Here is the Pope's address during his visit to the Neighborhood of Varginha in the Manguinhos Favela.
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Dear Brothers and Sisters,
It is wonderful to be here with you! From the
start, my wish in planning this visit to Brazil was to be able to visit every
district throughout the nation. I would have liked to knock on every door, to
say good morning, to ask for a glass of cold water, to take a cafezinho, to
speak as one would to family friends, to listen to each person pouring out his or
her heart parents, children, grandparents ... But Brazil is so vast! It is
impossible to knock on every door! So I chose to come here, to visit your
community, which today stands for every district in Brazil. How wonderful it is
to be welcomed with such love, generosity, and joy! One need only look at the
way you have decorated the streets of the community; this is a further mark of
affection, it comes from your heart, from the heart of all Brazilians in
festive mood. Many thanks to each of you for this kind welcome! And I thank
Archbishop Orani Tempesta as well as Rangler and Joana for their kind words.
1. From the moment I first set foot on
Brazilian soil, right up to this meeting here with you, I have been made to
feel welcome. And it is important to be able to make people welcome; this is
something even more beautiful than any kind of ornament or decoration. I say
this because when we are generous in welcoming people and sharing something
with them some food, a place in our homes, our time not only do we no longer
remain poor: we are enriched. I am well aware that when someone needing food
knocks at your door, you always find a way of sharing food; as the proverb
says, one can always add more water to the beans! And you do so with love,
demonstrating that true riches consist not in material things, but in the
heart!
And the Brazilian people, particularly the humblest among you, can offer the
world a valuable lesson in solidarity, a word that is too often forgotten or
silenced, because it is uncomfortable. I would like to make an appeal to those
in possession of greater resources, to public authorities and to all people of
good will who are working for social justice: never tire of working for a more
just world, marked by greater solidarity! No one can remain insensitive to the
inequalities that persist in the world! Everybody, according to his or her
particular opportunities and responsibilities, should be able to make a
personal contribution to putting an end to so many social injustices. The
culture of selfishness and individualism that often prevails in our society is
not what builds up and leads to a more habitable world: it is the culture of
solidarity that does so, seeing others not as rivals or statistics, but
brothers and sisters.
I would like to encourage the efforts that
Brazilian society is making to integrate all its members, including those who
suffer most and are in greatest need, through the fight against hunger and
deprivation. No amount of peace-building will be able to last, nor will harmony
and happiness be attained in a society that ignores, pushes to the margins or
excludes a part of itself. A society of that kind simply impoverishes itself,
it loses something essential. Let us always remember this: only when we are
able to share do we become truly rich; everything that is shared is multiplied!
The measure of the greatness of a society is found in the way it treats those
most in need, those who have nothing apart from their poverty!
2. I would also like to tell you that the
Church, the advocate of justice and defender of the poor in the face of
intolerable social and economic inequalities which cry to heaven (Aparecida
Document, 395), wishes to offer her support for every initiative that can
signify genuine development for every person and for the whole person. Dear
friends, it is certainly necessary to give bread to the hungry this is an act
of justice. But there is also a deeper hunger, the hunger for a happiness that
only God can satisfy. There is neither real promotion of the common good nor
real human development when there is ignorance of the fundamental pillars that
govern a nation, its non-material goods: life, which is a gift of God, a value
always to be protected and promoted; the family, the foundation of coexistence
and a remedy against social fragmentation; integral education, which cannot be
reduced to the mere transmission of information for purposes of generating
profit; health, which must seek the integral well-being of the person,
including the spiritual dimension, essential for human balance and healthy
coexistence; security, in the conviction that violence can be overcome only by
changing human hearts.
3. I would like to add one final point.
Here, as in the whole of Brazil, there are many young people. Dear young
friends, you have a particular sensitivity towards injustice, but you are often
disappointed by facts that speak of corruption on the part of people who put
their own interests before the common good. To you and to all, I repeat: never
yield to discouragement, do not lose trust, do not allow your hope to be
extinguished. Situations can change, people can change. Be the first to seek to
bring good, do not grow accustomed to evil, but defeat it. The Church is with
you, bringing you the precious good of faith, bringing Jesus Christ, who came
that they may have life and have it abundantly (Jn 10:10).
Today, to all of you, especially to the residents
of this Community of Varginha, I say: you are not alone, the Church is with
you, the Pope is with you. I carry each of you in my heart and I make my own
the intentions that you carry deep within you: thanksgiving for joys, pleas for
help in times of difficulty, a desire for consolation in times of grief and
suffering. I entrust all this to the intercession of Our Lady of Aparecida,
Mother of all the poor of Brazil, and with great affection I impart my
blessing.
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