Pope: politics must always aspire to unity and harmony

Meeting the "Scholas Occurrentes", Francis connected online with the young people of Valencia, Spain, gathered in the Levante stadium, with the new Scholas offices in Washington and Sydney, and in Argentina with the young people participating in the addiction prevention program in the area of ​​El Impenetrable, province of Chaco.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "Different opinions" are "key in politics" which must always aspire to "unity and harmony," said Pope Francis responding to a young man who asked him how young people can change politics during the meeting - partly in presence and partly in streaming - with Scholas Occurrentes from all over the world.

At Palazzo San Calisto, in Rome, yesterday afternoon Francis met, among others, the First Ladies of ALMA (Alliance of spouses of heads of state and representatives), Fabiola Yañez from Argentina (in the photo with the Pope), Michele Bolsonaro from Brazil, Cecilia More from Chile, Ana García de Hernández from Honduras, Yazmín Colón de Cortizo from Panama and Raquel Arbaje de Abinader from the Dominican Republic. The First Ladies reaffirmed their commitment to continue promoting the work of Scholas' youth around the world.

Founded in Buenos Ares on the initiative of the then Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio, Scholas Occurrentes is an international organization of pontifical right present in 190 countries that offers over a million children and young people a culture of encounter.

Italian teacher, Stefania Macaluso, highlighted the "formative experience" the organisation offered, thanks to which, in a difficult moment, it was possible to "activate the vital energies in the students" and "rethink, we teachers, as peacemakers with ingenuity and audacity ”.

In streaming, the Pope connected with the young people of Valencia, Spain, gathered in the Levante stadium, with the new Scholas headquarters in Washington and Sydney, and in Argentina with the young people participating in the addiction prevention program that Scholas carries out in the area of ​​El Impenetrable, province of Chaco, with a team of educators who have moved to the place on a permanent basis to be close to young people and implement activities to support them.

And speaking of politics, Francis said: "The test on politics is war, the test on the honourability of a nation for me is: do you produce weapons? Do you favour wars? Do you make your wealth because you sell weapons so that others kill themselves? And there we will know if a nation is morally sound”. “Me too - he added - I say it sincerely; it hurts my heart when I see priests blessing weapons. The instruments of death are not to be blessed”.

"Love is political, that is, social for everyone. And when this universality of love is lacking, politics falls, gets sick or becomes bad. When they talk to me about how politics is in the world, I say: look where there are wars, there is the defeat of politics ", he says, inviting dialogue because" different opinions "are" the key in politics "that it must always aspire to "unity and harmony".

"Parliaments are key, because things work there but always bearing in mind that unity is superior to conflict. Politics is not an arrival, no! It is a journey, a process ... Mistrust in politics comes because it is confused with a business: 'I need this, what it gives me, what it does not give me'. Politics is walking, even if the politician gets burned along the way, the important thing is to arrive ".

At the end of the meeting, Scholas educators from all over the world thanked Pope Francis for his testimony and trust, giving him the book "Qué te pa", (What happened to you?) Which fully expresses the result of the experiences lived by the young participants from the five continents. The various connections and moments also saw the participation of, among other civil and ecclesiastical authorities, the ambassadors to the Holy See of Argentina, Maria Fernanda Silva; Australia, Chiara Poro and Spain, Carmen de la Peña. The meeting was accompanied in person by Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, the primate archbishop of Mexico and by Cardinal Juan José Omella, archbishop of Barcelona and president of the Spanish Bishops' Conference, Monsignor Lucio Ruiz, secretary of the Dicastery for Communication, Monsignor Marcelo Sanchez Orondo chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the Italian ministers of public education Patrizio Bianchi and of health Roberto Speranza.