DIVERSITY‌.
"Diversity is not only good, it is necessary," said the Pope, therefore, it is important to talk but not in a "dramatic dialogue" way. That is, " let's represent the dialogue, let's play the dialogue, and then let's talk between us," and the rest is then deleted. That is what is happening in the country. Therefore, it is important not to lose memory and remember where we started. How to strengthen our principles? How to dialogue? It must be heard in diversity, analyze and improve, and avoid confrontation. How to invoke a real dialogue and not just assume that I am right, and others are wrong? That would mean "everything for the people but nothing with the people" as the Holy Father also stated. It is important to respect the poor, not to use them. It is important to take them forward and make them rich, not through handouts but a decent work, even more that this is a country of entrepreneurs and opportunities. We must rule out conflicts that lead us to nothing, it is worse if you look at that conflict to defend ideologies that then end up in dictatorships. The Pope's visit not only to Ecuador but also to Bolivia and Paraguay has made us reflect. Therefore, in this edition we want to deliver the main homilies and speeches for his passage through this country has not been in vain. Let's give generously that space of reflection a purpose of fighting for freedom, for unity and not allow the division of the country
THE CROSSROADS OF GREECE Mauricio Pozo Crespo Economic Analyst
The economic situation in Greece unfortunately, will have to suffer the costs due to a poorly managed economy. If it stays in the Eurozone, it should be adjusted, and if it leaves it mismatches will also show impacts. Economic policy defined as the art of managing scarcity, as decisions always have sectors that feel affected although the vast majority will benefit from it. If the resources at any given time are scarce, the costs of administering them are also higher. A renunciation of Greece to continue in the euro zone must answer the following question: what is the exchange rate of output? Introducing a new Greek currency will mean that the same collects imbalances, especially of public finances, which means that if the opening price is one to one, in a few days the exchange rate will move to strike a balance between supply and demand. To what level the exchange rate will soar? It will be difficult to anticipate to the extent that individuals and companies no longer require more Euros. If the government provides proper signals, as probably the price will fall to a level that "only" double or triple the ratio of one to one. If you decide to follow the tax "spree" and expectations are not favorable, the exchange rate will rise as foam until the liquid issued in the new currency runs or when the exchange rate is too high to buy Euros. Either way, a rapid currency depreciation will lead to a spike in interest rates and a trigger inflation too difficult to predict percentages, but it may well exceed three digits. It is important to note that Greece is approximate twice the size of the Ecuadorian economy, both measured with the indicator of GDP in US dollars, i.e. USD 100 billion Ecuador vs. USD 240 billion Greece. However, the GDP per person in Greece is three times the per capita income in Ecuador. The biggest contrast is nevertheless observed in debt per capita while in Ecuador is about USD 2,000, in Greece is USD 38,000 per capita. These figures are supported in the debt/GDP relation, the same that in Ecuador according to the ECB is 32% while the ratio reaches 177% in Greece. The overall figures of public expenditure to GDP in Greece show a higher percentage than Ecuador although not as much distance, 49% versus 44%. On the side of the foreign trade, Ecuador reflects a deficit equivalent to 1.4% of GDP approximately, while Greece records an imbalance of 11.5% of GDP. Public expenditure / GDP: Greece vs Ecuador / Years 2013 - 2014 (Percentages of GDP)
Source: ECB and macro data. Development: Multilink.
Public debt/GDP: Greece vs Ecuador Years 2013 - 2014 (Percentages of GDP)
Source: ECB and macro data. Development: Multilink.
Public debt per capita: Greece vs Ecuador Years 2013 - 2014 (in USD)
Source: ECB and macro data. Development: Multilink
The other extreme is that the Greeks decide to stay in the Eurozone, a policy that will require a strong fiscal adjustment by all the excesses seen in the above figures. They will also have to terminate: early retirement, the vast bureaucracy, notably higher wages in the public sector, the inheritance of public office, open subsidies, etc. In other words, they should be adjusted until they reach the real possibilities of income of the Greek economy and drop to outfit the actual productivity of Greece. The rectification of form and substance in the economic management, especially in the fiscal area, in the short term will involve a profound impact in terms of growth and employment. The economy is likely to enter a recession and jobs undoubtedly will fall.
Given that to remain in the Eurozone or out of it implies an active economic adjustment with consequences in the social and political spheres, it focuses on the question on which of the two "alternative" is less costly for the society. Any economy requires that the administration will take it with responsibility and wisdom, seeking to ward off political and electoral interests of economic decisions. It means that the Greek authorities are in the need to rectify the mistakes of the past and seek a better future for their country. It means that being both expensive "options", it is estimated that the impact is much stronger if the country leaves the Eurozone. The best decision would aim at designing a reliable and credible economic program that let Greece stay in the Eurozone and that the country meets its internal and external obligations. It will allow them to remain eligible for credit in international markets in a situation that requires vast amounts of liquidity. A Greek exit from the area could seriously affect international markets and not by the size of the Greek economy, but for the consequences of credibility in the region and their possible impact on the exchange rate of the Euro, capital flows inside the area and the effects on external accounts as well as in the stock indices. The current relationship between countries, companies, and markets, typical of globalization makes the situation very difficult to isolate a country from the rest of the world, especially when a nation comes from a single currency zone.
RESERVES AND DOLLARIZATION IN ECUADOR Dr. Manuel Hinds Former Finance Minister of El Salvador
Some people in Ecuador are worried because the government has forced banks to transfer to Ecuador their reserves deposited in developed countries, to invest them in debt issued by the government. Some people thought that this would have reduced the international reserves to too low levels to keep dollarization in the country. To discuss this point is essential to remember the difference between the role of reserves in a dollarized and non-dollarized economy. In a non-dollarized economy there are two coins, one used internationally (the dollar in the case of Ecuador) and one used domestically (the sucre when Ecuador was not dollarized). To imagine how does a non-dollarized economy operates, think of a casino in which to play they require you to change your dollars for some chips, promising you, of course, that when you want to go you can change back the chips and they will return to you your dollars, or the money you have when leaving the casino. The casino cashier has to save dollars when this happens. This is the role of reserves in the central bank in non-dollarized countries. They serve to meet the demands of dollars for local currency. In a casino, if you get to buy dollars with their chips and the cashier does not have enough dollars to change them, you can call the police and accuse the casino of swindling. However, if this happens in a central bank, it only devalues the currency until reaching dollars. For example, if the exchange rate is one to one, and you have ten thousand tokens you should receive ten thousand dollars. However, if the central bank only has five thousand dollars, it devalues the tokens two by one and gives you five thousand dollars. The role of the reserves then, is to keep the value of the chips, which in the case of countries, is the value of the local currency. In a dollarized economy, by contrast, there is only one currency (instead of two) whose value does not depend on any reserves held in the country. In the case of a casino, it is as if you enter one in which the machines receive dollars directly. You do not change anything at the entrance or exit. The value of the local currency, the dollar, is not defined by the government nor by the Central Bank of Ecuador. It is defined in terms of the euro, pound or the yen on international markets. This value does not change if Ecuador has or does not have reserves. Prices in dollars and dollar contracts still worth the same, here and in China, although Ecuador has no reserves. Reserves do not serve to keep the price of the domestic currency, which is the dollar. Therefore, why are the reserves needed in a dollarized economy? They have the same name, reserves, but they play an entirely different role and are owned by different people. In a dollarized economy, as in any economy, banks need reserves because they do not keep cash in boxes that the public deposit, but they give them as loans to generate income, allowing to pay interest on deposits, pay their expenses and make a profit. But they can not provide all the money because everyday some people withdraw their money. Not all the people removed it all every day, though. Most of them leave it in banks. They need to keep only a fraction of the deposits in reserve, that is to say 20 percent. These reserves are held in local currency, either pesos or dollars, as applicable. In a dollarized economy, they are in dollars. But reserves are not kept in boxes (except small amounts in the branches); they are deposited in financial instruments that pay interest and that are readily converted into cash. It is essential because depositors do not wait. Banks can not delay their payments. If someone wants their money now, and the cash that the bank has is not enough, the bank has to be able to convert their cash reserves for example, if they have US Treasury yields, they sell them and recover their cash to cover the withdrawal. As these instruments are in high demand in international markets, it is said to be liquid because they can be sold for cash in an
