The Holy Father attends the Symposium at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development
Pope Francis visited the Dicastery for Integral Human Development (DPIHD) on September 20, to participate in the 10th anniversary symposium of the first World Meeting of Popular Movements (EMMP), which had taken place at the Vatican in 2014.
‘Land, housing and work are sacred rights. Let no one take that conviction away from you, let no one rob you of that hope, let no one extinguish your dreams,’ the Pope encouraged the participants of the initiative entitled “Planting a flag in the face of dehumanisation” organized by the World Meeting of Popular Movements (EMMP) and the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development (DSDHI).
The Holy Father arrived at the Dicastery headquarters and warmly greeted the Vatican employees and then those present at the Symposium, some of whom he had seen at the EMMP at the Vatican in 2014 and Bolivia in 2015. The Pope read his planned speech in Spanish and added many anecdotes spontaneously.
‘The cry of the excluded can also awaken the dormant consciences of so many political leaders who are ultimately responsible for enforcing economic, social and cultural rights.... We are Christians, let us pray that God will give us the wisdom and strength to bring about true social justice,’ the Pope encouraged.
The World Meeting of Popular Movements (EMMP) is a space for fraternity between grassroots organizations from five continents and a platform that promotes the culture of encounter in favor of the 3T (in Spanish techo, tierra y trabajo; home, land and work) with the motto: " No family without housing, no peasant without land, no worker without rights, no person without the dignity that comes from work ".
The event was broadcast live by Vatican Media with simultaneous translation into English, French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish and the videos remain available on the YouTube channel of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
The Prefect of the DPIHD, Cardinal Michael Czerny, at the beginning of the Symposium quoted the Gospel of St Matthew, in which Jesus pronounces the Beatitudes and says: “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6); and he also referred to the biblical book of Proverbs: “Be the voice of the voiceless, […] speak up for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, maintain the rights of the poor and needy” (Proverbs 31:8-9).
Speaking of the radicality of the gospel message, Cardinal Czerny asserted: “Justice cannot be an intellectual matter, or even a legal one. It has to be rooted deep within us, as urgent and impossible to ignore as hunger and thirst.” “To raise our voice for the voiceless” he invited to follow the example of Jesus: “[be] humble, not taken up with pride, success, money and fame; in solidarity with those who suffer, able to weep with them and to comfort them; meek, acting without violence or boasting but with a deep thirst for justice”.
The symposium was also attended by some of the founding leaders of the EMMP, including Juan Grabois, who recalled that the Popular Movements’ commitment is not only to relaunch the slogan housing, land, work, but also to strive in order to put the economy at the service of the people, to work for peace among peoples and to care for nature. Nicole Levia urged the Popular Movements to also work together for the recovery of the dignity of oppressed peoples. And Joao Pedro Stedile - in a video message from Brazil - thanked the dialogue that the Pope and the Church established with the Popular Movements in recent years.
Original article (with video)
Pope Francis` Speech
Photo: The pope meeting with Symposium participants. Source: DPIHD.
| Themes |
| • Advocacy • Grassroots initiatives • International • Low income • Religious |
