“War is the failure of politics” because “it feeds on the poison that considers the other as an enemy,” Pope Francis affirmed on 18 March, Saturday during the meeting he held in the Apostolic Palace with the youth of the Policoro Project, promoted by the Italian Episcopal Conference and whose purpose is to respond to the problem of youth unemployment in the country.
The Holy Father stressed that this year the members of the project have peace as their theme, which “cannot be missing in sociopolitical training, and unfortunately it is also urgent due to the current situation.”
In this sense, he rejected war as a means to resolve conflicts and rather encouraged young people to educate themselves for peace. “This is everyone’s responsibility. Make war, but another war, an internal war, a war within yourselves to work for peace.”
To do this, he recommended the work of Saint Ambrose Naboth’s vineyard, in which the Archbishop of Milan reflects on the expropriation of which Nabot was a victim by King Ahab, for the sole desire of extending his garden.
“This small but precious work of Saint Ambrose will be useful for your formation. The politics that exercises power as domination and not as service is not capable of caring, it tramples on the poor, exploits the land and confronts conflicts with war, it does not know how to dialogue”, Pope Francis pointed out.
The Pontiff indicated that a contrary case is the figure of Joseph, son of Jabob, who out of envy was sold as a slave by his own brothers and sent to Egypt. “After some incidents, he is released and enters the service of Pharaoh,” who gives him certain powers, Francisco recalled.
However, he stressed, “Joseph does not behave like a boss, but like a father: he takes care of the country and when famine comes, he organizes the grain reserves for the common good, so much so that Pharaoh tells the people: ‘Do what (Joseph) will tell you.’”
“Joseph, who has personally suffered injustice, does not seek his own interest, but that of the people” and becomes a peacemaker, the Pontiff said.
Pope Francis pointed out to the young people of the Policoro Project that both biblical examples, one negative and the other positive, “help us understand what spirituality can feed politics.”
In this sense, he indicated that every good politician should question how much love he put into his work, how much social peace he has sown, how he has advanced the people, among other questions.
Finally, the Holy Father urged them that “their concern is not electoral support or personal success”, but to generate entrepreneurship, make dreams flourish and that people feel the beauty of belonging to a community. “Participation is the balm for the wounds of democracy,” he said.