instant. These reserves, therefore, are not to defend the value of the currency used in Ecuador, but for banks to meet deposit withdrawals. Who are then the owners of these reserves? The owners are not the government or the central bank but depositors. It is their money, as it is also most of the money that banks lend (the rest is the capital of its shareholders). What is then the effect that the government in Ecuador has forced depositors (through their banks) to have part of their deposits that are reserves invested not in US Treasury notes but in the government of Ecuador notes? In doing so, two risks were added, one of solvency and another of liquidity. The solvency risk means that Ecuador can not pay its obligations, or at least in the same currency (dollars) in which they were incurred. To pay in new pesos a debt contracted in dollars means missing obligations; it is worse if the new currency is devalued against the dollar. Liquidity risk means that banks can not quickly sell their holdings of Government of Ecuador notes at the same price at which they bought them, to meet withdrawals of deposits from banks. To perform these sales, of course, it is more difficult if banks have Ecuadorian notes and not United States or Germany notes. In the case that people make more withdrawals than the cash that banks have in their safes, and banks can not quickly sell their notes of the Government of Ecuador, the government would have to borrow dollars abroad (from the IMF, for example), not to save its currency but to save their banks. This is what Greece had to do. But this is what the central banks have to do also to countries with local currencies because financial crises in these countries have always been exchanging ones. People take money from banks to buy dollars on the official market, declining dollar reserves of the Central Bank (that is the output of the casino), or on the black market, avoiding those dollars enter to the Central Bank. That's why, even creating a local currency, the non-dollarized countries with crises go to Washington to get IMF loans to resolve them. That is also why a banking crisis is not resolved by de-dollarization. Conversely, if the country dedollarizes, people try to get more money from the banks to buy dollars, therefore the new pesos are devalued because the people want to buy more dollars; it is a vicious circle. When this happens, the solution is to keep the dollar, not to leave it. It happened in Ecuador, where the deposits were falling like a stone until it dollarized. The banks in Ecuador does not appear to be of poor credit situation. As in Greece however, a panic can cause a problem because no bank has sufficient reserves to cover an output of all their deposits. Greece learned that to threaten people with the elimination of the euro caused panic without reason, forcing the government to seek larger loans to save the banking system; it would not need salvation if the government had not threatened to de-euroization. May all dollarized countries learn that lesson. Greece did not fall into the abyss. Other countries could fall.
The gringos ... no comments!
Why some hate the United States of America (USA)? * They won the war against the Nazis and they “were not left" with any European country. How is Europe today? * They won the war against the Japanese and they “were not left” with Japan. How is Japan today? th
* They recovered part of Korea from parallel 38 and "they were not left” with Korea. (Just compare the development, economy, jobs and social welfare of South Korea today with North Korea to assess who came off better). And so? Sometimes it becomes annoying that the "hobby" of all mankind is to speak negatively about the United States. Not only the Communist Chavistas of Latin America but worldwide. In recent years in Venezuela, it is considered socially negative to say something good about the United States. The height is that even the Latin people in the United States that have half a lifetime, have anything good to say about the USA, but they are still there, glued as ticks and do not return to their countries of origin. Here are three examples of exemplary responses to those comments. 1) When in England, during a conference, the Archbishop of Canterbury asked Colin Powell if the US plans for Iraq were nothing but more building of the "empire" by George Bush, he replied as follows: - "With the passing of the years, the United States has sent many of its best young men and women into danger, to fight for the cause of freedom beyond our borders. The only land we have asked in return were hardly those necessary to bury those who did not return." There was a great silence on campus. 2) During a conference in France, which involved a large number of engineers of different nationalities (including French and American) in the recess one of the French engineers said calmly: "Have you heard the latest stupidity of George Bush?... He sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intend to do, bomb them? " A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: - "Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people. They are nuclear, so they can provide emergency power to the ground, they have three dining rooms to prepare meals for 3,000 people three times a day, they can produce daily several thousand gallons
of drinking water from sea water, and have half a dozen helicopters to transport victims to and from the ship. We have eleven equal boats. How many ships as so commanded France? " Again, silence. 3) An Admiral of the United States Navy was attending a naval conference that included Admirals of the American, Canadian, British, Australian and French Navies. During a cocktail, he met a group of officers that included representatives of all these countries. Everyone talked in English while taking their drinks but suddenly a French admiral said that while Europeans learn many languages, Americans speak just English. Then he asked: "Why do we have to speak English in these conferences? Why not speak French? " - the US Admiral, without hesitation, replied: "Maybe it's because the British, Canadians, Australians and Americans managed so you will not have to speak German for the rest of your lives." You could have heard a pin drop! Do you know where the secret of Americans is? Quite naturally, more than 150 years they learned that in Latin America seems we have not even seem to want to hear. Only ten very simple premises: THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1. You can not bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. 2. You can not strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. 3. You can not help little men by tearing down big men. 4. You can not help the poor by destroying the rich. 5. You can not lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. 6.- You can not keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. 7. You can not further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. 8. You can not establish sound security on borrowed money. 9. You can not build character and courage by destroying men's initiative and independence. 10. You can not help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves. We could add to this another lesson of Abraham Lincoln: "A politician can fool some of the people all the time, and he can fool all of the people some of the time but he cannot fool all the people all of the time. But what we can not achieve is fool everyone all the time. "
ECONOMY, SLOWDOWN CYCLE Jaime Carrera, Ec. Director of the Fiscal Politics Observatory After fourteen years of an average growth of about 4 percent, fed in the last eight years by the doubling of government spending sustained by vast oil resources and aggressive debt, the economy has entered a complicated process of a difficult to reverse deceleration, even if corrections that look imperative, are affected. Declining economy As shown in Table 1, when comparing annual quarters, the economy is slowing from the third quarter of 2013. In the first trimester of 2015, the economy decreases 0.5% compared to the fourth quarter of 2014. The government spending exhausted as an engine of the economy. The reduction of oil prices to half of those observed in 2014 led to implement taxes or safeguards to imports with negative impacts on the economic activity and job creation. Oil and non-oil exports decrease, foreign investment is almost nonexistent, deposits in the financial system are reduced, as well as the credit to the private sector (Table 2 and 3). The economic climate and investment environment has deteriorated by a series of negative investment and wealth creation, as draft laws to tax capital gains and inheritances. Country risk is the second highest in the region and the rating of the foreign debt in exchange is under noninvestment grade. Limitations to hold high public spending, fiscal slippage to persist in financing the large deficit at high costs, and the need to manage the few dollars to the constraints to fund the deficit in the current account of the balance of payments, will be reflected in the stagnation of the economy and its derivatives in rising unemployment, business closures and loss of purchasing power of the population. Moreover, if economic stagnation is combined with rising inflation in a dollarized economy. Liquidity, scarce dollars The dollars that feed the Ecuadorian economy are dwindling. The foreign direct investment in 2014 was just $ 774 million, 0.7% of GDP and in the first quarter of 2015 only $ 170 million. There are no prospects and a suitable environment for foreign investment flows. Oil exports in the first five months of 2015 decreased 47%, and oil production declined. Several factors foresee that little oil prices are here to stay a long time. Between January-May 2015 non-oil exports declined 2.3%. Increasing and diversifying exports is a long-term task on which little progress is made. Remittances of immigrants are reduced in recent years. The public debt has grown explosively and threatening macroeconomic stability. The negative effect of these factors is reflected in the stagnation and downward trend of the overall liquidity in the economy (Table 3), with consequences in reducing deposits and credit to the private sector. It is foreseeable that in the future, liquidity constraints reflect in the stagnation of the economy and public policy actions to manage existing dollars. Fiscal and external deficits Since 2013, the deficit of the public sector is around 5% of GDP and the public spending at 44% of GDP. Public spending is unsustainable. The persistence to keep it as the economy engine has led to an aggressive increase in government debt with expensive costs, reflected in the steady rise in the debt service. The stock of debt, government spending, and interest payments have risen well above the growth of the economy. Funding needs, deficit plus amortization of the debt, exceed $ 13,000 million (Table 1) that is a disproportionate amount to the national economy.
