Pope Francis: A Man of His Word (2018)

[bunniefuu]

(Classical music playing)

NARRATOR: "Time flies", we say, because... we don 't really understand what time is.

Days go by, seasons, years, centuries, we 're young, we get old, we die.

We're all subject to time, but... we have no control over it.

We 're less in control than We'd like to think, anyway:

Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes wash over us, but even worse than those natural disasters are our self-made ones, wars, famines, v*olence, terrorism, nuclear catastrophes.

150 species die out every single day as a consequence of our actions.

In another couple of generations, all sorts of plants, birds, fish and insects will be extinct... forever.

Soon we 7/ number 8 billion people on our planet, more than 1 billion of them hungry.

There are ways to lift them out of poverty, only... this is not happening.

So, what can we do?

How should we live... today?

How can we live in peace, with each other, with our planet?

One man had radical answers to all these questions.

He lived here: in this small town in the Umbrian mountains of central Italy, 800 years ago:

Saint Francis...of Assisi.

He was a revolutionary, not only of Christianity, but of humankind at large.

In this basilica, erected in his honor shortly after he d*ed, we find a series of colorful frescoes, painted... by the great Master Giotto, which tell the life of the saint, like in a huge sacred comic strip.

In this image, we see a decisive moment.

Francis is praying in an abandoned chapel, urgently searching for a better purpose in his life.

The prospect of just... inheriting the business of his father, a rich merchant in Assisi, frightens him.

Suddenly, he hears a voice speak to him from the cross.

"Francis, go and restore... my house!

It is falling into... ruins... "

"Restore my house", what could that mean?

Was he asked to restore... the church itself? it dawns on Francis that a fundamental change can only be brought about by taking the Gospel... seriously.

He decides to live his life in total poverty, without any possessions, in solidarity with the poor, the sick and the outcast, like Jesus, as a sign that a complete... transformation of attitudes is... needed.

He and his order will give an example for a new brotherhood of men dedicated to the common good.

And isn't that exactly what is needed today?

(Applause)

(Pope Francis speaking Spanish)

Good evening, all of you.

You came walking here, making your way through the city from all sides.

The people who saw you, asked themselves:

"What are they doing?"

"We walk with Christ to go and celebrate the Father."

In our city, there are families that are divided, hearts that have grown apart.

But we are brothers and I want to ask you for a sign.

A gesture that makes us feel like brothers, but at the same time as 'yeast', as a fermentation of fraternity, of brotherhood in our city.

Now, when we hug like brothers, giving each other fraternal peace,

we give a sign to this city of Buenos Aires that it's better to be united as brothers, than be distant, estranged and angry.

Now let's give each other a brotherly embrace.

(Cheering)

(Classical music playing)

(Cheering continues)

(Speaks Italian)

Good evening!

(Cheering)

You know that the conclave had to give a Bishop to Rome.

It seems that my brother Cardinals went almost to the end of the world to find one.

But here we are.

(Cheering continues)

NARRATOR: Yes here we are, all of us.

With great expectations... of the first Pope from the Americas.

The first“. from the Southern hemisphere.

The first Jesuit.

But most of all... the first Pope ever to choose the name of Francis.

What is it going to take to blow a Franciscan breeze into the world again, other than courage and humility?

(Speaking Spanish)

The world today is mostly deaf.

And I think that among ourselves, the priests, there are many deaf ones.

I'm talking about getting involved in people's lives, lam talking about closeness.

Talk little, listen a lot, say just enough, and always look people in the eye.

This closeness of a priest reflects an attitude of spiritual tenderness, which is what God has for us.

(Classical music playing)

(Speaking Italian) Why did you want to be Pope?

(Laughter)

Do you know what it means

when a person doesn't really love himself?

Somebody who has the desire to become Pope, doesn't like himself.

And God doesn't bless him.

(Applause)

No, I never wanted to become Pope.

Is that okay?

You, Francis, why have you renounced the riches of a Pope, like a luxurious apartment, Of an enormous car?

Instead you prefer a small apartment nearby, and you even take the bus for bishops.

Why have you renounced to wealth?

(Applause)

Well, I believe that our times tell us of such poverty all over the world, and that is a scandal!

