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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday highlighted the serious problem of unemployment. His words came during a meeting with participants attending an International Conference of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation which has been taking place in Rome this week.

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The Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation is a lay-led non-profit-organisation whose purpose it is to promote Catholic Social Doctrine. And is was on Saturday that Pope Francis met with those attending an international conference in the Vatican where he highlighted the fight against poverty and what he called the “grave problem” of unemployment.

Addressing those gathered, the Holy Father commended the foundation for their 2017 statement which notes “that the fight against poverty demands a better understanding of the reality of poverty as a human and not merely an economic phenomenon. 

He also highlighted that “promoting integral human development demands dialogue and engagement with people’s needs and aspirations, listening to the poor and their daily experience of “multidimensional, overlapping deprivations”, and devising specific responses to concrete situations. 

The Pope said that what was needed was community and business enterprises where the poor “are the principal actors and beneficiaries.” 

Another issue which was highlighted by Pope Francis was that of unemployment noting that the conference had paid particular attention to the critical issue of job creation in the context of the ongoing new technological revolution. 

How can we not be concerned, the Pope said, “about the grave problem of unemployment among the young and among adults that have not the means to “upgrade” themselves?  It is a problem, he added, “that has reached truly dramatic proportions in both developed and developing countries, and needs to be addressed, not least out of a sense of intergenerational justice and responsibility for the future.”

The Holy Father also recalled that the effects of unemployment on families was a concern expressed by the recent Synod assemblies on the family, which noted, “that uncertainty about work situations often contributes to family pressures and problems, and has an effect on the family’s ability to participate fruitfully in the life of society.”

Concluding his discourse the Pope encouraged the Foundation to bring the light of the Gospel and “the richness of the Church’s social teaching to these pressing issues by contributing to informed discussion, dialogue and research, but also by committing themselves for that change of attitudes, opinions and lifestyles which is essential for building a world of greater justice, freedom and harmony.”

Please find the English language translation of the Pope's discourse

Address of His Holiness Pope Francis

to the “Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice” Foundation

20 May 2017

Dear Friends,

            I offer you a warm welcome on the occasion of the International Conference of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation.  I thank your President, Mr Domingo Sugranyes Bickel, for his kind greeting in your name.  I express my appreciation for your efforts to seek other ways of understanding the economy and progress, and business, to meet the ethical challenges posed by the imposition of new paradigms and forms of power derived from technology, the throwaway culture and lifestyles that ignore the poor and despise the weak (cf. Enc. Laudato Si’, 16). 

            Many people are struggling to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change (cf. ibid, 13).  Your Foundation is also making a valuable contribution precisely by approaching business and finances both in the light of the rich heritage of the Church’s social doctrine and the intelligent search for “constructive alternatives”.  Drawing on your own expertise and experience, and in cooperation with other people of good will, you are committed to developing models of economic growth centred on the dignity, freedom and creativity that are the hallmark of the human person. 

            Your Foundation’s 2017 Statement rightly notes that the fight against poverty demands a better understanding of the reality of poverty as a human and not merely economic phenomenon.  Promoting integral human development demands dialogue and engagement with people’s needs and aspirations, listening to the poor and their daily experience of “multidimensional, overlapping deprivations”, and devising specific responses to concrete situations.  This calls for the creation, within communities and between communities and business, of mediating structures capable of bringing people and resources together, initiating processes in which the poor are the principal actors and beneficiaries.  Such a person-based approach to economic activity will encourage initiative and creativity, the entrepreneurial spirit and communities of labour and enterprise, and thus favour social inclusion and the growth of a culture of effective solidarity. 

            In these days, you have paid particular attention to the critical issue of job creation in the context of the ongoing new technological revolution.  How can we not be concerned about the grave problem of unemployment among the young and among adults that have not the means to “upgrade” themselves?  It is a problem that has reached truly dramatic proportions in both developed and developing countries, and needs to be addressed, not least out of a sense of intergenerational justice and responsibility for the future.  In a similar way, efforts to address the complex of issues associated with the growth of new technologies, the transformation of markets and the legitimate aspirations of the workforce must take into account not only individuals but families as well.  This, as you know, was a concern expressed by the recent Synod assemblies on the family, which noted that uncertainty about work situations often contributes to family pressures and problems, and has an effect on the family’s ability to participate fruitfully in the life of society (cf. Ap. Exhort. postsin. Amoris Laetitia, 44).