The reduction in oil exports, besides reducing tax revenue significantly weakening public accounts, notably deteriorates the oil trade balance, the overall trade balance and, consequently, the balance of the current account of the balance of payments. This balance in the first quarter of 2015 was $902 million, the highest since 2007 (Table 4). The current account deficit covered by the constant increase in public debt, which is an unhealthy equation that turns fragile the sustainability of external accounts. The severe restrictions on financing the federal budget and the current account of the balance of payments, will require the adoption of stricter policies to prevent the outflow of dollars from the country and to manage more rigorously the scarce dollars by extending the intervention of the State. Power, ideology, and populism However, that economic imbalances are evident, social consequences are felt in the population and corrections require a radical change in the economic model and political vision, in the adoption of corrective shown unfeasible to contamination of state management by the ideological dogmatism, in the populism inherent to the model and the intrinsic appetite of perpetuation in power, typical of this kind of models. In the above context, it is possible that Ecuador faces a long period of accumulation of distortions that permanently weaken the economy, increasing exponentially future costs to achieve macroeconomic and fiscal stability. This last being sustained forward confidence to attract plenty investments that make the economy grow at high rates. The social cost of economic imbalances will be ensured with the deepening of the division of society between rich and poor, employers and employees and the message of demonizing wealth creation in the name of equity and redistribution. As the ultimate goal is the perpetuation of power under the ideology and populism, economic health takes second place to the benefit of sharpen the internal contradictions, ungovernability, authoritarianism and repression of individual freedoms of all kinds. Table 1
Quaterly GDP growth. Rate Variation 5,6
t/t-4
t/t-1
5,2 4,3
3,8
3,7
1,6
1,4
3,5
3
0,5 -0,5 2013.III
2013.IV
2014.I
2014.II
2014.III
2014.IV
2015.I
Table 2
PRIVATE SECTOR CREDIT. FINANCIAL OVERVIEW. $ Million. 2014
27.594
27.800
28.202
2015
28.267
25.201
25.105
24.998
25.215
Dic
Ene
Feb
Mar
28.363
28.191
28.049
25.583
25.862
25.905
May
Jun
Abr
Table 3
DEPOSITS, LIQUIDITY, MONETARY SPECIES. 2015. $Million. Liquidez
Captaciones
Espe. Monet
40.104 30.478
39.114 29.759
39.059 29.637
39.561 29.998
39.580
39.515
29.313
29.415
9.540
9.268
9.335
9.476
10.180
10.016
Dic
Ene
Feb
Mar
Abr
May
28.683
Junio
Table 4
First quarter current account balance. $ Million 1319,6
206,7
64,3 2007
2008
2009
2010
460,9 589,1
2011
2012
510,9 -103,5 2014
2013
-654,2
2015
-902,3
2015 BUDGET FINANCING. $Million. A. FINANCING REQUIREMENTS
13.857
1. Deficit
6.269
2. Internal and External depreciations
3.091
Internal
891
External*
2.200
3. Other liabilities
358
4. Oil early booking**
1.689
5. Floating debt
850
6. CETES ***
1.000
7. International Reserve Bonds
600
B. FINANCING OBTAINED
6.680
1. Internal disbursements
891
2. External disbursements
4100
IDB (February)
800
Bonds 2020 (March)
750
Bonds 2020 (May)
750
Loan from China (May)
400
Loan from China (June)
500
Loan from Thailand (July)
500
Governments, CAF, others
400
3. Early oil sale
1.689
C. FINANCIAL GAP (A-B)
7.177
* It may be greater by $ 650 million bond 2015 ** There is no clear information; between January to March there is a net income of $ 678 million
*** There is no information, between January-March CETES are in total $ 368 million Source: OPF. Central Bank
ASUNCION-PARAGUAY APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF POPE FRANCIS TO ECUADOR, BOLIVIA AND PARAGUAY (July 5-13 2015) Meeting with representatives of Civil Society Address of the Holy Father, Leon Condou Stadium, Colegio San Jose, Asuncion Saturday, 11 July 2015 Good afternoon: I wrote this text on the basis of the questions that I received, not all you made, so what is missing I will reply to them as far as I speak to you. In this way I will attempt to offer some opinions on your reflections. I am pleased to be with you, the representatives of civil society, to share those hopes and dreams for a better future. I thank Bishop Adalberto Martinez Flores, Secretary of the Paraguay Bishops’ Conference, for his words of welcome addressed to me on behalf of all. I also thank the six people who have spoken, each presenting a different angle. Seeing all of you together, each coming from his or her own sector or organization within the Paraguayan society, each bringing his or her own joys, concerns, struggles and hopes, makes me grateful to God. In other words, it seems that Paraguay is not dead, thank God. Because a people that live, a people that does not keep alive its concerns, people living in the inertia of the passive acceptance, is dead people. However, I see in you the sap of life that runs and that wants to germinate. God always blesses this. God is always on the side of those who help to uplift and improve the lives of his children. Yes, there are things that are wrong, situations of injustice exist. But seeing and feeling you helps me to renew my hope in the Lord who continues to work in the midst of his people. You represent many different backgrounds, situations and aspirations; all together, you make up the Paraguayan culture. All of you have a part to play in the pursuit of the common good. “In the present condition of global society, where injustices abound and growing numbers of people are deprived of basic human rights and considered expendable” (Laudato Si’, 158), to see you here before me is a real gift. It is a gift because, I have seen the willingness to help the nation in those who have spoken. 1. In the first question, I was pleased to hear of a young his concern for making the society be a place of fraternity, justice, peace and dignity for everyone. Youth is a time of high ideals. I often say that it is really sad to see a young person who is out of work. It is important that you, the young, and there are indeed many young persons here in Paraguay, that you, the young, realize that genuine happiness goes through the struggle of a fraternal country! It is good that you youth people see that happiness and pleasure are not synonymous. One thing is happiness and joy… but another thing is the fleeting pleasure. Happiness is built up, it is something solid which edifies. Happiness requires commitment and dedication. You are too important to be satisfied with living life under a kind of anesthesia! Paraguay has a large population of young people and this is a great source of enrichment. So I think that the first thing to do is to make sure that all that energy, that light, does not disappear from your hearts, and to resist the growing mentality which considers it useless and absurd to aspire to things that demand effort. “There is no point getting involved, it can no longer be fixed”. This attitude however, that intends to go further, it is considered as absurd. Be committed to something, be committed to someone. This is the vocation of young people so do not be afraid to take a risk on the field, but play fairly and give it your best. Do not be afraid to give the best of yourselves! Do not look for easy solutions beforehand so as to avoid tiredness and struggle. And do not bribe the referee.
