Pope Francis: audience, “either we do it together, or it won’t work”. “To emerge from the crisis means to change”

“Either we do it together, or it won’t work. Either we work together to emerge from the crisis, all levels of society, or we will never emerge from it. It won’t work”. Pope Francis insisted on this point in his audience today. Speaking to a crowd of 500 people gathered in the San Damaso courtyard, he explained once again that “to emerge from the crisis does not mean to varnish over current situations so that they might appear more just. To emerge from the crisis means to change”, it means change to which everyone must contribute, “all the persons that form a people. And all together, everyone in the community. If everyone is not contributing, then the result will be negative”. “Solidarity is the way out of the crisis”, the Pope pointed out: “it unites us and allows us to find solid proposals for a healthier world. But this path of solidarity needs subsidiarity”. “There is no true solidarity without social participation, without the contribution of intermediary bodies”, Pope Francis argued, that is to say, without the contribution of “families, associations, cooperatives, small businesses, and other expressions of society. Everyone needs to contribute, everyone”. “This type of participation helps to prevent and to correct certain negative aspects of globalisation and the actions of States, just as it is happening regarding the healing of people affected by the pandemic”, Pope Francis stressed, adding that “the principle of subsidiarity gives hope in a healthier and more just future; let’s construct this future together, aspiring to greater things, broadening our horizons and ideals”.

Valentina Bombelli