In a world where we have such riches, so many resources for giving food to everybody, you cannot understand how there can be so many hungry children, so many children without education, so many poor!

The poverty today is an outrage!

We must all consider if we can't become a little bit poorer.

This is something we all must do: not have so many things, and become a bit poorer.

(Speaking Spanish)

In the first interview I gave, in which I saluted the journalists who covered the conclave, three years ago,

a declaration came straight from my heart:

How much I wanted a poor church for the poor!

Jesus tells us in the Gospel that no one can serve two masters.

We either serve God or we serve money.

And the big temptation that was felt throughout history by Christians, by man, and by the Church, has always been wealth.

In the Church there are men, who have yielded, and are still yielding to those temptations.

(Pope Francis speaking Italian)

Dear Brothers.

It is good to think of the Roman Curia as a small model of the Church, or as a 'body' that strives seriously, every day, to be more alive, more healthy, more harmonious and more united in itself and with Christ.

However, since the Curia is a dynamic body, it cannot live without nourishment and without healing.

Like any body, like any human body, it is also exposed to diseases, to malfunctioning, to infirmity.

Here I'd like to mention some of these probable diseases.

There are diseases and temptations that weaken our service to the Lord.

Let's begin with the disease of thinking we are 'immortal', 'immune', or downright 'indispensable', neglecting the need for regular check-ups.

A Curia which is not self-critical, which doesn't update or seeks to improve itself, is a sick body.

The disease of rivalry and vaingloriousness...

The disease of 'closed circles'. ..

The disease o fa lugubrious face...

The disease of 'existential schizophrenia.‘ The 'spiritual Alzheimer's disease'...

And lastly:

The disease of 'hoarding'.

When an apostle tries to fill an existential void in his heart by accumulating material goods,

but only in order to feel secure.

(Speaking Spanish)

As long as there's a church that places its hope on wealth,

Jesus is not there.

I say it again: as long as the church is placing its hope on wealth, Jesus is not there.

It's an NGO

for charity or culture, but it's not the church of Jesus.

Poverty is at the center of the gospel!

(Sounds of children playing)

(Indistinct chatter)

(Pope Francis speaking Spanish)

In 1970, I had to travel to a meeting of teachers for novices.

I'm talking about 1970.

In the city where this took place

they gave me a tour, and for the first time I saw a gated community.

A protected neighborhood, separated from the rest.

I could not understand that, because in Argentina I had not yet seen this.

Today they have lots of those.

That is the effect!

We take a small land for ourselves, for a small group, and the rest have to get by with the scraps of Mother Earth that we left behind.

(Brazilian music playing)

(Speaking Portuguese)

Dear Brothers and Sisters.

Good morning!

(Cheering)

How good is it to be welcomed with love, generosity and joy.

When we're generous in welcoming people, and sharing with them some food, a place in our homes, our time, we no longer remain poor, we are enriched.

I know when someone who needs food knocks at your door you always find a way of sharing your meal.

As the saying goes:

"You can always add more water to the beans."

(Cheering)

Can one add more water to the beans?!

(Cheering)

Always?

(Crowd shouting) Always!

(Pope Francis speaking) The Pope is with you!

(Classical music playing)

(Classical music continues)

(Sounds of cheering/laughing)

(Michele speaking Italian)

Holiness, I'm a worker, my name is Michele.

My status as worker, cannot prevent me from asking, Holiness, for a plea, on behalf of all those who have a job, and we are less and less, for all those who've lost it, and they are many, and for those who haven't yet found work, and those are plenty.

We need to believe that work Is sacred.

Than kyou, Holiness.

(Pope Francis speaking)

Think about it that among young people of 25 or less more than 40% don't have work!

What do young people do without a job?

What future do they have?

What path of life do they choose?

(Applause)

This is serious!

When you don't earn the bread, you lose your dignity!

This lack of work...

This lack of work robs us of dignity!

(Cheering)

We must fight for this, we must defend our dignity, as citizens, as men and women, as young people.

That is the tragedy of our time.

We must not remain silent.

No!

(Speaking Spanish)

The way to escape consumerism, this corruption, this competitiveness, this being enslaved to money, is the concreteness of day-to-day work, is tangible reality!