Yes, I ask you not to fight the good fight alone. Try to talk, profit from the lives, the stories of your elders, of your grandparents, for there is great wisdom there. “Waste” lots of time listening to all the good things they have to teach you. They are the guardians of that spiritual legacy of faith and values which define people and illumine a path. Find comfort, too, in the power of prayer, in Jesus. Keep praying to him daily. He will not disappoint you. Jesus extends to you an invitation through the memory of your people; he is the secret to keeping a joyful heart in your quest for fraternity, justice, peace and dignity for everyone. But it can become a nominalism: pure word! No! Fraternity, justice, peace and dignity” but this can be reduced to mere words. No! Fraternity, justice, peace and dignity are concrete, otherwise they are useless. They are constructed with the work of each day. And so I ask you dear young friends, how do you shape those ideals, daily and concretely? Even if you make mistakes, you correct it and move forward – make progress with concrete steps. I confess to you that I feel somewhat allergic, or to speak in so fine terms, a bit put of distemper, to hear very eloquent discourses with all those words and when you know the speaker you end up saying: “What a liar you are!” This is why words on their own are not enough. If you give your word of honor, commit to that word, then make sacrifices each day. Sacrifice yourself for that, commit yourself! I liked the poem of Carlos Miguel Gimenez which Bishop Martinez quoted. I think it sums up very nicely what I have been trying to say, “[I dream of] a paradise free of war between brothers and sisters, rich in men and women healthy in heart and soul… and a God who blesses its dawn”. Yes, it is a dream. And there are two guarantees: waking up from the dream and making it a reality daily, and recognizing that God is the guarantee of man’s dignity. 2. The second question spoke about dialogue as a means to advance the project of a fully inclusive nation. Dialogue is not easy. There exists also a “theatrical dialogue” by which I mean that we rehearse dialogue, and then we talk about us, but it is subsequently all forgotten. The dialogue is on the table, of course. If you do not say what you really feel, what you think and you agree not to listen to others, adjust what you are thinking and talking, then it is not a real dialogue but simply a painting. Now it is true that the dialogue is not easy and that there are many difficulties to overcome, and sometimes, it seems as if we are intent on only make things even harder. Dialogue must be built on something, an identity. For example, I think of our dialogue, the interreligious dialogue, where different representatives of religions speak to each other. We sometimes meet to speak … and share our points of view, but everyone speaks on the basis of their own identity: “I’m Buddhist, I’m Evangelical. I’m Orthodox, I’m Catholic.” Each one explains their identity, but they do not negotiate their identity. This means that, for there to be dialogue, that fundamental basis of identity must exist. And what is the identity of a country? we are speaking about a social identity here – to love the nation. The nation first, and then my business. The nation comes first! That is the identity. That is the basis upon which I will dialogue. If I am to speak without that identity, then dialogue is pointless. Moreover, dialogue presupposes and requires us to search the culture of the meeting. That is to say, an encounter which acknowledges that diversity is not only good, it is necessary. Uniformity nullifies us, it makes us robots. The richness of life is in diversity. For this reason, the point of departure cannot be, “I'm going to dialogue but he is wrong”. No, no, we must not presume that the other person is wrong. I dialogue with my identity and I am going to listen to what the other person has to say, how I can be enriched by the other, who makes me realize my mistakes and see the contribution I can offer. It is a going out and a coming back, always with an open heart. With assumptions that the other person is wrong, it is better to go home and not dialogue, is not that true? Dialogue is for the common good and the common good is sought by starting from our differences, constantly leaving room for new alternatives. In other words, look for something new. When dialogue is authentic, it ends up with – allow me to use the word and to use it in a noble way – a new agreement, in which we all agree on something. Are there differences? They remain to one side, to be looked again later. But on those things that we are agreed, we are committed and we defend them. This is one step forward. This is the culture of the encounter. Dialogue is not about negotiating. Negotiating is trying to get your own slice of the cake. To see if I can get my own part. If you go with this intention, do not dialogue, do not waste your time. Dialogue is about seeking the common good. Discuss, think, and discover together a better solution for
everybody. Many times this culture of encounter can involve conflict. To put it another way, we saw a beautiful ballet recently. Everything was coordinated and the orchestra was a veritable symphony of concordance. Everything was perfect. Everything went well. But during dialogue, it is not always the case, for it is not a perfect ballet or a coordinated orchestra. During dialogue there is conflict. This is logical and even desirable. Because if I think in one way and you in another and we walk together, there will be conflict. But we must not fear it¡ We must not ignore it. On the contrary, we are invited to embrace conflict. If we do not embrace conflict, saying to ourselves “this is not a headache, let him go home with his ideas, and I will go back to mine with my ideas”, then we will never be able to dialogue. This means that we have to “face conflict head on, to resolve it and to make it a link in the chain of a new process” (Evangelii Gaudium, 227). Let us dialogue, there is conflict, I embrace it, I transform it, and it is a necessary element of a new process. It is a beginning that will help us greatly. “Unity is greater than conflict” (ibid., 228). Conflict exists: we have to embrace it, we have to try and resolve it as far as possible, but with the intention of achieving that unity which is not uniformity, but rather a unity in diversity. A unity which does not cancel differences, but experiences them in communion through solidarity and understanding. By trying to understand the thinking of others, their experiences, their hopes, we can see that are largely common aspirations. This is the basis of the encounter: all of us are brothers and sisters, children of the same heavenly Father, and each of us, with our respective cultures, languages and traditions, has much to contribute to the community. Now, am I ready to receive this? If I am ready to receive and to dialogue with this, then I am up to the task of dialogue; but if I am not ready then it is better not to waste time. True cultures are never closed in on themselves – they die if they are closed in themselves – but are called to meet other cultures and to create new realities. When we study history we find ancient cultures that no longer exist. They have died, and for many reasons. But one of them is to have locked themselves. Without this essential presupposition, without this basis of fraternity, it will be very difficult to arrive at dialogue. If someone thinks that there are persons, cultures, or situations which are second, third or fourth class… surely things will go badly it simply lacks the minimum, a recognition of the dignity of the other. There are no first, second, third, fourth categories of persons: they are all of the same lineages. 