A call to attention for the most disadvantaged nations in his address to the authorities of the Grand Duchy, the first stage of a new journey that will also take him to Belgium. Behind the wars that are bloodying Europe once again is “the inability to look up”. The Gospel of Jesus as a “force of personal and social renewal”. The small countries of the border areas indicate “the need for an era of peace”.
Luxembourg () – “Wealth is a responsibility. We must always be vigilant so as not to neglect the most disadvantaged nations, and indeed to help them to escape their condition of impoverishment,” said Pope Francis today, addressing the authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps in Luxembourg, the first stop on his new apostolic journey which will also take him to Belgium until Sunday, two countries at the very heart of Europe, not just geographically.
A stopover in a small country on the Old Continent, which is also the one with the highest per capita income. A founding member of the European Union and its predecessor communities, it is home to many European institutions, including the Court of Justice of the Union, the Court of Auditors and the Investment Bank. “Let us not forget that war is always a defeat. Peace is necessary. It is very sad that today, in a European country, the investments that bring in the most income are those in arms factories.”
It was precisely from the particularity of the Grand Duchy’s geographical situation – situated on the border of different linguistic and cultural areas of Europe – that Pope Francis drew a more general message for the whole world. “When logics of confrontation and violent opposition prevail – he observed – the places that are on the border between powers in conflict end up being – despite themselves – strongly involved. When, on the contrary, spirits finally rediscover paths of wisdom, and opposition is replaced by cooperation, then those same places become the most suitable to indicate the needs of a new era of peace and the paths to follow.”
And it is not “the size of the territory or the number of inhabitants that are the prerequisites for a State to play a major role on the international scene, or to become an economic and financial nerve centre”. Rather, it is a question of “the patient construction of wise institutions and laws which, by regulating the life of citizens according to criteria of equity and with respect for the rule of law, place the person and the common good at the centre, preventing and counteracting the dangers of discrimination and exclusion. Luxembourg is a country with open doors, a beautiful testimony of non-discrimination and non-exclusion”.
But this testimony needs to be reaffirmed in the context of today’s Europe. “To be authentic and integral,” Francis warns, “development must not plunder and degrade our common home and must not marginalize peoples or social groups: all, all brothers.” He then recalls the resurgence, also on the European continent, of “fractures and enmities which, instead of being resolved on the basis of mutual goodwill, negotiations and diplomatic work, lead to open hostilities, with their aftermath of destruction and death. It seems that the human heart does not always know how to appreciate memory and periodically goes astray and returns to the tragic paths of war. In this we are forgetful.”
He describes it as “a dangerous sclerosis, which seriously ails nations, increases conflicts and risks launching them into adventures with immense human costs, renewing useless massacres.” And it is a disease – explains the Pope – that can be overcome by “raising our gaze upwards; we need the daily life of peoples and their leaders to be animated by high and profound spiritual values.” “As Successor of the Apostle Peter,” he explained, “in the name of the Church, I am also sent here to bear witness that this vital lifeblood, this ever new force of personal and social renewal is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” Only its power “is capable of profoundly transforming the human soul, making it capable of doing good even in the most difficult situations, of extinguishing hatred and reconciling the parties in conflict. May everyone, every man and every woman, in full freedom, know the Gospel of Jesus, who has reconciled God and man in his Person and who, knowing what is in the human heart, can heal its wounds.”
Here, then, is the invitation to Luxembourg to “show everyone the advantages of peace over the horrors of war, of integration and the promotion of migrants over their segregation, the benefits of cooperation between nations over the harmful consequences of hardened positions and the selfish, short-sighted, or even violent pursuit of one’s own interests.” And here, too, is the reminder of concern about the demographic winter: “I have seen the birth rate: please, more children, more children. It is the future.”
Finally, Pope Francis quoted the motto ‘Serve’, chosen for this trip. “It refers directly and eminently to the mission of the Church,” he explained. “But allow me to remind you that serving is also for each of you the high title of nobility, the principal task, the style to be assumed every day. May the good God grant you to always do so with a joyful and generous spirit. And may those who have no faith work for their brothers, work for their country, work for society. This is a path for everyone, always for the common good.”
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