I like to talk about the three 'T's:

'trabajo' (work), 'tierra' (land) and 'techo' (root).

'Roof' means home, family.

Recovering this sense of family.

'Land' means work, cultivating the land.

And work mean precisely the most noble thing that man has:

to imitate God with your hands by creating!

NARRATOR: Those three T's... many of us take them for granted: enough to eat and drink, a home, a steady work.

They're basic human rights that everybody should have access to.

However, because that is not the case, Pope Francis in his first year in office

(Pope Francis speaks Spanish) My brother! created a forum of popular movements and grassroots organizations, representing farmers, workers and indigenous people.

Now he visits them a year later on his home continent.

(Pope Francis speaking Spanish)

Sisters, brothers, good evening.

I want to clarify, that I am speaking about common problems of all Latin Americans and generally of humanity as a whole.

Do we recognize, in all sincerity, that things are not going well?

In a world where there are so many farmers without land, so many families without a home, so many workers without rights, so many persons whose dignity is harmed?

Do we realize that things don't go well, when soil, water and air and all living beings of creation are under permanent thr*at?

So, if we realize all this, let's say it without fear: we need, and we want change!

(Applause)

We want change in our lives, in our neighborhoods, in our paychecks, and in our everyday reality.

Let's say 'No' to an economy of exclusion and inequality where money rules instead of serving.

This economy kills!

This economy excludes.

The economy destroys Mother Earth.

A mother and her children, the common house and its inhabitants go together,

they go together.

Mother Earth, 'Sister Earth', as Saint Francis called her.

That's why I started the encyclical with the hymn of Saint Francis.

They go together.

And if today you ask me: for you, who is the poorest of the poorest or the poor, I would say: Mother Earth!

We have plundered her!

We have abused her!

NARRATOR: in June 2015, something unprecedented is happening:

A letter by a pope is read by the entire world, not only by Catholics or Christians.

in his encyclical on the environment, subtitled "On Care for our Common Home", Pope Francis urges us to understand that protecting the planet is our most pressing task today.

it is not a coincidence that "Laudato Si" comes out a few months before the much anticipated Summit on Climate Control in Paris.

The world is stunned.

Who would have expected the Vatican to be so explicit and to denounce the reckless exploitation of our planet so directly, backed up so thoroughly by facts and numbers?

Like on a big canvas, the Pope's concerns are even projected right onto the facade of St. Peter's Basilica.

(Pope Francis speaking Spanish)

The theology contained in 'Laudato Si' is in dialogue with science.

Today, well never, could you practice theology without a dialogue with science.

More than that:

God gave us the capacity for investigation, the intellectual ability to look for truths.

Obviously the biblical story of creation is a mythical form of expression to explain what happened.

But it is a development, an evolution.

God, when he sent Man to dominate the Earth, entrusted something uncultivated to him.

So, man began transforming the uncultivated into something cultivated.

This is what we understand as progress in science, in art, in technology, in scientific research, that man is transforming this not-knowing, this lack of culture into culture.

We are all called upon, not just Adam and Eve, all of us, to create culture.

But when someone feels that he owns this culture and feels all-powerful, the temptation arises to go further, and destroy the culture.

Think of the feat of the discovery of nuclear energy; and think of Hiroshima.

(Applause)

(Applause continues)

(Pope Francis speaking)

In all religions the environment is a fundamental good.

Its abuse and destruction, however, are accompanied by a continuous process of exclusion.

The poorest are the ones who suffer most from the att*cks for three serious reasons: they are discarded by society, forced at the same time to live on the leftovers, and have to suffer unjustly from the abuse of the environment.

These phenomena correspond to today's widespread and quietly growing

'culture of waste'.

This is a shame for each and every one of us!

And we are all responsible!

No one can say:

"I have nothing to do with this."

We're all responsible.

The 'law of nature', if we call it that, says that the world should live in harmony, that all things should be in harmony, the entire creation.

So things that go against this harmony of creation are bad!

I think for instance of water, contaminated by mining activities that spill arsenic and cyanide, just an example.

All this to the effect that the surrounding area, for kilometers, offers its population water that caused diseases.