3. All this can serve as a way of approaching the concern expressed in the third question: Accept the cry of the poor in order to build a more inclusive society. It is a strange thing: an egocentric person excludes himself or herself. We want to include. Remember the parable of the prodigal son, that son who sought his inheritance from his father, he took all the money, squandered it on the good life and, after losing everything over a long period - and feeling great hunger - he remembered his father. And his father was waiting for him. He represents God, who always waits for us. And when he sees his son approaching, he embraces him and throws a feast. On the other hand, the elder son, who had been at home, is annoyed and excludes himself: “I'm not joining these people, I behaved myself, I am cultured, I studied at such and such a university, I have a family and heritage. So I'm not going to mix with them”. It's important not to exclude anybody, and not to exclude oneself, because everybody needs everybody. A fundamental part of helping the poor involves the way we see them. An ideological approach is useless: it ends up using the poor in the service of other political or personal interests (Evangelii Gaudium, 199). Ideologies end badly, and are useless. They relate to people in ways that are either incomplete, unhealthy, or evil. Ideologies do not embrace people. You just have to look at the last century. What was the result of ideologies? In dictatorships, in every case. They always think of the people, never stop thinking about the good of the people. A sharp critic of ideologies was once told: “Yes, but these men and women are well intentioned and want to help the people”. The critic replied, “Yes of course, everything for the people, but nothing with the people”. Such are ideologies. To really help people, the first thing is for us to be truly concerned about individual persons, and I'm thinking of the poor here, valuing them for their goodness. Valuing them, however, also means being ready to learn from them. The poor have much to teach us about humanity, goodness, sacrifice and solidarity. As Christians, moreover, we have an additional reason to love and serve the poor; for in them we see the face and the flesh of Christ, who made himself poor so to enrich us with his poverty (cf. 2 Co 8:9). The poor are the flesh of Christ. When people come to me to confession – now I have fewer opportunities to hear confessions than when I was in the diocese – I like to ask them: “Do you help people?”. “Yes, I give alms to the poor”. “I see, and tell me, when you give alms, do you touch the hand of the person you
are giving alms to or do you throw the money at them?” We are speaking of attitudes here. “When you offer alms, do you look them into their eyes or do you look the other way?” This demeans the poor person. They are poor. Let us reflect carefully. The poor person is just like me and, if he or she is going through a difficult time for many reasons, be they economic political, social or personal, it could be me in their place, me longing for someone to help me. As well as desiring this help, if I am in their shoes, I have the right to be respected. We must respect the poor. We must not use the poor person merely as an instrument to placate my guilt. To learn from the poor, with all the realities they experience, all of the values they uphold. This is the inspiration for Christians, that the poor are the flesh of Jesus. Certainly every country needs economic growth and the creation of wealth, and the extension of these to each citizen, without exclusion. And this is necessary. The creation of this wealth must always be at the service of the common good, of all, and not only for the benefit of a few. On this point we must be very clear. For “the worship of the ancient golden calf (cf. Ex 32:1-35) has found a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and in the dictatorship of a faceless economy” (Evangelii Gaudium, 55). Those charged with promoting economic development have the responsibility of ensuring that it always has a human face. Economic development must have a human face. We say no to an economy without such a face! They have in their hands the possibility of providing employment for many persons and in this way of giving hope to many families. Putting bread on the table, putting a roof over the heads of one’s children, giving them health and an education – these are essential for human dignity, and business men and women, politicians, economists, must feel challenged in this regard. I ask them not to yield to an economic model which is idolatrous, which needs to sacrifice human lives on the altar of money and profit. In economics, in business and in politics, what counts first and foremost, in every instance, is the human person and the environment in which he or she lives. Paraguay is rightly known throughout the world for being the place where the Reductions began. These were among the most significant experiences of evangelization and social organization in history. There the Gospel was the soul and the life of communities which did not know hunger, unemployment, illiteracy or oppression. This historical experience shows us that, today too, a more humane society is possible. You have truly lived this here. It is possible! Where there is a love of people and a willingness to serve them, it is possible to create the conditions necessary for everyone to have access to basic goods, so that no one goes without. It is possible to seek solutions in every situation, through dialogue. To the fourth question, I have already responded when speaking about an economy which serves the person and not money. The businesswoman spoke about the limited effectiveness of certain paths. And she mentioned one that I had dealt in Evangelii Gaudium with the area of “irresponsible popularity”, am I correct? It seems that such an approach does not bear fruit, would you not agree? And there are so many theories aren't there? How to proceed? I think that my words on an economy with a human face point to the inspiration that can provide an answer to this question. To the fifth question, I think I've also given a reply when I spoke about cultures. In other words, there exist enlightened cultures which are good and which must be respected, as I am sure you would agree. Today, for example, during the performance of the ballet, music of one enlightened and positive culture was played. But there is another culture, which has this same value, which is the culture of the people, of the earliest people, and represents different ethnic groups. I would dare to call this culture, in a positive sense, a popular culture. People possess their own culture and create culture. This work is important for culture in the widest sense of the word. Culture is not just about having studied or enjoyed a concert, or reading an interesting book, but rather it involves many other facets. The fabric of Nandutí, mentioned earlier, is culture; the culture that is born of the people. This is one example. Before ending, I'd like to make reference to two things. In doing this, as there are political authorities present here, including the President of the Republic, I wish to say this fraternally. Someone told me: “Look, ‘Mr. so-and-so’ you are kidnapped by the Army, please do something to help! I do not know if this is true, or if it is not true, if it is right, or if it is not right, but one of the methods used by dictatorial ideologies of the last century, which I referred to earlier, was to separate the people, either by exile or imprisonment, or in the case of concentration camps,
Nazis and Stalinists excluded them by death. For there to be a true culture of the people, political culture, a culture of the common good, there must be quick and clear judicial proceedings. No other kind of strategy is required. Clear, concise judgments. That would help all of us. I do not know whether or not this exists here, and I say it with the greatest respect. I was told this as I came here, I was given this information here. I was asked to make a request at someone I do not know. I did not manage to grasp the surname of the person involved. And for the sake of honesty, there is a second thing I would like to say: one method which does not bestow freedom upon people, and enable them to work responsibly towards the construction of society, is the method of blackmail. Blackmail is always corruption: “… If you do this, we will do this to you, and thus destroy you”. Corruption is the worm, the gangrene of the people. For example, no politician can work and carry out a function, if he is being blackmailed by methods of corruption: “Give me this, give me this power, give it to me or else I will not do this and that for you”. This happens in all populations around the world, and if a society wishes to maintain its dignity, it must banish such blackmail. I am talking about something universal. And to end. It is a great pleasure to see the number and variety of associations sharing in the creation of an ever more prosperous Paraguay, but if you do not dialogue, all is pointless. If there is blackmail, all is pointless. This great multitude of groups and persons are like a symphony, each one with his or her own specificity and richness, yet all working together towards a harmonious end. That is what counts. And do not fear conflict, but speak about matters and look for paths that lead to solutions. Love your country, your fellow citizens, and, above all, love the poor. In this way, you will bear witness before the world that another model of development is possible. I am convinced, by virtue of your own history, that you possess the greatest strength of all: your humanity, your faith, your love. Being part of the Paraguayan people is what distinguishes them so richly among the nations of the world. I ask Our Lady of Caacupe, our Mother, to watch over you and protect you, and to encourage you in all your efforts. God bless you and pray for me. Thank you. [After the singing] One piece of advice I offer you before the blessing: the worst thing that could happen to each of you as you leave here is to think: “What nice words the Pope spoke to so-and-so and to that other person”. If you are tempted to think this way, and this can often happen, as it does to me on occasion, you must reject the thought: “to whom did the Pope address his words?”. “To me”. Each one, whoever: “To me”. I now invite you to pray to our common Father together, each in his or her own language. Our Father…
