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MEETING WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF CIVIL SOCIETY

MEETING WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF CIVIL SOCIETY

APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO ECUADOR, BOLIVIA AND PARAGUAY (5-13 JULY 2015) MEETING WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF CIVIL SOCIETY ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER León Condou Stadium, Colegio San José Asunción (Paraguay) Saturday, 11 July 2015

1. In the first question, I was pleased to hear a young person express concern that society be a place of fraternity, justice, peace and dignity for everyone. Youth is a time of high ideals. I often say that it is really sad to see a young person who is out of work. It is important that you, the young, and there are indeed many young persons here in Paraguay, realize that genuine happiness comes from working to make a more fraternal country! It comes from realizing that happiness and pleasure are not synonymous. Happiness, joy, is one thing, but fleeting pleasure is another. Happiness is built up, it is something solid which edifies. Happiness is demanding, it requires commitment and effort. You are too important to be satisfied with living life under a kind of anesthesia! Paraguay has a large population of young people and this is a great source of enrichment for the nation. So I think that the first thing to do is to make sure that all that energy, that light, does not disappear from your hearts, and to resist the growing mentality which considers it useless and absurd to aspire to things that demand effort. “There’s no point getting involved, it can no longer be fixed”. This attitude belittles those who instead want progress, who instead want to move forward. Be committed to something, be committed to someone. This is the vocation of young people so don’t be afraid to take a risk on the field, but play fairly and give it your best. Don’t be afraid to give the best of yourselves! Don’t look for easy solutions beforehand so as to avoid tiredness and struggle. And don’t bribe the referee. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0wQly2S7rw

https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2015/july/documents/papa-francesco_20150711_paraguay-societa-civile.html