Pope Francis: Care for the Elderly and Children
Pope Francis, as reported by CAN/EWTN News, spoke to the Community of St. Egidio in Rome’s Santa Maria Basilica in Transverse on the Feast of the Trinity. As you read his words, there is a universal application for our world, one that touches our lives here: the Community of Christ the Servant.
Francis reminded those gathered that, “The treatment of the elderly, as that of children, is an indicator showing the quality of a society. When the elderly are discarded, when the elderly are isolated and sometimes closed off without affection, it’s a bad sign!”
In our society, “Children are thrown away: no children. Just think of the growth rate of children in Europe: in Italy, Spain, France. The elderly are thrown away with these attitudes, behind which is a hidden euthanasia, a form of euthanasia: uselessness. That which isn’t useful is thrown away.”
“The elderly and their prayers are richness… and a people that does not safeguard its elderly that does not take care of its young people, is a people without a future, a people without hope… the youth, the children, the young people, and the elderly carry history forward.”
Francis commented that our young people provide a “biological strength” for our society, and the elderly “give them their memory.” “When a society loses memory, it’s over. It’s finished. It’s terrible to see a society, a people, a culture that has lost memory,”
The Holy Father reminded those gathered that we need to remember the importance of our solidarity with others, expressing his gratitude to the Community of St. Egidio in living the ideal of hospitality and welcome. Also, he commended the community as a witness in its solidarity with those who are impoverished, homeless, elderly, disabled, and young people particularly the immigrants throughout the world.”
“It all starts with prayer. Prayer preserves the anonymous man of the city from the temptations which can also affect us: the attention-seeking in which everything revolves around oneself, indifference, and victimhood.”
The Community of St. Egidio was founded in Rome in 1968 by a young student Andrea Riccardi, who was only 19 years old. He gathered a group of high-school students, like himself, to listen to and to put the Gospel into practice... The students began going to the outskirts of Rome visiting the slums, caring for the poor, the hungry and the homeless, and beginning a school for the children of the slums, where they could gather in the afternoons, rather than roam the streets. Lgaetano