GUAYAQUIL-ECUADOR APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF POPE FRANCIS TO ECUADOR, BOLIVIA AND PARAGUAY (July 5-13 2015) Address of the Holy Father, Parque de los Samanes, Guayaquil, Monday, 6 July 2015 The Gospel passage that we have just heard is the first momentous sign in the Gospel according to John. Mary’s maternal concern is seen in her plea to Jesus: "They have no wine” – she said -, and Jesus’ reference to "the time” will be more fully understood later, in the story of his Passion. This is good, because it allows us to see Jesus’ eagerness to teach, to accompany, to heal and to give joy, thanks to the words of his Mother: "They have no wine”. The wedding at Cana is repeated in every generation, in every family, in every one of us and our efforts to let our hearts find rest in healthy, fruitful and joyful love. Let us make room for Mary, "the Mother” as the evangelist calls her. Let us journey with her to Cana. Mary is attentive in the course of this wedding feast, and she is concerned for Grooms needs. She is not lost in thought, she does not engage in her world, her love makes her to "be toward" others. She also does not look for friends to discuss what is going on and criticize the inadequate preparation of the wedding. So she notices that the wine has run out. Wine is a sign of happiness, love and plenty. How many of our adolescents and young people sense that these are no longer found in their homes? How many sad and lonely women wonder when love left, when it slipped away from their lives? How many elderly people feel left out of family celebrations, cast aside and no longer drink the everyday love from their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. This lack of "wine” can also be due to unemployment, illness and challenging situations that our families may experience all over the world. Mary is not a "demanding” mother, a mother-in-law who revels in our lack of experience, our mistakes and the things we forget to do. Mary is a Mother! She is there, attentive and concerned. It is nice to hear this: Maria is a Mother, do you dare to say together with me? Let us go: Maria is a Mother! again: Maria is a Mother, again: Maria is a Mother! But Mary, at the moment she realizes that wine is missing, she approaches Jesus with confidence, Mary prays. She does not go to the steward, she immediately tells her Son of the newlyweds’ problem. The response she receives seems disheartening: "What can we do you and me? My hour has not yet come” (Jn 2,4). But, she nonetheless places the problem in God’s hands. Her concern to meet the needs of others hastens Jesus’ hour, and Mary is a part of that hour, from the cradle to the cross. She who was able "to turn a stable into a home for Jesus, with poor swaddling clothes and abundance of love” (Evangelii Gaudium, 286). And she accepted us as her sons and daughters when a sword pierced her heart. She teaches us to put our families in God’s hands, to pray, to kindle the hope that shows us that our concerns are also God’s concerns. Praying always lifts us out of our worries and concerns. It makes us rise above everything that hurts, upsets or disappoints us, and it puts us in the place of others, in their shoes. The family is a school where prayer also reminds us that there is us, that there is a close self-evident neighbor, who is living under the same roof, is part of our life, and is in need. Mary finally acts. Her words, "Do whatever he tells you” (v. 5), addressed to the attendants, are also an invitation to us to open our hearts to Jesus, who came to serve and not to be served. Service is the sign of true love. Who loves serves, it is at the service of others. We learn this especially in the family, where we become servants for love for one another. In the heart of the family, no one is rejected; all are equal. I remember my mother once asked which of her five children - we are five brothers - which of her five children she loves more. And she said (showing the hand): as the fingers, as if I pick this one, it
hurts me just as if I pick this other. A mother loves her children as they are. And in a family brothers and sisters love themselves as they are. No one is discarded. "In the family we learn how to ask without demanding, to say ‘thank you’ as an expression of genuine gratitude for what we have been given, to control our aggressiveness or greed, and to ask forgiveness when we have caused harm, when we fight because there are fights in every family. The problem arises then, ask for forgiveness. These simple gestures of heartfelt courtesy help to create a culture of shared life and respect for our surroundings” (Laudato Si’, 213). The family is the nearest hospital when one is sick there are caregivers, while they can. The family is the first school for the young, the best home for the elderly. The family constitutes the best "social capital”. Other institutions cannot replaced it. It needs to be helped and strengthened, never to lose our proper sense of the services which society as a whole provides. Those services are not a type of alms, but rather a genuine "social debt” concerning the institution of the family, which is the basis and contributes so significantly to the common good. The family is also a small Church and, we call it a "domestic Church” which, along with life, also mediates God’s tenderness and mercy. In the family, we imbibe faith with our mother’s milk. When we experience the love of our parents, we feel the closeness of God’s love. In the family, of this we are all witnesses, miracles are performed with what little we have, with what we are, with what is at hand many times, it is not ideal, it is not what we dream of, nor what "it should have been”. There is a detail that should may us think: the new wine, the wine so good that said the butler at the wedding in Cana, came from the jars used for ablutions, we might even say from the place where everyone had left their sins… "Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom 5:20). In our families and in the greater family to which we all belong, nothing is thrown away, nothing is useless. Shortly before the opening of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, the Church will celebrate the Ordinary Synod devoted to the family, to deepen her spiritual discernment and consider concrete solutions to the many difficult and significant challenges facing families in our time. I ask you to pray fervently for this intention, so that Christ can take even what might seem to us impure, as the water in the jars shocked us or frighten us – God - by doing it part of his "hour” – turn it into a miracle. Today the family needs this miracle. It all began because "they had no wine”. It could all be done because a woman – the Virgin Mary – was attentive, left her concerns in God’s hands and acted sensibly and courageously. But there was more to come: It is not less than the final data: everyone went on to enjoy the finest of wines. And this is the good news: the best wines are yet to be tasted; the richest, deepest and most beautiful things are yet to come for the family. The time is coming when we will feel love daily, when our children come to appreciate the home we share, and our elderly will be present each day in the joys of life. The finest of wines will come for every person who stakes everything on love. The family has to risk love, must risk loving. And the best wine is yet to come, in spite of all the variables and statistics that say otherwise; the best wine is yet to come for those who today feel hopelessly lost. Say it until you are convinced of it: the best wine is yet to come. Whisper it to the hopeless and the loveless. Be patient, have hope, do as Mary, pray, act, open the heart because the best wine is yet to come. God always seek out the peripheries, of those who have run out of wine, those who drink only discouragement. Jesus feels weakness to pour out the best wines for those who, for whatever reason, feel that all their jars have been broken. As Mary invites us, let us "do what he tells us”. Do whatever he tells you and be thankful that in our time and our hour, the new wine, the finest wine, will make us recover the joy of being a family. So be it. God bless you, accompany you. I pray for the family of each of you, and you do the same as Mary did. And please, I ask you not to forget to pray for me. Until returning¡
