Vatican City.- Pope Francis today (Saturday, January 3) asked young people not to let themselves be conditioned by the fashions of the moment, neither by ‘like’ nor ‘followers’, in an address to the students and teachers of the Rotondi College of Gorla Minore, the oldest private Catholic school in Italy.
«Guys, look for the truth in everything, without being influenced by current trends or common thinking, by the likes or by the consensus of the followers. These are not the most important things, in fact, depending too much on them can take away our freedom,” the pope told the young people.
He also told them that they do not have to fear, “when necessary, change and accept opinions and ways of thinking different from yours in everything that is not essential: be true lovers of the truth and, therefore, always available to listen and argue”.
And about education, the Pope told them that “ignorance breeds fear and fear breeds intolerance” and that is why he invited them to always study, and “study as a team” and “always with joy.”
«In fact, knowledge grows by sharing it with others. We study to grow, and growing means maturing together, dialoguing: dialoguing with God, with teachers and other educators, with parents; dialogue among ourselves and also with those who think differently, to always learn new things and allow each one to give the best of themselves,” he added. EFE