At the general audience, Francis starts from the figure of Saint Joseph the worker to remember the deaths at work in Italy, illegal workers, children forced to work and the unemployed: work is dignity, whoever governs is committed
VATICAN CITY. The Pope prayed for those who committed suicide for losing their jobs due to the pandemic. Starting from the figure of Saint Joseph the worker, at today’s general audience, Francis recalled the deaths at work in Italy, illegal workers, children forced to work and the unemployed, asking the faithful present in the Paul VI hall for a moment of silence for “those men those women desperate because they can’t find work” and expressing the hope that those who govern will give “everyone the opportunity to earn their bread, because this gives them dignity”.
“In these times of pandemic many people have lost their jobs and some, crushed by an unbearable weight, have come to the point of taking their own lives. Today I would like to remember each of them and their families. Let’s have a moment of silence remembering those men and women who are desperate because they can’t find work, ”said Jorge Mario Bergoglio.
Continuing a cycle of catechesis on the figure of Saint Joseph – last week he focused on his being the “adoptive” father of Jesus and criticized those who prefer dogs and cats to their children, with phrases that have sparked wide debate – the Argentine pontiff is focused today on the fact that he was a carpenter, and taught this trade to Jesus. “This biographical data – he said – makes me think of all the workers in the world, especially those who do strenuous work in mines and in certain factories ; to hidden workers, (to whom) they give smuggling salaries, secretly, without a pension, with nothing and if you don’t work you have no security: you work illegally, and today there is illegal work and a lot … (I think ) to the victims of work, and we have seen here in Italy lately (there are) many of them; to children who are forced to work: this is terrible, a child is in the age of play, (and instead) forced to work as adults; (I think) of those poor people who rummage in landfills to look for something useful to barter … ». After having repeated each of these categories, to make the faithful present understand the concept well, “all of these – he continued – are our brothers and sisters who earn their living in this way, they do not give them dignity, we think about these, and this happens in the world today. But I also think – he said – of those without work: how many people go knocking on doors in factories in companies “is there something to do?”, “No, there isn’t, there isn’t” … the lack of work … to those who feel rightly hurt in their dignity because they cannot find a job. They go home, “did you find something?”, “Nothing, I went to Caritas, I’ll bring you the bread”. What gives you dignity is not bringing bread home, you can get it from Caritas: what gives you dignity is earning bread and if we do not give our men and women the ability to earn bread it is a social injustice in that place, in that country, on that continent. The rulers must give everyone the opportunity to earn bread because this – the Pope said – gives them dignity: work is an anointing of dignity. Many young people, many fathers and many mothers live the tragedy of not having a job that allows them to live peacefully. They live by the day. And many times the search for it becomes so dramatic that it leads them to the point of losing all hope and desire for life. In these times of pandemic many people have lost their jobs, some crushed by an unbearable weight have come to the point of taking their own lives. Today I would like to remember each of them and their families. Let’s have a moment of silence remembering those men and women who are desperate because they can’t find work. Not enough account is taken of the fact that work is an essential component in human life, and also in the path of sanctification. Working not only serves to obtain the right sustenance: it is also a place where we express ourselves, we feel useful, and we learn the great lesson of concreteness, which helps the spiritual life not to become spiritualism. Unfortunately, however – he concluded – work is often hostage to social injustice and, rather than being a means of humanization, it becomes an existential periphery ».
Francis concluded the catechesis with a prayer on the theme addressed to Saint Joseph by Paul VI in 1969: “O Saint Joseph, Patron of the Church, you who, alongside the Incarnate Word, worked every day to earn bread, drawing strength from him to live and to toil; you who have experienced the anxiety of tomorrow, the bitterness of poverty, the precariousness of work: you who radiate today, the example of your figure, humble before men but very great before God, protect the workers in their hard existence daily, defending them from discouragement, from the negative revolt, as well as from the temptations of hedonism; and keep peace in the world, that peace which alone can guarantee the development of peoples ”.
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