The “delicate balance between family and work” was highlighted by Pope Francis during the audience he granted to a delegation from the Italian Association of Family Businesses, inviting them to let the gift of faith guide their activities.
This association was founded in 1997 by Alberto Falck and a group of entrepreneurs inspired by the same values. It currently brings together around 270 companies.
The Italian Family Business Association is part of the Family Business Network, the international network present in 58 countries with more than 10,300 members.
In his brief speech, the Pope said, “the Church is the family of God and looks favourably on everything that is family. First the people and then the family: no! First the family and, within the family, the people.”
In this regard, he highlighted the “delicate balance between family and work” that characterizes the members of the association and “which is expressed in entrepreneurial courage and responsibility.”
“It is good, it is constructive when courage and responsibility go together. Action that comes from the heart is bold, it does not close itself off, but knows how to look far ahead; responsibility, therefore, is the secret of the company, a word that means ‘house management’ — oikos nomos — and is, therefore, an expression of care. Caring for one’s own company, caring for the family, caring for the common home, caring for future generations,” he encouraged.
Pope Francis then told them that, just like the mission of the Catholic Church, the activity of the association “is generally rooted in a territory, which they are called to enrich, both with the testimony of family ties and with the seriousness of their professional commitment.”
“May the gift of faith increasingly guide your presence in local realities and strengthen your participation in the fate of humanity,” he said.
The Holy Father asked them not to forget “that everything is connected,” even if “the brotherhood between people and nations is deeply wounded and our common home bears the marks of unjust human greed.”
“Even bad things have a connection with all of us,” reiterated Pope Francis, who urged them to live “the local dimension with a universal heart,” and to spread throughout the world “the value of being a ‘family.’”
He also encouraged them “to continue forward, to feel part, in the Church, of a larger family and a larger work, which is the service of the Kingdom of God and his justice. I invite you, therefore, to broaden your hearts and your gaze, to cultivate listening, at home and work, between different generations.”
“Believe in your children’s vocation – whatever it may be – and open doors and windows to those who want to walk a part of the path with you. Let us remember the parable of the talents: nothing that has been entrusted to you must be ‘buried’. Do not be afraid and go forward with confidence,” concluded Pope Francis