ROME (CNS) ─ Catholics in the Diocese of Rome must come up with concrete projects to help the tens of thousands of poor people who live in the city and must ensure religious education classes teach the social doctrine of the church, Pope Francis said.
"And, please, stop saying that priests who work with the poor are communists -- there are still people who say this," the pope said Oct. 25 during the evening meeting of the Rome diocesan assembly at the Basilica of St. John Lateran.
The assembly marked the 50th anniversary of one called by St. Paul VI to study "The Responsibility of Christians in the Face of Expectations for Charity and Justice in the City of Rome," a project better known as a conference on the "Evils of Rome."
Rome was a poor city, filled with desperation and conflict in 1974, said Cardinal-designate Baldassare Reina, the papal vicar for Rome.
Unfortunately, the pope said, the results of the current study show that poverty and inequality are still rampant.
Cardinal-designate Reina summarized the signs as falling into four categories: crumbling, understaffed schools on the outskirts of the city; a public health care system that leaves many without treatment until it is too late; apartments that sit empty while homelessness and squatting increase; and a lack of jobs that pay enough to support a family.
"These cannot be just statistical facts," the pope said. "They are stories of our brothers and sisters that touch us and that challenge us."
"Are we able to see in their broken stories the face of the suffering Christ?" Pope Francis asked.
"The poor will always be with us," he said. But "the poor are the flesh of Christ and like a sacrament they make him visible to our eyes."
The first thing Christ asks Christians to do, he said, is to proclaim the good news to the poor, letting them know that they are loved by God and will not be abandoned by God's people.
With a growing divide between the rich and poor in Rome, "it is a city that is being torn apart, just like the entire planet is," the pope said. And the only way to heal the rift is by creating new alliances, working with the poor, with each other and with city officials to find solutions.
"But in the meantime," he told diocesan leaders, "I would like to ask you to place greater emphasis on the social teaching of the church in your ordinary pastoral activity and in catechesis. It is important, in fact, to form consciences so that the Gospel may be translated into the different situations of today, and may make us witnesses of justice, of peace, of fraternity, and supporters of a new social network, one of solidarity, in the city.”
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