            Dear friends, I encourage your efforts to bring the light of the Gospel and the richness of the Church’s social teaching to these pressing issues by contributing to informed discussion, dialogue and research, but also by committing yourselves for that change of attitudes, opinions and lifestyles which is essential for building a world of greater justice, freedom and harmony. 

            In offering my prayerful good wishes for the fruitfulness of your work, I cordially invoke upon you, your families and your associates God’s blessings of joy and peace.      

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Acts 1:1-11; Eph 1:17-23; Mt 28:16-20

Anecdote:    Solar Power: One of the national coordinators of Sun Day held early in May every year is Denis Hayes. He worked as researcher at a Washington D.C. ‘think-tank’ and has written a book on solar energy entitled Rays of Hope: The Transition to a Post-Petroleum World. Hayes claims that we are at the crossroads of making a critical choice for mankind – the choice between going solar or going nuclear for a power source. Hayes opts for the sun because it is “the world’s only inexhaustible, predictable, egalitarian, non-polluting, safe, terrorist-resistant and free energy source.” We’ve already learned to use the power of the sun to grow food, make wine and operate greenhouses. All we need to do is develop better technology to harness solar energy to heat houses, drive our cars and run our industry. People like Hayes are looking at the sky with its sun as the main source of our future energy supply. Today we turn our attention to the sky for another reason – to commemorate our Lord’s Ascension into Heaven. In the first reading, taken from Acts, Jesus makes a promise, “You will receive Power when the Holy Spirit comes down on you.” That Spirit is the power source that can give all the energy we need to live our lives to the full. (Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds).

Introduction: Today’s readings describe the Ascension of the Lord Jesus into his Heavenly glory after promising his disciples the Holy Spirit as their source of Heavenly power, and after commanding them to bear witness to him by their lives and by preaching throughout the world.  But the ascended Jesus is still with us through the indwelling Holy Spirit as he has promised, "I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.”   Today’s feast is a celebration of Jesus’ glory after his suffering and death – a glory in which we also hope to share.

The scripture lessons: The first reading: Acts 1:1-11 describes how Jesus interacted with his disciples for forty days after his Resurrection. He instructed his disciples to remain in Jerusalem to receive the Holy Spirit, the source of power.  Once they received the Spirit they would bear witness to him to the ends of the earth by their preaching and lives: “You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” and become his “witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and to the ends of the earth.”  Then he was lifted up in the sky and a cloud covered him.  The disciples received the angelic message that the ascended Jesus would come back again in glory.  Thus, the Ascension of Jesus means that the risen Jesus has entered into the glory of his Heavenly Father.  He has accomplished our salvation by his suffering and death, Resurrection, Ascension, and the sending of the Spirit.

Today's Responsorial Psalm (Ps 47), “God is king of all the earth,” celebrates God's universal kingship.  It was originally sung in connection with a cultic procession honoring the Ark of the Covenant.  This most sacred religious object served as a pedestal upon which God was invisibly enthroned.  During an annual feast, it would be taken from repose in the Temple’s Holy of Holies and returned in solemn procession.  "God mounts his throne!"  This cultic cry, our Psalm refrain today, refers to the solemn installation of the Ark within the Temple, a liturgical reenactment of the universal lordship that is God's from eternity.  Now, by his Ascension the risen Lord likewise "mounts his throne" in glory. 

In the second reading (Eph 1:17-23), St. Paul puts special emphasis on the truth that Jesus, our triumphant Lord, now rules in glory over all creation.  He prays: "May God enlighten the eyes of our heart so that we may know the great hope to which we have been called."  In the alternate second reading (Eph. 4:4-13), Paul exhorts the disciples to live in a manner worthy of their calling and mission.  The greatest witness we can bear to the presence of Jesus in our midst is our unity with God, seen in our living with one another in peace and harmony.

Today’s gospel tells us that, with his return to the Father, Jesus completed his mission on earth.  But just before his Ascension, he entrusted to his disciples the mission of preaching and teaching the Good News and evangelizing the whole world by bearing witness to him through their lives. In the descriptions of Christ after his Resurrection, we are given a hint of what life will be like in Heaven.  But it is in his Ascension that we see him entering fully into the life and glory of God.  The prospect of sharing in that glory should be the driving force of our lives. Matthew’s Gospel begins with the promise of Emmanuel – God is with us; it concludes with the promise of the Risen Christ, “I am with you always, even to the end of time.”   The ascended Jesus is still with us because of his promise, "I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.”  He is with us at all times and in all places, releasing a new energy upon the earth, the energy of the Holy Spirit to preach his Good News of salvation by bearing witness to him.  Hence, today’s feast is the celebration of Jesus’ glory after his suffering and death – the glory in which we also hope to share.  The Ascension and Pentecost, taken together, mark the beginning of the Church.  The feast of the Ascension tells us that the Church must be a community in mission, guided by the Holy Spirit and confident of God’s protection even amid suffering and death. Jesus’ Ascension is both an ending and a beginning.   The physical appearances of Jesus are at an end; his revelation of the “Good News” is complete; the promise of the Messiah is fulfilled.  Now begins the work of the disciples to teach what they have learned and to share what they have witnessed.

