Pope exhorts young Italians to make a difference in society

December 17, 2024

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CWN Editor's Note: Speaking on December 17 to a group of young Italians entering the workforce, Pope Francis encouraged them to believe that they could make a difference in society.

“With you—and I would say to every person: with you—the new enters the world. Everything, truly everything, can change,” the Pope said.

The Pontiff urged the young people to reject “a flawed model of development that has hurt so much.” He exhorted them:

Do not bend to demands that humiliate you and cause you discomfort, to ways of proceeding and demands that sully your authenticity. In order to make your contribution, in fact, you do not have to accept everything, even evil. Do not conform to models you do not believe in.

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• Posted by: Randal Mandock - Dec. 17, 2024 2:58 PM ET USA

  "Do not conform to models you do not believe in." Does this include the synodal model that has defined new sins (e.g., refusal of abortion-tainted "vaccines", failure to properly recycle, driving instead of walking to destinations, criticism of "sins below the waist", building physical "walls" instead of "bridges"), new "structures", congregations reworked into dicasteries, compartmentalization of clergy into sacrament-givers rather than parish leaders, relativization of Catholic morality, etc.?

• Posted by: feedback - Dec. 17, 2024 12:55 PM ET USA

  "Do not conform to models you do not believe in." Do all the new cardinals, Fernandez and Radcliffe included, believe that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered and cannot be accepted (blessed) by the Church under any circumstances?