many social injustices. The culture of selfishness and individualism that
often prevails in our society is not what builds up and leads to a more habitable
world: it is the culture of solidarity that does so, seeing others not as rivals or
statistics, but brothers and sisters.
I would like to encourage the efforts
that Brazilian society is making to integrate all its members, including those who
suffer most and are in greatest need, through the fight against hunger and deprivation.
No amount of “peace-building” will be able to last, nor will harmony and happiness
be attained in a society that ignores, pushes to the margins or excludes a part of
itself. A society of that kind simply impoverishes itself, it loses something essential.
Let us always remember this: only when we are able to share do we become truly rich;
everything that is shared is multiplied! The measure of the greatness of a society
is found in the way it treats those most in need, those who have nothing apart from
their poverty!
2. I would also like to tell you that the Church, the “advocate
of justice and defender of the poor in the face of intolerable social and economic
inequalities which cry to heaven” (Aparecida Document, 395), wishes to offer her support
for every initiative that can signify genuine development for every person and for
the whole person. Dear friends, it is certainly necessary to give bread to the hungry
– this is an act of justice. But there is also a deeper hunger, the hunger for a happiness
that only God can satisfy. There is neither real promotion of the common good nor
real human development when there is ignorance of the fundamental pillars that govern
a nation, its non-material goods: life, which is a gift of God, a value always to
be protected and promoted; the family, the foundation of coexistence and a remedy
against social fragmentation; integral education, which cannot be reduced to the mere
transmission of information for purposes of generating profit; health, which must
seek the integral well-being of the person, including the spiritual dimension, essential
for human balance and healthy coexistence; security, in the conviction that violence
can be overcome only by changing human hearts.
I would like to add one final
point. Here, as in the whole of Brazil, there are many young people. Dear young friends,
you have a particular sensitivity towards injustice, but you are often disappointed
by facts that speak of corruption on the part of people who put their own interests
before the common good. To you and to all, I repeat: never yield to discouragement,
do not lose trust, do not allow your hope to be extinguished. Situations can change,
people can change. Be the first to seek to bring good, do not grow accustomed to evil,
but defeat it. The Church is with you, bringing you the precious good of faith, bringing
Jesus Christ, who “came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10).
Today, to all of you, especially to the residents of this Community of Varginha,
I say: you are not alone, the Church is with you, the Pope is with you. I carry each
of you in my heart and I make my own the intentions that you carry deep within you:
thanksgiving for joys, pleas for help in times of difficulty, a desire for consolation
in times of grief and suffering. I entrust all this to the intercession of Our Lady
of Aparecida, Mother of all the poor of Brazil, and with great affection I impart
my blessing.