Exegetical notes: A) The Ascension: Each Sunday we profess through the Creed, "He ascended into Heaven."  Christ’s Ascension was the culmination of God’s divine plan for Christ Jesus, his return to his Father with “Mission Accomplished."  Ascension is the grand finale of all his words and works done for us and for our salvation.  It was a culmination, but not the conclusion.  As Jesus is now with God in glory, he is now with us in Spirit: "Lo, I am with you always." The feast of the Ascension celebrates one aspect of the Resurrection, namely Jesus’ exaltation.  He did not wait 40 days to be glorified at God’s right hand. That had already happened at his Resurrection. Like the 40 days after Easter during which He appeared to many in Israel, this public Ascension in to Heaven was given to us for our sakes. The 40 days allowed many to experience personally his Resurrection and his being alive in a glorified body as fact to be counted upon, reality, and the fulfillment of prophecy. The focus of this feast is the Heavenly reign of Christ, and the Lord’s being” seated at God’s right hand,” meaning He alone will be in control of the continuing plan of salvation through the Holy Spirit, unrestricted by time, space or culture. It is there, at the “right hand of God,” that he continues to make intercession for all of us with the Father.  Thus, the Paschal Mystery -- Jesus' passion, death, Resurrection, Ascension and the sending of the Holy Spirit – is a single, unbroken Reality which is to be understood by Faith. By His Ascension, Jesus, the risen Christ, True God and True Man, is One with the Father and the Holy Spirit in glory forever.

B) The Ascension account: The Biblical accounts of the Ascension focus not so much on the details of the event as on the mission Jesus gave to his disciples.  For example, in the accounts narrated in Luke and Acts, the Ascension took place in Jerusalem.  In Matthew and Mark, on the other hand, the event occurred in Galilee.  All accounts, however, agree that the Ascension, a real event, happening in real time and observed by real people, took place on a mountain.  In Luke and Acts, the Ascension happened forty days after the Resurrection, a period during which Jesus appeared repeatedly to his followers.  In Matthew and Mark there is no indication of the time period between the Resurrection and the Ascension.  The Gospel writers apparently were not aiming at accuracy of historical detail but were more concerned with transmitting Our Lord’s message.

C) The Ascension message: "Preach the Good News and be my witnesses:” Matthew, Mark and Acts record Jesus’ last words differently: 1) “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).  2) “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-21).  3) “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation” (Mark.16:15).  All are in agreement that (a) Jesus gave his disciples a mission of bearing witness to him by preaching and living the Good News.  They are to tell and re-tell the story of Jesus' life, suffering, death and Resurrection, Ascension and sending of the Holy Spirit.  (b) He assured them of the Divine assistance of the Holy Spirit in the carrying out of this mission.

D) Christmas and Ascension: The Ascension is most closely related, in meaning, to Christmas.  In Jesus, the human and the Divine become united in the person and life of one man.  That's Christmas.  At the Ascension, this human being – the Person and the risen, glorified body of Jesus – became for all eternity a part of who God is.  It was not the spirit of Jesus or the Divine nature of Jesus alone that ascended to the Father.  It was the risen Jesus, whole, alive and entire, in his glorified Body that ascended: a body which the disciples had touched, the body in which Jesus had eaten and drunk with them both before and after His Resurrection, a real, physical, but gloriously restored body, bearing the marks of nails and a spear.  This is what ascended.  This is what, now and forever, is a living, participating part of God. The Ascension, along with the Incarnation, is here to tell us that it is a good thing to be a human being; indeed, it is a wonderful and an important and a holy thing to be a human being.  It is such an important thing that God did it.  Even more, the fullness of God now includes what it means to be a human being.

