what he wants to be forgiven for. But I ask you, in this silent prayer, let us   
   open our hearts to be able to forgive the society that has not been able to   
   help   
   us and that has often led us to err. From the depths of our hearts, may each   
   one   
   of us ask God to help us believe in his mercy".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Francis to the world of work: "God will hold enslavers to account"   
    Vatican City, 17 February 2016 (VIS) - "I wanted to meet with you here in this   
   land of Juarez, because of the special relationship this city has with the   
   world   
   of labour. I am grateful not only for your words of welcome and for your   
   testimonies, which reveal the anxieties, joys and hopes of your lives, but also   
   for this opportunity to share and reflect together. Anything we can do to   
   foster   
   dialogue, encounter, and the search for better alternatives and opportunities   
   is   
   already an accomplishment to be valued and highlighted. And there are two words   
   that I want to underline: dialogue and encounter. Never tire of pursuing   
   dialogue. Wars gradually come about due to a lack of talking and encounter".   
   The   
   Holy Father addressed these words to representatives of the world of work,   
   businesspeople and workers, whom he encountered at the Colegio de Bachilleres   
   of   
   the State of Chihuahua in Ciudad Juarez at midday yesterday (8 p.m. in Rome).   
    "Obviously more needs to be done than dialogue and encounter, but today we do   
   not have the luxury of missing any chance to encounter, any chance to discuss,   
   confront or explore. This is the only way we will be able to build for   
   tomorrow,   
   to create sustainable relationships capable of providing the needed framework   
   that, little by little, will rebuild the social bonds so damaged by a lack of   
   communication and by a lack of the minimal respect necessary for a healthy   
   coexistence. So I thank you, and I hope that this occasion may serve to build   
   the future. May it be a good opportunity to forge the Mexico that its people   
   and   
   children deserve".   
    "I would like to dwell on this latter point. Here today there are various   
   workers' organisations and representatives of Commerce Chambers and business   
   associations. At first sight they could be considered as adversaries, but they   
   are united by the same responsibility: seeking to create employment   
   opportunities which are dignified and truly beneficial for society and   
   especially for the young of this land. One of the greatest scourges for young   
   people is the lack of opportunities for study and for sustainable and   
   profitable   
   work, which would permit them to work for the future. In many cases - many   
   cases   
   - this lack of opportunity leads to situations of poverty and rejection. This   
   poverty and rejection then becomes the best breeding ground for the young to   
   fall into the cycle of drug trafficking and violence. It is a luxury which   
   today   
   we cannot afford; we cannot allow the present and future of Mexico to be   
   isolated and abandoned. And for this to happen, dialogue, speaking face to   
   face,   
   and work opportunities are needed to help forge a constructive path ahead".   
    "Unfortunately, the times we live in have imposed the paradigm of economic   
   utility as the starting point for personal relationships. The prevailing   
   mentality, everywhere, advocates for the greatest possible profits, immediately   
   and at any cost. This not only causes the ethical dimension of business to be   
   lost, but it also forgets that the best investment we can make is in people, in   
   individual persons and in families. The best investment is creating   
   opportunities. The prevailing mentality puts the flow of people at the service   
   of the flow of capital, resulting in many cases in the exploitation of   
   employees   
   as if they were objects to be used, discarded and thrown out. God will hold us   
   accountable for the slavery of our day, and we must do everything to make sure   
   that these situations do not happen again. The flow of capital cannot decide   
   the   
   flow and life of people. For this reason I liked that aspiration which was   
   expressed through dialogue, talking face to face".   
    Francis observed that, when faced with tenets of the Social Doctrine of the   
   Church, it is frequently objected that "'these teachings would have us be   
   charitable organisations or transform our businesses into philanthropic   
   institutions'. We have heard this criticism. The only aspiration of the   
   Church's   
   Social Doctrine is to guard over the integrity of people and social structures.   
