Vatican - The dream of Sr Smerilli (FMA) at Synod: a prophetic, transparent and credible Church in economics

19 October 2018

(ANS - Vatican City) - Sr. Alessandra Smerilli, Daughter of Mary Help of Christians, took part in the briefing for journalists which followed the Synod of Bishops on young people yesterday, 18 October, participating as she was in the Synod as an auditor. In her talks, she gave an account of how much the economic and ecological dimension are present at the synodal works.

During her talk at the Vatican Press Office, the religious of the Salesian Family said: "A dream I hope to see fulfilled is a prophetic Church" where "even the economic dimension is lived with transparency and credibility."

Then she continued: "We cannot talk about poverty and demonstrate little attention to environmental issues. Otherwise we generate new poverty, poverty the young pay for .... One cannot hear the cry of the poor, and of the young among the poor, without listening to the cry of the earth, because they are the same cry."

Even on the Church's direct commitment in this field, Sr Smerilli broadens her gaze, looks outward: "Young people need opportunities, not assistance. The Church can do more. It can provide goods, but also provide the experience of many. New monasteries, sketches or outlines of a new civilization, where new forms of economics and work are experimented, and where young people can spend a year of their lives, as a transition between their families and life as an adult."

And due to the report of the Italian Caritas report on poverty in the country the day before, the religious added: "In Italy, for the first time since World War II, the incidence of absolute poverty is higher among young people than among the elderly."

But the recipe that the religious proposes to emerge from this situation is valid on a universal level and scale: "This state of affairs is not changed if we do not embrace the perspective (or concept) of sustainability."

And the Church can set a good example: "If the whole Church began to live this economic perspective, we will make a contribution to reducing new poverty. If financial investments move towards what is sustainable, rather than finance companies or states that collude with trade, for example weapons ... If we leave this synod convinced of a conversion in this sense, the young will thank us."

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ANS - “Agenzia iNfo Salesiana” is a on-line almost daily publication, the communication agency of the Salesian Congregation enrolled in the Press Register of the Tibunal of Rome as n 153/2007.

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