Life messages: 1) We need to be proclaimers and evangelizers: In today's Gospel, Jesus gives his mission to all the believers: "Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” This mission is not given to a select few but to all believers. To be a Christian is to be a proclaimer and an evangelizer. There is a difference between preaching and proclaiming. “We preach with words but we proclaim with our lives.” As we celebrate the Lord’s return to His Father in Heaven – His Ascension -- we are being commissioned to go forth and proclaim the Gospel of life and love, of hope and peace, by the witness of our lives. On this day of hope, encouragement and commissioning, let us renew our commitment to be true disciples everywhere we go, beginning with our family and our parish, "living in a manner worthy of the call [we] have received.”

2) We need to live a life of Christian joy in the presence of the ascended Lord. According to Luke, the disciples "returned to Jerusalem with great joy." Apparently, Jesus' exaltation and final blessing gave them, as it gives us, the assurance that, though absent, he is still present, present even in the pain and sorrow we undergo. That is why St. Augustine assures us, “Christ is now exalted above the Heavens, but he still suffers on earth all the pain that we, the members of his Body, have to bear. He showed this when he cried out from above: 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?' and when he said: 'I was hungry and you gave me food.' While in Heaven he is also with us; and while on earth we are with him. He is here with us by his Divinity, his power and his love. We cannot be in Heaven, as he is on earth, by Divinity, but in him, we can be there by love." “With a spirit of wisdom and insight to know him clearly,” we can discover Christ's presence at every turn of our life’s journeys to his final return at the end of time.

3) We have a teaching mission:  Jesus taught us lessons of Faith, Hope, forgiveness, mercy, Redemption and Love.  We cannot put these lessons on a shelf and ignore them.  They stand before us in the person of Jesus.  Although no longer visibly present in the world, He is present in his words. We must make his words real in our lives and in the lives of others. Christianity was meant to be a Faith in which Jesus’ followers would help and care for others, just as Jesus had done, and in so doing, care for him in them.   But the spreading of the Good News to all nations is not a goal that can be attained by human might and craft.  This is why Jesus promises to empower his messengers with His abiding presence and that of the Holy Spirit.   The challenge of sharing the Good News with all mankind should, therefore, begin with our admission that we have often been arrogant and overbearing.  We must learn to be humble and let the Holy Spirit lead the way.

4) The ascended Jesus is our source of strength and encouragement: Perhaps some of the nagging doubts, which inevitably accompany the journey of Faith, could be lessened by our meditating on the Ascension and its implications. When we are too far from Faith to pray on our own, let us remember that we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous, praying for us. When the trials of life feel too heavy to bear, we must remember that Christ will come again in glory, the same glory in which he arose from the tomb, the same glory in which he ascended, and the same glory in which he currently abides. Though our limited perception might find him absent, he is fully present, participating in every moment of our lives. By His Ascension, Christ has not deserted us but has made it possible for the Holy Spirit to enter all times and places. In this way, it is possible for each of us to be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit into agents or instruments of Christ. We are enlivened and our actions become animated in a new way by Holy Spirit as we serve the God we love We have become Christs in the world. (Prepared by Fr. Anthony Kadavil)

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Cardinal Tagle will preside over a mass at the University of Santo Tomas on May 21 evening where the pilgrims of the 21 day cross-country caravan against death penalty will be joined by thousands of people.    

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila said that the whole question about the death penalty is something that should be ruled out in the fight against crime. Backing the pilgrims of the 21-day cross-country caravan against death penalty, the cardinal said that capital punishment must be replaced with better alternatives.

“The march gives us an opportunity to find ways of fighting crimes, for all crimes violate life, but without resorting to measures that also violate life, like capital punishment. With personal and collective study, prayer, discernment and action, we hope to be a people that promote a culture of life,” he said.

Backed by the CBCP National Secretariat for Social Action (Nassa), the marchers are composed of 14 core pilgrims from various sectors including women, farmers, fishermen, laborers and the youth.

In a petition to be delivered to the Senate on May 24, the marchers urged the senators to reject the death penalty, saying that it is anti-poor and will not deter crime in a country with an imperfect justice system. “In the country, in their inability to get good lawyers and where some judges can be bought, death penalty only punishes the poor, and some of them believed to be innocent,” they said.

The petition also warned the legislators that restoring the capital punishment is unlawful as it violates existing international treaties where the Philippine government is signatory to. And these violations, according them, also constitute economic repercussions.

“The European Union will be forced to impose tax to 6,000 export products from the Philippines,” it said, adding that the country puts at risk about US$12.3 billion worth of trade.