But the government, allowed that to happen!

So, do I resist fighting the law that allowed it?

Yes. I'm protecting a greater good!

The health of that population and the overall good of humanity.

NARRATOR: The common good, that's what Saint Francis had in mind.

The unison and solidarity of all humanity before God.

As well as our harmony with nature, with. ,.

"Sister Mother Earth", as he named her so tenderly...

Saint Francis was a visionary in his time.

He realized very early on that humanity's relationship to nature was getting out of balance, that we were, well, we are still... today looking at our planet upside down, as its masters, not its caretakers.

Saint Francis wrote the first poem in the Italian language.

In his "Canticle of the... Sun" he praised God through all creation.

SAINT FRANCIS: "Most High, all-powerful, good Lord, yours are the praises, the glory... the honor and all blessings.

To you alone, Most High, do they belong.

Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures, especially through my lord Brother Sun, who brings the day and you give light through him.

Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars. in heaven you formed them clear and precious and beautiful.

Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Wind... and through the air cloudy and serene and every kind of weather through which you give sustenance to your creatures.

Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Water, which is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.

Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom you light the night... and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Mother Earth, who sustains us and governs us.

(Pope Francis speaking Spanish)

Saint Francis, in history, stands for

a revitalization of the figure of Christ, in a completely radical, absolute way.

His poverty, 'Sister Poverty'.

His love of the poor and the sick, and his care for them.

His patience with people and with their frailty, including the frailty of his brothers and disciples.

A man of such patience and understanding then transforms into a man of dialogue.

Something I want to point out about dialogue, of which Francis had a lot.

And I'll say it in very simple words:

He was the apostle of the ear.

Knowing how to listen!

At times, the speed of the modern world, its frenzy, keeps us from listening well to what others are saying.

Someone is halfway through a dialogue, and we already interrupt and want to answer before the other one has finished talking.

Not losing the capacity to listen!

And Francis is a listener. He listened to the voice of God, he listened to the voice of the poor, to the voice of the sick, and to the voice of nature.

And he transformed all of this into a way of life.

And I hope that the seed of Francis grows in many hearts.

(Applause)

(Applause)

CROWD: (Chanting) Papa Francesco!

(Singing in Italian)

(Pope Francis speaking Italian)

You know who was first declared a saint in the church?

A prisoner.

He was sentenced to death next to Christ, who told him:

"Today you will be with me in paradise!"

Society must learn from this example of Christ!

We all need to receive forgiveness.

But God tell us in the bible: "When He forgives, He forgets!"

And if I say: "This man is a sinner, he did that!"

I'm sinning!

Because when He forgets, who am I not to forget?

(Speaking Spanish)

Living implies, getting our feet dirty from the dust-filled roads of life.

It is painful to note that people think that only a few need to be washed, and don't realize that your weariness and pain, your wounds, are also the wounds, of an entire society.

The Lord shows this to us clearly with the help of a gesture:

He washes our feet so we can come back to the table.

A table that is spread for all, and to which we all are invited.

All young people today are idealists in the good sense of the word.

But most young people seek something.

Also when they make mistakes, even serious mistakes, I think, they're looking for something else.

And even in their alienation young people are expressing their non-conformism with the world they have to live in.

They get estranged.

I'd even dare to say something that some might not like, about drug addiction.

When young people fall victim to an addiction, it's because there is in their heart a dissatisfaction.

The model of Francis shows them a way, a revolutionary path.

You don't have to be scared of this world, because in the Gospel, when Jesus talks about what he came to bring to Earth, he used language just as strong.

A change in the 'modus vivendi' at that time, in a conformist and self-satisfied society that already cast aside, rejected those, that didn't belong to Its social nucleus.

And Francis obeyed that calling.

If today a young person hears Francis, he feels him touch his heart.

("Solo le Pido a Dios" plays)

(Inaudible)

(Baby crying) ("Solo |e Pido a Dios" continues)

I only ask of God that I won't become indifferent to suffering,

so Death will not find me empty and alone, not having done enough.

I only ask of God that I won't become indifferent to injustice.

(Sister Eufemia speaking Spanish)

The first time we met was 1969 in Cordoba.