QUITO-ECUADOR APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF POPE FRANCIS TO ECUADOR, BOLIVIA AND PARAGUAY (July 5-13 2015) Mass for the Evangelization of Peoples Address of the Holy Father, Bicentennial Park, Quito Tuesday, 7 July 2015 The word of God calls us to live in unity, that the world may believe. I think of that whisper of Jesus during the Last Supper as more of a shout, a cry rising from this Mass which we are celebrating in the Bicentennial Park. Let us imagine together. The bicentennial that this Park commemorates was that of Latin America’s cry for independence. It was a cry which arose from being conscious of a lack of freedom, of exploitation and despoliation, of being "subject to the passing whims of the powers that be” (Evangelii Gaudium, 213). I would like to see these two cries together, agree under the beautiful challenge of evangelization. We evangelize not with grand words, or complicated concepts, but with "the joy of the Gospel”, which "fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. For those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness, isolation, isolated consciousness” (ibid., 1). We who are gathered here at table with Jesus are ourselves a cry, a shout born of the conviction that his presence leads us to unity, "pointing to a horizon of beauty and inviting others to a delicious banquet” (ibid., 15). "Father, may they be one so that the world may believe”. This was Jesus’ prayer as he raised his eyes to heaven. This petition arose in a context of mission: "As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world”. At that moment, the Lord was experiencing in his flesh the worst of this world, a world he loves dearly. Knowing full well its intrigues, its falsity and its betrayals, he did not turn away, he did not complain. We too encounter daily a world torn apart by wars and violence. It would be facile to think that division and hatred only concern struggles between countries or groups in society. Rather, they are a manifestation of that "widespread individualism” which divides us and sets us against one another (cf. ibid 99), that legacy of sin lurking in the heart of human beings, which causes so much suffering in society and all of creation. But is it precisely this troubled world with its selfishness, Jesus sends us, and our response is not to distract us, argue that we have no means or that reality surpasses us. Our response echoes the cry of Jesus and accepts the grace and the task of the unit. At the cry of liberty explode over 200 years ago did not lack neither conviction nor force, but history tells us that it was only strong when it set aside the personalities, the desire for unique leaderships, lack of understanding of other libertarians processes with different characteristics but no antagonistic. Evangelization can be a way to unite our hopes, concerns, ideas and even utopian visions. Of course, we believe this and we make it our cry. "in our world, especially in some countries, different forms of war and conflict are re-emerging, yet we Christians remain steadfast in our intention to respect others, to heal wounds, to build bridges, to strengthen relationships and to ‘bear one another’s burdens’ (ibid., 67). The desire for unity involves the delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing, the conviction of having an immense good to communicate and communicating it, it is rooted; anyone who has had this experience acquires more sensibility to the needs of others (cf. ibid., 9). Hence the need to work for inclusivity at every level, fight for the inclusion at all levels! to avoid forms of selfishness, to build communication and dialogue, to encourage collaboration. We need to give our hearts to our companions along the way, without suspicion or distrust. "Trusting others is an art, and peace is an art” (ibid., 244). Our unity can hardly shine forth if spiritual
worldliness makes us feud among ourselves in a futile quest for power, prestige, pleasure or economic security. This at the expense of the poorest, the most excluded, the most vulnerable, those who did not lose their dignity despite being hit it every day. Such unity is already an act of mission, "that the world may believe”. Evangelization does not consist in proselytizing, but in attracting by our witness those who are far off, in humbly drawing near to those who feel distant from God and the Church, approach to those that feel judged and condemned in advance by those who feel perfect and pure. Approach those who are fearful or indifferent, and say to them: "The Lord, with great respect and love, is also calling you to be part of his people (ibid., 113). For our God respects us even in our lowliness and our sin. The call of the Lord with what humility and what respect he describes the text of Revelation: "Look, I stand at the door and knock, if you want to open…” no strength, do not blow the lock, just ring the bell, knock gently and wait, this is our God! The Church’s mission, as a sacrament of salvation, also has to do with her identity as a pilgrim people, called to embrace all the nations of the earth. The more intense the communion is between us, the more active our mission becomes (cf. John Paul II, Pastores Gregis, 22). Becoming a Missionary Church always requires fostering communion, since mission does not have to do with outreach alone. We also need to be missionaries in the Church, showing that she is "a mother who reaches out, a welcoming home, a constant school of missionary communion” (Aparecida Document, 370). Jesus’ prayer can be realized because he has consecrated us. "For their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth” ( Jn 17, 19). The spiritual life of an evangelizer is born of this profound truth, which should not be confused with a few comforting religious exercises; perhaps it is a diffuse spirituality. Jesus consecrates us so that we can encounter him personally. This encounter leads us in turn to encounter others, to become involved with our world and to develop a passion for evangelization (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 78). Intimacy with God, in itself incomprehensible, is revealed by images that speak to us of communion, communication, self-giving and love. For that reason, the unity to which Jesus calls us is not uniformity, but rather a "multifaceted and inviting harmony” (ibid.,117). The wealth of our differences, our diversity that becomes unity whenever we commemorate Holy Thursday, makes us wary of all totalitarian, ideological or sectarian schemes. Jesus proposal's is concrete, it is not idea. It is concrete: go and do likewise, told him to the one who asked him: Who is your neighbor? After having told the parable of the Good Samaritan, go and do likewise. It is not either that the proposal of Jesus is an arrangement made to our measure, in which we put the conditions, we chose the members and exclude others. A religious elite. Jesus prays that we are part of one big family in which God is our father, we are all brothers. No one is excluded and this is not based on having the same tastes, the same concerns, the same talents. We are brothers because, through love, God created us and has destined us, purely his initiative, to be his children (cf. Ef 1,5). We are brothers and sisters because "God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying "Abba! Father!” (Gal 4:6). We are brothers and sisters because, justified by the blood of Christ Jesus (cf. Rom 5:9), we have passed from death to life and been made "coheirs” of the promise (cf. Gal 3:26-29; Rom 8:17). That is the salvation that God makes possible for us, and which the Church proclaims with joy: to be part of the divine "we” that comes to us divine. Our cry, in this place linked to the original cry for freedom in this country, echoes that of Saint Paul: "Oh my if I do not preach the Gospel!” (1 Cor 9:16). It is a cry every bit as urgent and pressing as was the cry for independence. It has a similar fascination, it has the same fire that attracts. Brothers, take the feelings of Jesus. Be a testimony of fraternal communion that becomes radiant! And how beautiful it would be if all could admire how much we care for one another. How we encourage and help each other. Giving of ourselves establishes an interpersonal relationship; we
do not give “things” but our very selves. Any act of giving means that we give ourselves. “Giving of oneself” means letting all the power of that love which is God’s Holy Spirit take root in our lives, opening our hearts to his creative power. And giving of oneself even in the most difficult moments as on that Holy Thursday of the Lord when he perceived how they weaved a plot to betray him; but he gave himself, he gave himself for us with his plan of salvation. When we give of ourselves, we discover our true identity as children of God in the image of the Father and, like him, givers of life; we discover that we are brothers and sisters of Jesus, to whom we bear witness. It is what it means to evangelize; this is the new revolution – for our faith is always revolutionary –, this is our deepest and most enduring cry. (Blessing) Remarks of the Holy Father at the end of Mass at the Parque Bicentenario Dear brothers and sisters: I thank you for this concelebration, for our having come together at the altar of the Lord who asks us to be one, that we be truly united as brothers and sisters, that the Church be one home of brothers and sisters. May God bless you and I ask you not to forget to pray for me.
