Vatican News
“Young people, you are the beautiful face of an Italy that does not give up, that does not resign itself, that rolls up its sleeves and gets back on its feet.”
That was Pope Leo XIV’s tribute on Saturday to members of the Policoro Project, created in Dec 1995 by Fr Mario Operti, an Italian priest working in youth ministry.
From the outset, the initiative sought to evangelize the world of work, first in southern Italy and later throughout the country.
Born in the Mezzogiorno, or south of the country, an economically disadvantaged area plagued by organized crime, the project has since expanded beyond the workplace alone. The Pope praised its work against corruption, labour exploitation and injustice, and highlighted the transformation of assets confiscated from the mafia into social initiatives and support for young people launching businesses.
Spreading enthusiasm
Today, the Pope said, “we still need your commitment, especially in this season of demographic winter, of depopulation in the country’s most fragile areas, where young people risk becoming discouraged and withdrawing into themselves.”
Pope Leo added that “it is always time to spread your enthusiasm and sensitivity even to the most resistant environments and the most resigned people.”
To carry out its mission, the Policoro Project can rely on a “compass”: the Gospel, which holds “the true power that transforms hearts and the world,” and the Church’s social teaching, the study of which “helps us to love this age” and “provides tools to interpret reality.”
Pope Leo cautioned project members not to be “enchanted by prophets of doom who see everything negatively,” but neither to be naïve enough to think that everything is fine.
To build a society in keeping with God’s loving plan for humanity, he said, it is essential not to lose sight of the centrality of the human person, the common good, solidarity, subsidiarity, the universal destination of goods, participation, integral ecology and peace.
Community first
The third resource the Pope cited was the community, “as an incubator of the future.” While today’s culture promotes isolation, competition and the myth of the lone genius in economics, work, politics and communications, these fields in fact depend on “experts in social relationships”.
“When community life grows, in society as in the Church, we create the conditions for life to flourish,” Pope Leo said. “You will be fruitful whenever you care for community networks. Intelligence, talent, knowledge, social organization and industriousness develop thanks to good relationships.”
Those involved in the project, he added, can also rely on “spiritual fathers and mothers”, saints and witnesses whose social commitment over the centuries civic and charitable renewal. Pope Leo encouraged his listeners to learn about their lives and to share their stories, because there exists “a river of holiness that has made our communities fruitful.” – Vatican News