I don't think he'd seen me among so many people.

But then they opened the barrier and helped me to go down.

And the Pope said, "No, Maruca, I come to you!"

Then I stood still, and gave him a hug, too.

He had recognized me from up there.

That surprised me a lot.

I was very grateful.

It's really a pity that he doesn't have time anymore.

But he has a different mission here.

He's now the shepherd of the whole world.

And with his charisma he appeals not only to Catholics.

You've seen that he's the kind of person, who speaks with everybody.

His life itself is a sermon.

God sends us the Pope that we need for each stage of the Earth.

(Pope Francis speaking)

Today, really, we live with the accelerator down from morning to night.

This ruins mental health, spiritual health, and physical health.

More so: it affects and destroys family, and therefore society.

"0n the Seventh day, He rested."

What the Jews followed and still observe, was to consider the Sabbath as holy.

On Saturday you rest.

One day of the week, that's the least!

Out of gratitude, to worship God, to spend time with the family, to play, to do all these things.

We are not machines!

So when we live such a fast-paced life,

we lose our most human gestures.

A husband forgets the day he got engaged to his wife,

parents forget to caress their children or the grandparents, because there's no time for a caress, there's no time for tenderness.

There's no time to enjoy life, which is so beautiful!

(Applause)

(Speaking Spanish)

TRANSLATOR: (IN ENGLISH) Some of you might say of course,

Father,

you speak like that because you're not married. (Laughter)

Families have difficulties...

families, we quarrel.

And sometimes plates can fly, (Laughter)

and children bring, uh... headaches.

(Laughter)

I don't want to speak about mother in laws.

(Laughter)

In the family there are indeed difficulties.

But those difficulties,

are overcome with love.

Division of hearts... cannot overcome any difficulty.

Never let the day end, without making peace with the family.

(Applause) (Pope Francis speaking Spanish)

I like to hear confession.

Nowadays I do it very little, I can't.

In Buenos Aires, I did it a lot, and people came to confess.

When men or women came, from a young marriage, and told me about their children, I'd ask how many children they had, they'd tell me,

and then I'd say: "I have a question."

That scared them a bit.

"What is the priest going to ask me!"

And the question was: "Do you play with your children?"

I want to ask all fathers and mothers who are listening:

"Do you play with your children?

(Speaking Italian)

I would like permission to ask a delicate question:

How does Your Holiness intend to confront the question of the gay lobby?

(Pope Francis speaking)

If a person is gay, and is searching for the Lord, and has good will, then who am I to judge him?

We must be brothers to each other...

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this beautifully.

It says: no one should be marginalized for this, they should be integrated into society.

(Speaking Spanish)

Women have a distinctly different way of looking at things than men.

I've had consultation meetings about a given problem with male members, and then the same with female members.

And the input of women is extraordinarily rich!

It's necessary!

The world cannot move foward if there is no complementarity or reciprocity reciprocidad between men and women.

Obviously, the macho and feminist movements are of no help, because they are isolated movements.

The useful movements are those based on reciprocal and complementary approaches.

We have to integrate women!

Because a world without the leadership, advice and vision of women cannot advance.

(Speaking Italian)

Thank you, Holy Father, for your availability under these circumstances.

You've spoken out very forcefully against the sexual abuse of minors, on behalf of the clergy.

You created a special commission to better deal with this problem, at the level of the universal church.

What would you do, if a bishop just didn't respect these obligations?

The abuse of minors is an offense so brutal, so...

We know it's a serious problem everywhere, but I'm concerned with the Church!

A priest who does this betrays the body of the Lord!

Because this priest must lead this boy or girl, or these young people, to holiness.

These young men and women trust him, and instead of leading them to holiness, he abuses them.

And this is extremely serious!

(Pope Francis speaking Spanish)

The Church cannot remain indifferent to this.

Towards pedophilia, zero tolerance!

And the Church must punish such priests who have that problem,

and bishops must remove from their priestly functions anyone with that disease, that tendency to pedophila,

and that includes to support the legal action by the parents before the civil courts.

There is no other way out of this!

Zero tolerance, because it's a crime, no, worse!