El Quinche-ECUADOR APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF POPE FRANCIS TO ECUADOR, BOLIVIA AND PARAGUAY (July 5-13 2015) Meeting with clergy, religious and seminarians Address of the Holy Father, National Marian Shrine of “El Quinche”, Quito, Wednesday, 8 July 2015
Good morning, brothers and sisters, In these days, forty-eight hours, I have had with you, I have noticed that there is something peculiar, forgive me, something different about the Ecuadorian people. Everywhere I go, I receive a really joyful, warm and prayerful welcome; everywhere. But here I see real piety in the way, for example, a blessing is sought from the eldest right down to the “wawa”, and that is the first thing you learn to do. There was something quite unique which I also was tempted to ask along with the Bishop of Sucumbios: “What is the recipe of this people?” What is it? I gave this a lot of thought and prayed about it; I asked Jesus several times in prayer: “What is it that is so distinctive about this people? And this morning, praying about it, I was struck by the consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I think I should offer this to you as a message from Jesus: all this richness that you have, the spiritual richness, of piety and great depth, has come about because of the courage you have shown in very difficult moments when the nation was consecrated to the Heart of Christ, that human and divine heart which loves us so dearly. And I notice it in this sense: divine and human. Yes you are sinners, as am I… but the Lord forgives everything and… treasure this! And then, a few years later came the consecration to the Heart of Mary. Do not forget: that consecration is a milestone in the history of Ecuador’s people. I see that you have received this grace from such a consecration, the grace of piety that makes you unique. Today I wish to speak to the priests, seminarians, and men and women religious, and offer them some thoughts. I do have prepared some words, but I don’t really feel like reading. So I will give that text to the President of the Conference of Religious so that it can be published. I thought of the Blessed Virgin, I thought of Mary. Two phrases used by Mary, and here my memory is failing as I do not know if she added more: “Let it be done to me”; true, she asked the angel for an explanation of why she had been chosen, but she says, “Let it be done to me”. And the second phrase, “Do whatever he tells you”. Mary did not want to stand out. She was a disciple all her life. She was the first disciple of her son. She was conscious that all she had brought forth was pure gratuitousness on God’s part. She was conscious of God’s gratuitousness. This is why these words, “let it be done” and “do whatever he tells you” point to the gratuitousness of God. Women and men religious, priests and seminarians, come back everyday, I ask you to retrace your steps back to the time God gratuitously chose you. You did not buy a ticket to enter the seminary, to enter consecrated life. You were not worthy. If some religious brother, priest, seminarian or nun here today thinks that they merited this, raise your hands. It is all gratuitousness. And the entire life of a religious brother and sister, priest and seminarian must walk that path, and here why not add bishops as well. It is the path that leads to gratuitousness, the path we must follow each day: “Lord, today I did this, I did this thing well, I had this difficulty, all this but…all is from you, all is free gift”. That is gratuitousness. We are those who receive God’s gratuitousness. If we forget this, then slowly we begin to see ourselves as more important: “Look at him the works he is doing”, or “Look at how they made this man a bishop of such and such a place… how important”, or “this man they made a Monsignor”, and so on. With this way of thinking we gradually move away from what is fundamental, what Mary never moved away from: God’s gratuitousness. An advice of a brother: every day, perhaps at night time is better, before going to sleep, a look at Jesus and say to him: “All
you have given me is a free gift”, and then go back to what you were doing. As a result, then, when I am asked to move or when there is some difficulty, I do not complain, because everything is free gift, I merit nothing. This is what Mary did. Saint John Paul II, in Redemptoris Mater… which I would recommend you to read. Yes, grab it, read it. It is true, Pope Saint John Paul had a rounded way of thinking, he was a teacher, but he was a man of God. For this reason the text has to be read again and again in order to gain a full benefit. He says, and I do not remember the exact phrase, that when Mary’s faithfulness experienced the greatest trial, she might have wanted to say, “And they told me he was going to save Israel! I was cheated!” She did not say this. She did not allow herself to think like that, because she was the woman who knew that she had received everything freely. My advice as a brother and a father is this: remember this gratuitousness every evening. And say: thank you, because everything has been given to me by you”. A second thing that I would like to tell you is to take care of your health, but above all, take care not to fall into that illness which can be dangerous, to a lesser or greater degree, for those called freely by the Lord to follow and serve him. Do not fall into spiritual Alzheimer’s, that is, do not forget your memories, especially the memory of where you were taken from. The scene comes when the Prophet Samuel is sent to anoint the king of Israel. He goes to Bethlehem, to the home of a man named Jesse who has seven or eight children, I am not sure of the number, and God tells him that among them there is one who will be king. Naturally, Samuel sees them and says: “It must be this one because the eldest was tall, great in stature, well built, and seemed brave… But the Lord says, “No, it is not him”. God’s way of seeing is different from the way we see. And so he looks at each of the sons in turn, and says, ‘No, is not him’.” The prophet realizes that he does not know what to do, and so asks the father of the family: “Do you have any other sons?”. And he replies, “Yes, there is the youngest son who is tending the sheep”. Samuel said, “Send for him”, and he came, just a boy, probably seventeen or eighteen years old, - I do not know - and God says: “This is the one”. He was taken from the back of the flock. And another prophet, when God told him to act as a prophet, replied: “But who am I? I am the one who has been taken out of the remotest part of the sheepfold”. They do not forget where they where taken. Never forget your roots. Saint Paul clearly understood the danger of forgetting one’s memory and his beloved son, the bishop Timothy, whom he ordered. Paul offered some pastoral advice, but one particular piece touched Timothy’s heart: “Do not forget the faith that your grandmother and mother had”, that is to say, “Do not forget from where you were taken, do not forget your roots, do not consider yourself to have been promoted”. Gratuitousness is a grace that cannot exist side by side with promotion, and when a priest, seminarian, religious brother or sister embarks on a career, I am not wrong, in a human career, they become ill with spiritual Alzheimer’s and they begin to forget where they were taken from. Two principles for you who are priests and consecrated persons: every day renew the conviction that everything is a gift, the feeling of gratitude of the election of each of you, – we do not merit it – and every day ask for the grace not to forget your memories, and not to fall into self-importance. It is really sad when we see a priest or consecrated person who at home speak the dialect, or in another language like those ancient languages – and how many does Ecuador have – it is so sad when they forget that first language, so sad when they choose not to speak it. What this means is that they have forgotten where they have come from, where they have been taken from. Do not forget this, and ask for the grace to keep your memories alive: these are the two principles I wish to emphasize. And these two principles, if you live them – but every day, which entails a daily effort to remember these two principles and to ask for grace – then those two principles, when lived, will bring you life, will help you live with two attitudes. The first is service. God chose me, he took me to himself, but why? In order to serve; and a service which is particular to me. No, it is not about having my time, having my things, I have this to do, I have to close the office, I have to bless a house, but I am tired, or there is a good novel on
television and then – for the nuns - and then: service, to serve, to serve and nothing else, and to serve when we are tired, and to serve when people tire us. An elderly priest told me that he had been a teacher all his life at colleges and university. He taught literature, the arts. He was a genius. When he retired he asked the Provincial to move him to a poor area, where people come and go, seeking work. In short, good, simple people. Once a week this religious priest went back to his community and spoke to them; he was quite intelligent. And the community was made up of professors from the theology faculty; he spoke to his brother priests about theology, at their level. But one day he said to one of them, “What are you… Who teaches the course on the Church?” The professor raised his arm and said, “I do”. “You’re missing two arguments”. “Which ones?” “The holy, faithful People of God is essentially Olympian, that is to say, it does what it wants, and is ontologically tiring”. These words reveal much wisdom because the person who follows the path of service must allow themselves to be tired out, without losing patience in the name of service. No moment belongs to us. I am here to serve, to serve is the thing I am called to do, to serve before the Blessed Sacrament, asking for my people, praying for my work, for the people that God has entrusted to my care. Service, if combined with gratuitousness leads to… those words of Jesus: “What do you have received freely, give freely”. Please, please, don’t put a charge on grace; please, let our pastoral works be free. It is so repulsive when one loses this sense of gratuitousness and is transformed into… yes, he does good deeds, but he lost it. The second attitude seen in a consecrated man or woman, seen in a priest who lives this gratuitousness and shows the ability to recall the past -those principles which I spoke of earlier, gratuitousness and memory-, is joy and pleasure. It is a gift of Jesus, a gift which he gives if we ask for it and if we do not forget those pillars of our priestly or consecrated spiritual life, namely the sense of gratuitousness renewed daily and the ability not to forget from where we were taken. I desire this for you. “Yes, Father, you told us that perhaps the recipe of our people was … we are like this because of the Sacred Heart”. Yes, this is true, but I propose to you another recipe which is on the same lines, in the same of the Heart of Jesus: the sense of gratuitousness. He did nothing, he humbled himself, he became poor in order to enrich us by his poverty. Pure gift. And the sense of memory… we recall the memories of the marvels that the Lord has done for us in our lives. May the Lord grant this grace to everyone, may he grant it to all of us who are here, and may he continue – I was going to say rewarding -, – blessing this Ecuadorian people whom you must serve and are called to serve; may he continue to bless you with that particular characteristic which I noticed as I arrived here. May the Lord bless you and the Blessed Virgin protect you. *** Let us now pray to the Father, who gave us everything freely, and who keeps alive in us the memory of Jesus. [Our Father…] May almighty God bless you, the father and the son and the holy spirit. And please, please, I ask you to pray for me because I too am often tempted to forget the gratuitousness with which God chose me, and to forget where I have been taken from. Pray for me.