02/ 7/2015 Pope to experts ahead of Expo 2015: God always forgives, man sometimes, nature never
IACOPO SCARAMUZZI VATICAN CITY
(©ANSA)(©ANSA) THE POPE'S VIDEO MESSAGE TO EXPERTS ATTENDING "THE IDEAS OF EXPO 2015" EVENT
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In a video message, the Pope gave out his recipe for “overcoming the temptations of sophistry”: “renouncing the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation” with courageous policies to guarantee people’s dignity. “This economy kills. Let us be custodians and not masters of the earth"
Firstly, “rejecting the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation and acting first on the structural causes of inequity". Secondly, adopting courageous political economies for “the dignity of the human person and the common good." Thirdly, being custodians of the earth which “demands our respect and non-violence or worse the arrogance the masters” so that we can hand it on to our children “improved”. This is the advice Francis gave in a video message sent on the occasion of the event "The Ideas of Expo 2015 - Towards the Charter of Milan" attended by 500 international political and business representatives. The event, on the theme “Feeding our planet, Energy for Life”, was organised by Italy’s Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies in collaboration with Expo Milano 2015 at Hangar Bicocca in the Italian city of Milan. The Pope, who is working on an ecological encyclical, urged experts to “overcome the temptations of sophistry, of nominalism, of those who try to do something but not concretely” and repeated a saying that is very dear to him: "God always forgives; men sometimes forgive; but nature never forgives.”
“When I visited the FAO, I reminded everyone that besides being concerned about production, availability of and access to food, climate change and agriculture trade” which are crucial motivating factors, “the number one concern must be for the actual person, how many people lack food on a daily basis and have stopped thinking about life, about family and social relationships, just fighting to survive?” Francis said. In his video message he frequently repeated points he had made in his address to the FAO last 24 November as well as his Apostolic Exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium”. “Despite the proliferation of different organizations and the international community on nutrition, the "paradox" of John Paul II still stands.” There is food for everyone, but not everyone can eat” while “at the same time the excessive consumption and waste of food and the use of it for other means is there before our eyes.”
The Pope suggested three approaches to overcoming the temptations of sophistry, “the nominalization of thought which glides over but never touches the reality.” Firstly, “the root of all evils is inequality” which is the "fruit of the law of competitiveness that means strongest survive over the weak" and translates into a “logic of exploitation” and “waste”: "It is necessary, if we really want to solve problems and not get lost in sophistry, to get to the root of all evil which is inequity. To do this there are some priority decisions to be made: renouncing the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation and acting first on the structural causes of inequity". Secondly, the Pope invited Expo experts to be “witnesses of charity”, recalling what he said in the “Evangelii Gaudium”: "Politics, is much maligned but it is a lofty vocation, it is one of the most valuable forms of charity because it seeks the common good. We have to convince ourselves that charity 'is the principle not only of micro-relationships with friends, family, small group but also of macro-relations: social, economic, political relations. A sound economic policy, the place for "a genuine political" debate and "the pillar of those called to administer public life" is "the dignity of the human person and the common good.” “Please be brave,” Francis urged experts “and do not be afraid to interrogate the political and economic projects in search of a broader meaning of life because this helps you to truly serve the common good' and give you the strength to increase and make the goods of this world more accessible for all.”
Finally, the Pope said "we are called not to lose sight of the origin and purpose of the goods of the earth, so as to realize a just world, as the social doctrine of the Church says. The earth is entrusted to us so it may be a mother to us, capable of sustaining each one of us. Once, I heard a beautiful thing: the earth is not a legacy that we have received from our parents rather it is on loan to us from our children, so that we safeguard it, nurture it and carry it forward for them. The earth is generous will never leave those who custody it lacking. The earth, which is the mother for all, demands our respect and non-violence or worse the arrogance the masters. We have to pass it on to our children improved, guarded, because it was a loan that they have given to us.”
