Pope calls on youth to counter unemployment with Gospel hope
October 27, 2014
At a time when Italy’s youth unemployment rate has risen above 44%, Pope Francis said that the hope of the Gospel of Christ, who has shown solidarity with us in our weakness, transcends the precariousness of economic prospects.
In a message to an Italian Catholic youth conference, which took place in Salerno from October 24-26, Pope Francis said that unemployment “is not just an economic problem, it is a question of dignity.”
The Pontiff linked youth unemployment to a “culture of waste” in which the young, and hence the future of a people, are discarded because of an all-consuming focus on profit.
Catholic youth, he said, have “the gift and the responsibility” to insert the Gospel into this situation by fostering “attentiveness to the other, a culture of encounter, [and] solidarity.”
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Further information:
- Messaggio del Santo Padre ai partecipanti al Convegno Nazionale della CEI (Holy See Press Office)
- Nella precarietà la speranza (CEI)
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