It's leaving them alive, but destroyed.

(wind howling)

(cheering)

(cheering continues)

(Pope Francis speaking Spanish)

So many of you have lost everything.

I don't know what to say to you, only to keep silence and accompany you in my heart, silently.

We are not alone.

We have Jesus, our older brother.

And we also have many brothers, who at the moment of catastrophe came to our assistance.

Forgive me if I have no other words.

But with the strength that Jesus gives us, our older brother, let us move foward.

As brothers, let us walk together!

(Pope Francis speaking)

Human life is a road that'll come to an end.

We all die a little every day.

Sometimes,

we avoid thinking about our own death

and live as if we're never going to die.

And this is dangerous, as it doesn't lead to wisdom.

Two weeks ago, I got a letter from the aunt of a boy,

6 years old.

He had cancer.

Terminal.

He told his Mom that he'd like to talk to Pope Francis.

The mother let me know, and I called.

He was sleeping.

So I left a message on his mobile.

The next day I didn't call.

The boy said: "The Pope was offended, because I didn't answer his call."

The next day I called again, he slept, so I left a message.

And that made him happy.

I tried once more the following day.

This time his mother answered and said: "He's very sick.

I don't know if he'll be able to talk."

And she put the phone on loudspeaker, I talked to him, and he said: "Thank you, thank you!"

A few hours later he d*ed.

That boy knew he was going to die, he had the wisdom.

However, he d*ed, and I want to underline this word: he was reconciled with his own death.

It's very wise to reconcile ourselves with the fact that we will die.

So how do I think about my own death?

Once I came close,

when I was young.

I escaped the danger of dying, but I know that through the little deaths of every day one day...

I will go.

When? Whenever the Lord wants, however He wants.

But... lam not eternal.

Nobody is, only God.

(cheering)

(Indistinct conversation)

(Pope Francis speaking Spanish)

"Why do the innocents suffer?"

Or the big question that the great Dostoevsky asked:

"Why do children suffer?"

It's a question that we all ask ourselves.

And if you ask me why children suffer, the only thing I can say is:

"Look at the Child ofGod on a cross."

I don't know what other answer to give to you.

But let's talk about why God allows it, which is the core of the question.

Quite simply, because he created us as persons,

and as such: free!

God is respectful of freedom.

He allowed his son to be k*lled on the cross.

The game of human freedom:

God risked a lot here! it would more dishonor man,

if God could take away his freedom,

than if man, with his freedom, committed a crime.

And here is the game of love!

Without freedom we cannot love.

Because love implies a choice.

The ultimate love, the parents' love for their child, and vice versa, the love of a couple, between bride and groom, the love for life, the love of people all imply an option:

Either I love, or I don't, or I hate.

But if I didn't have that freedom of choice, I could not love.

(Announcer speaking Hebrew)

Moshe Ha-Elion, born in Thessaloniki, Greece.

After the German occupation in April 1943, he was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Sonia Tunik Geron, born in Stoipce, formerly Poland.

After the German invasion In 1941, she was deported with her family to the ghetto...

(Speaking Italian)

"Adam, where are you?"

Man, where are you?

What have you come to?

In this place, the memorial to the Shoah, we feel God's question echo once more:

"Adam, where are you?"

In this call there's all the sorrow of a father, who has lost a son.

The Father knew the risk of freedom.

He knew that his children could get lost.

But perhaps not even the Father could have imagined so deep a fall, so profound an abyss!

Man, who are you?

Who corrupted you?

Who d*sfigured you?

Who infected you to assume that you were the master over good and evil?

Who convinced you that you were God?

A great evil has befallen us, as it never happened under the sky.

Now, Lord, hear our prayers,

hear our pleas, save us in your mercy.

Give us the grace to be ashamed of what we were able to do as men!

Never again, Lord!

Never again.

We need to be on guard against the sad danger of the 'globalization of indifference', which leads us to slowly get used to the suffering of others, as if it was something normal.

It's tragic that the rising number of migrants are not recognized as refugees by international conventions.

We cannot remain indifferent in front of this.

We don't have the right!

(Pope Francis speaking Italian)

Dear Brothers and Sisters, (Translator speaking Curdish Dialect)

I have wanted to be with you today,

and tell you that you are not alone.

