Pope Francis met with 6,000 teachers and students in Italian schools, urging them to follow the example of Pope John XXIII and Martin Luther King Jr. and commit themselves to promoting peace.
(Vatican News Network)On November 28, Pope Francis received students and teachers from several Italian schools in the Paul VI Hall of the Vatican. Promoted by the National Network of Schools for Peace in Italy, the theme of teachers and students’ meeting with the Pope this time is “Promoting Peace and Caring”. Proceeding from this theme, the Pope stressed the importance of continuous peacebuilding and called Saint Pope John XXIII and Martin Luther King “prophetic figures of our time”.
Peacebuilding requires a relentless struggle, not a commitment to peace only when we are affected by war. “We often talk about peace when we feel a direct threat, such as a possible nuclear attack, or a war being fought on our doorstep,” said the Pope. Likewise, we only talk about peace when our relatives or friends emigrate. We care about the rights of immigrants. In fact, we need to care about peace everywhere! Just as we always need to care about others, our brothers and sisters; we must take care of them.”
The Pope then named two examples of outstanding witnesses to peace. The first is Saint Pope John XXIII. “He has the reputation of ‘the good pope’, but also the title of ‘pope of peace’, because in the difficult times of the early 1960s, amidst the high tensions of the rise of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban crisis, the Cold War and the nuclear threat, He published the well-known and prophetic encyclical “Peace in the World.” Pope Francis encouraged everyone to read this document, which is still relevant today, and embark on this path of defense and promotion of peace.
“Another prophetic figure of our time” is Martin Luther King. “In the context of a strong atmosphere of racial discrimination in the United States, he made everyone embrace dreams, longing for a world of justice, freedom and equality.” He dreams of his four sons and daughters living in a country where they are not judged by the color of their skin. To this end, the Pope asked the students present, saying: “And you boys and girls: what dreams do you have for the world of today and tomorrow? I encourage you to follow the example of John XXIII and Martin Luther King and dream big. “
In addition, Pope Francis also extended his cordial greetings to the organizers of the event, noting that this event responds to his call for the Global Compact for Education. “I congratulate you teachers and students for the rich program of activities and the formation in which you participated,” said the Pope. “I am glad to see that not only Catholic schools, universities and institutions have responded to this call, but also public, secular and Institutions of other religions have also responded.”
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