According to the marchers, these possible consequences will primarily affect farmers and fisherfolk and their livelihoods. “We pray for our Senators to decide based on conscience and reason and to side with the poor on this matter by rejecting the death penalty,” they said.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) earlier praised the initiative, saying that more lay faithful “are becoming more and more socially engaged”.

“It is our duty as pastors to encourage them, to bless them and invite more lay faithful to assist them in the mission of social transformation,” said Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, CBCP President.

A multi-sectoral group of cross country pilgrims reached Cavite province on May 18, or 15 days after embarking on “Lakbay-Buhay”, a march-caravan all the way from Cagayan de Oro City in Mindanao to drum up public awareness against death penalty.

Passing through the island of Cebu, and the provinces in Eastern Visayas, Bicol and Southern Luzon, the pilgrims were joined by civil society groups, human rights advocates and church people throughout the route of their journey.

The group will also conduct activities at the Senate grounds until the senators’ recess at the end of the month. (CBCP News)

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Washington D.C., May 20, 2017 / 04:19 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Immigration arrests have risen sharply in 2017 compared to the previous year, after the Trump administration unveiled stricter immigration policies, which were decried by the U.S. bishops.

In the first 100 days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on the subject, immigration arrests are up almost 40 percent compared with the same time last year.

According to data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency’s Enforcement and Removal Operations deportation officers made 41,318 immigration arrests between Jan. 22 and April 29, 2017, more than 400 arrests per day and up from 30,028 made between Jan. 24 and April 30, 2016.

“These statistics reflect President Trump’s commitment to enforce our immigration laws fairly and across the board,” ICE’s acting director Thomas Homan stated.

In January, President Trump had directed in an executive order that his administration intended on enforcing federal immigration law, and called for a wall be constructed on the U.S.-Mexico border as well as the construction of additional immigrant detention centers and the hiring of new immigration officials.

Then in February, the Department of Homeland Security issued a memoranda implementing the order.

The new DHS rules called for, among other things, speeding up deportations, the construction of new immigrant detention facilities, enforcement of federal immigration law by local law enforcement officers, and the publication of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants, the New York Times had reported.

Also, undocumented parents living in the U.S. who attempt to have their children smuggled into the country could be prosecuted for human trafficking under the new DHS rules.

The chair of the U.S. bishops’ migration committee warned that the rules would target vulnerable persons along with criminals.

“Taken together, these memoranda constitute the establishment of a large-scale enforcement system that targets virtually all undocumented migrants as ‘priorities’ for deportation, thus prioritizing no one,” Bishop Joe Vasquez of Austin, Tex. stated after the rules were issued.

With local police officers enforcing federal immigration law, this could disrupt their relationships with immigrant communities, the bishop continued, as immigrants could not be “fearful of cooperating…in both reporting and investigating criminal matters.”

ICE reported that the rise in arrests was a result of the Trump administration’s immigration policy where criminals would primarily be targeted for arrest, but other undocumented persons, if discovered, would also be detained.

Almost 75 percent of those arrested in 2017 – 30,473 persons – were convicted criminals, ICE said, with convictions ranging from homicide and assault to drug-related charges. “Non-criminal arrests,” meanwhile, jumped to 10,800 in 2017, compared to 4,200 at the same time in 2016.

“ICE agents and officers have been given clear direction to focus on threats to public safety and national security, which has resulted in a substantial increase in the arrest of convicted criminal aliens,” acting director Thomas Homan stated. “However, when we encounter others who are in the country unlawfully, we will execute our sworn duty and enforce the law.”

“We are a nation of laws, and ignoring orders issued by federal judges undermines our constitutional government,” said Homan.

Bishops of dioceses along the U.S.-Mexican border signed a joint statement in February calling for the dignity of immigrants to be respected.

“Immigration is a global phenomenon arising from economic and social conditions of poverty and insecurity,” U.S. and Mexican bishops stated. “It directly displaces entire populations causing families to feel that migration is the only way to survive.”

“The migrant has a right to be respected by international law and national law as he/she faces the violence, criminality, and inhuman policies of governments as well as the world’s indifference,” they continued. “Regardless of one’s migration condition, the intrinsic human dignity that every person possesses must be respected in the person of the migrant.”

“They are commonly subjected to punitive laws and are often mistreated by civil authorities in their countries of origin, the countries through which they travel, and the countries of their destination. It is essential that governments adopt policies that respect the basic human rights of undocumented migrants,” they stated.

 

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