In these months and weeks you have endured much suffering in your search for a better life.

Many of you have felt forced to flee from situations of conflict and persecution, above all for the sake of your children and your little ones.

You've made big sacrifices for your families.

You know the sorrow of having left behind all that was dear to you.

And what is perhaps most difficult: without knowing what the future might possibly bring along.

God created mankind to be one family.

When any of our brothers and sisters suffer, we are all affected.

We have come to call the attention of the world to this serious humanitarian crisis, and to plead for its resolution.

We hope that the world will pay attention to this situation of tragic needs, that is truly desperate, and that it will respond in a way

(Pope Francis speaking Spanish)

These people are victims of a global injustice!

Why do they have to leave their land?

For w*r, or hunger.

If we take a look at the statistics...

Around 80% of the world's riches are in the hands of less than 20% of humanity.

There is an inequality in the economic balance, and that inequality marginalizes, excludes, casts aside!

(Indistinct chatter)

The process of integration is difficult.

Obviously we are here facing the challenge of differences.

And differences always scare us because they make us grow.

Uniformity

doesn't make us grow, so it doesn't scare us.

Differences are creative, they create tension, and resolving this tension moves humanity forward.

(Pope Francis speaking Italian) l have always said that building walls is not a solution.

We've seen, in the last century, the fall of one...

No, it resolves nothing!

We must build bridges, bridges that are made intelligently, with dialogue and integration.

Closing the borders solves nothing!

Because that, in the long run, harms its own people.

JOHN BOEHNER: Members of Congress.

I have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you:

Pope Francis of the Holy See.

(applause)

(Speaking English)

Honorable Members of Congress,

I am most grateful for your invitation to address this Joint Session of Congress

'in the land of the free and the home of the brave'.

(applause)

Our world is facing a refugee crisis of a magnitude not seen since the Second World w*r.

This presents us with great challenges and many hard decisions.

On this continent, too, thousands of persons are led to travel north in search of a better life forthemselves, and for their loved ones.

We must not be taken aback by their numbers, but rather view them as persons, seeing their faces and listening to their stories.

We, the people of this continent, are not fearful of foreigners, because most of us were once foreigners.

(applause)

Let us remember the Golden Rule:

"Do unto others, as you...

(applause) would have them do unto you."

If we want security, let us give security. if we want life, let us give life.

If we want opportunities, let us provide these opportunities.

(applause)

Being at the service of dialogue and peace also means being truly determined to minimize, and in the long term, to end the many armed conflicts throughout our world.

Here we have to ask ourselves:

Why... are deadly weapons being sold to those who plan to inflict untold suffering on individuals and society?

Sadly, the answer, as we all know, is simply for money.

Money that is drenched in blood.

It is our duty to stop the arms trade.

(applause)

NARRATOR: Pope Francis has no weapons, other than words.

But do words still count today?

Some of the hard-boiled American congressmen were moved to tears.

Maybe because there is a man who... lives what he preaches.

RADIO ANCHORMAN: We're smiling here in the studio at the looks of this car, we are used to... the big American dreadnoughts, the limousines, the Chevy... Suburbans and this is a... a Mr. Bean car by comparison and yeah, it's gonna take him around town.

NARRATOR: Indeed, Pope Francis' car is not a status symbol.

It's rather a signal that we can all get by with... less.

His status.,. is that he says the truth, that he cares for the common good and that... he's into dialogue, not confrontation.

He wants to bring about peace, as a man of God, together with other men and women of God here at Ground Zero... the very symbol against religious fanaticism.

(singing in Hebrew)

NARRATOR: 800 years ago...

Saint Francis traveled to the Holy Land, during the Crusades, the most ravaging w*r of his time.

He put his life on the line, to initiate... peace between Christianity and Islam.

Francis first tried to convince the Christian fighters and commanders, to end the bloodshed.

And then, at great risk, he walked directly to the highest authority of the islamic world: The Sultan of Egypt.

We don't know for sure whether he just talked to him or actually tried to evangelize him.

The story goes that the sultan, wise as he was, was very impressed by the Saint’s fearlessness, his“, poverty and his moral clarity.