   Every time that, for whatever reason, this integrity is threatened or reduced   
   to   
   a consumer good, the Church's Social Doctrine will be a prophetic voice to   
   protect us all from being lost in the seductive sea of ambition. Every time   
   that   
   a person's integrity is violated, society, in a certain sense, begins to   
   decline. And this Social Doctrine of the Church is against no one, but in   
   favour   
   of all. Every sector has the obligation of looking out for the good of all; we   
   are all in the same boat. We all have to struggle to make sure that work is a   
   humanizing moment which looks to the future; that it is a space for building up   
   society and each person's participation in it. This attitude not only provides   
   an immediate improvement, but in the long run it will also transform society   
   into a culture capable of promoting a dignified space for everyone. This   
   culture, born many times out of tension, is creating a new style of   
   relationships, a new kind of nation".   
    "What kind of world do we want to leave our children?", the Holy Father asked.   
   "I believe that the vast majority of us can agree. This is precisely our   
   horizon, our goal, and we have to come together and work for this. It is always   
   good to think about what I would like to leave my children; it is also a good   
   way to think of others' children. What kind of Mexico do you want to leave your   
   children? Do you want to leave them the memory of exploitation, of insufficient   
   pay, of workplace harassment, of trafficking in slave labour? Or do you want to   
   leave them a culture which recalls dignified labour, proper lodging, and land   
   to   
   be worked? The three 'L's': Labour, Lodging, Land. What type of culture do we   
   want for those who will come after us? What air will they breathe? An air   
   tainted by corruption, violence, insecurity and suspicion, or, on the contrary,   
   an air capable of generating - and the word is crucial - generating   
   alternatives, renewal and change? To generate is to be co-creators with God.   
   This, naturally, involves much effort".   
    "I know that the issues raised are not easy, but it is worse to leave the   
   future in the hands of corruption, brutality and the lack of equity. I know it   
   is often not easy to bring all parties together in negotiations, but it is   
   worse, and we end up doing more harm, when there is a lack of negotiations and   
   appreciation. An old manager of labourers, a very honest man, who left this   
   world having earned every penny due to him and who never took advantage of   
   others, once said to me: 'Each time we had to sit down at the negotiating   
   table,   
   I knew that I had to lose something in order to make us all win something'.   
   This   
   is a good philosophy coming from the world of labour. I know it is not easy to   
   get along in an increasingly competitive world, but it is worse to allow the   
   competitive world to ruin the destiny of the people. Slaves. Profit and capital   
   are not a good over and above the human person; they are at the service of the   
   common good. When the common good is used only at the service of profit and   
   capital, this has a name: it is called exclusion, and through it the throwaway   
   culture gets stronger and stronger. Throwaway and exclusion".   
    Recalling the testimony of one of the young people in the Morelia Stadium, who   
   had remarked that "this world robs us of the capacity to dream", Francis urged   
   "dialogue, speaking face to face, negotiating, and losing out at times so that   
   all can win. I invite you to dream of a Mexico that your children deserve; a   
   Mexico where no one is first, second, or fourth; a Mexico where each sees in   
   the   
   other the dignity of a child of God. May our Lady of Guadalupe, who made   
   herself   
   known to St. Juan Diego, and revealed how the seemingly abandoned were her   
   privileged witnesses, help you all, whatever your profession, whatever your   
   work, to take up this task of dialogue, face to face discussion, and   
   encounter".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Mass in Ciudad Juarez: no more death and exploitation   
    Vatican City, 17 February 2016 (VIS) - "In this Year of Mercy, with you here,   
   I   
   beg for God's mercy; with you I wish to plead for the gift of tears, the gift   
   of   
   conversion", exclaimed the Pope yesterday during the Mass celebrated in the   
   fair   
   ground of Ciudad Juarez, on the frontier between Mexico and the United States.   
   The Holy Father toured the area several times in the popemobile to greet the   
   faithful gathered on both sides of the border.   
    Awareness of violence, injustice and oppression, the need for conversion and   
   mercy, the "human tragedy" of forced migration to which this metropolis bears   
   witness, the scars of the illegal drugs trade and human trafficking, and at the   
   same time the possibility of changing this situation, were the main points of   
   the Holy Father's homily. He began with St. Irenaeus' celebrated assertion that   
   "the glory of God is the life of man", an expression that continues to echo in   
   the heart of the Church.   
    "The glory of the Father is the life of his sons and daughters. There is no   
   greater glory for a father than to see his children blossom, no greater   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)