Pope to students: Each one of you can change the world

By Joseph Tulloch

The Roman branch of A.C.L.I, the Italian Christian worker’s association, organised an event on Tuesday aiming to introduce students to the world of work.

Pope Francis sent a message for the occasion, telling the students that “the world is opening itself before you”.

“It may appear crowded and distracted as you arrive,” the Pope stressed, “but it lacks your contribution. I want to tell each one of you that you bring something new to the world. With you, everything, truly everything, can change.”

Labour and the heart

The Pope then reflected on the heart, the subject of his recent encyclical Dilexit nos, and asked what the concept might mean for workers today.

Normally, Pope Francis said, we associate the heart with love and friendship, "but in reality we also carry the heart with us to work … For the Bible, the heart is the place for decision-making. Guard it!"

“I write this to you,” the Pope continued, “because, as you enter the world of work … you may almost be overwhelmed by what is expected of you.”

“In these circumstances,” Pope Francis urged, “learn to guard your heart, in order to remain at peace and free. Do not bend to demands that humiliate you and cause you discomfort, to ways of proceeding and demands that undermine your genuineness.”

Sticking to one’s principles

In order to make a contribution to the world, the Pope stressed, one does not have to “be OK with everything, even evil.”

“Do not conform to models you do not believe in,” the Pope urged, “to gain social prestige or extra money. Evil alienates us, it extinguishes our dreams; it makes us lonely and resigned.”

And the Pope brought his message to a conclusion with an invitation to the students to “work together and build networks” in order to “rebuild our common home and reweave the network of human fraternity”.

“The human heart knows how to hope,” Pope Francis said. “All work that does not alienate, but rather sets us free, begins in the heart.”