So he listened to him, let him go unharmed and said when they parted:

"Pray to God for me, to reveal to me the law and the faith... that is most pleasing to God. "

Each man learnt from the other.

Here, Pope Francis, on his journey... to the Holy Land, prays by the waters of the river Jordan, where Jesus was baptized.

(Pope Francis speaking Spanish)

Yesterday I had a dialogue with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar of Egypt, a Muslim, the greatest representative of Sunni Islam.

And we were able to talk about God very fraternally,

because we both understood each other as brothers.

But never I want to underline this: never take a proselytizing attitude!

Never.

(Indistinct chatter)

There are some that say no, that the God of Muslims is not the same as ours...

We are children of Abraham!

Nobody can deny that.

And therefore we are brothers, if we like it or not.

We are brothers!

How are you? How are you?

I'm fine.

I'm glad to see you. I'm glad to see you too.

NARRATOR: Time flies on, whether... we want it to, or not, and even seems to be accelerating.

Our world is in constant... turmoil.

Even the truth has become an endangered species when... "alternative facts" are governing the news and cynicism, lies and corruption are the political order of the day.

In 2018, the papacy of Pope Francis is going into its sixth year.

More than most of his predecessors he has fearlessly moved the church forward, against much resistance.

The ancient town of Assisi has now become... a spiritual center for all religions.

We. here, on the World Day of Prayer for. .. peace.

The legacy of Saint Francis lives on.

(Pope Francis speaking Spanish)

God does not see with His eyes.

God sees with His heart.

And God's love is the same for each and every person.

No matter what your religion is.

Even for an atheist it's the same love.

When the final day comes, and when there's light enough on Earth to see things as they are, we will be in for a surprise!

Do you believe that Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King are less loved by God than a priest or a nun?

God loves and sees us all with his heart.

And maybe

that's the only common bond all men have, the bond of God's love.

Other than that we are free.

Even free not to love him.

(Pope Francis speaking Italian)

None of us is an island, autonomous and independent from others.

We can only build the future together, without excluding anyone.

How wonderful would it be if the growth of scientific and technological innovation would come along with more equality and social inclusion.

ASTRONAUT: it is our diversity that makes us stronger... and by working together, we can do things much greater than we can do as individuals.

(Pope Francis speaking Italian)

How wonderful would it be, while we discover faraway planets, to rediscover the needs of the brothers and sisters, who are orbiting around us.

Only by an education in fraternity towards a real solidarity can we overcome the 'culture of waste', that doesn't just concern food and goods, but first of all people.

Please allow me to say it clearly: the more powerful you are, the more your actions will have an impact on people, the more you are called to be humble!

Otherwise, your power will ruin you, and you will ruin the others.

Tenderness is not weakness, it is strength!

Tenderness makes us use our eyes to see the other, our ears to hear the other, to listen to the cries of the children, the poor, those who are afraid of the future.

To also listen to the silent cry o four common home, our sick and polluted Earth.

We have so much to do, and we must do it together.

In the darkness of the conflicts we're living through, each of us can become a bright candle to remind us that light will overcome darkness, and never the other way around.

To us Christians the future has a name, and its name is Hope.

It's the virtue of a heart that doesn't look itself up, that doesn't dwell on the past, and not only survives the present, but is able to see a tomorrow.

(Pope Francis speaking Spanish)

And one of the things that helps others in their lives is the expression of beauty.

An artist is an apostle of beauty, who helps others live.

Let's think of all the artists who achieved that.

But also all of us!

And if you ask me: "Give me an example of beauty, simple everyday beauty, with which we can help others feel better and be happier," two things come to my mind.

A smile, and a sense of humor.

The ability to smile!

A smile is the flower of the heart,

especially when it is given freely, not for manipulative and seductive aims.

Just a smile.

'A fresh smile' as it's called in literature.

And the sense of humor.

Here | make a personal confession.

Every day, after my morning prayer, I recite Saint Thomas More.

His "Prayer for good Humor"

'Sense of humor'

It starts in a way that makes you laugh.

"Give me, O Lord, a good digestion, but also something to digest."

That's it.

(Song begins)