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Pope stresses importance
of safety in workplace
March 26, 2011
 Diocesan poster for the pilgrimage; right, B16 adds a hardhat from the Terni steelworkers to his collection of headgear.
Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday addressed pilgrims of Italy’s diocese of Terni-Narni-Amelia to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s visit to the “Steel City”.
The southern Umbrian town of Terni is home to Italy’s first steel plant which was visited by Pope John Paul II on March 19th 1981: St. Joseph’s Day.
Speaking to pilgrims in the Paul VI Audience Hall, the Holy Father recalled how the late Pope presented himself at the plant as a “humble worker in the Lord’s vineyard” and reminded all workers to trust in the protection of St Joseph.
Pope Benedict went on to discuss how the current economic crisis is putting stress on the city, its workers and their families. He reiterated the words of Terni’s bishop, Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, saying that in times of hardship, one should turn to the Sunday Eucharist as a source of joy, faith and passion to improve the world
Work, the Pope said, helps us be closer to God and to others.
The Holy Father also spoke about the importance of safety in the workplace, saying that every measure should be taken to avoid accidents and preventable deaths.
In his concluding remarks, the Pope said the Church encourages all efforts towards safe, dignified and stable work, and expressed his closeness to the families of Terni.
NB: The diocesan site says a record 8,000 pilgrims joined this year's pilgrimage to Rome. Similar visits were made by the diocese earlier to Benedict XVI in 2005 and 2007.
The patron saint of Terni is San Valentino, the bishop-martyr executed in Rome in the third century, and who is most associated with the feastday of several saints named Valentino on February 14, date of the bishop's martyrdom in 273.
Valentino, born around 176 had been consecrated Bishop of Terni when he was only 21. In 270, he went to Rome on the invitation of the philosopher Crato who wanted him to preach the Gospel. His activity earned him martyrdom under Aurelian, who had him decapitated.
Tradition says his remains were brought to Terni by three disciples who buried him on a hill, where a church was built in his honor as early as the 4th century. In the 7th century, excavations on the hill yielded a sarcophagus with remains that were recognized to be those of the martyr, and a basilica was built on the spot.
The removal of Valentine from the list of saints commemorated universally by the Church in 1969 (because of doubts and confusion about the basic facts of their lives) has obviously not affected the local devotion to him. In view of his subsequent worldwide fame as 'patron of lovers', the diocese and the basilica have incorporated hearts into their sites about the saint and his church.
The diocesan gift to the Pope today was an icon of San Valentino./DIM]
Here is a translation of the Holy Father's words to the pilgrims:
Dear brothers and sisters,
I am very happy to welcome you this morning and to extend my greetings to the authorities present, to the workers, and all of you who have come as pilgrims to Peter's See.
A special greeting to your bishop, Mons. Vincenzo Paglia, whom I thank for the words he addressed to me in you e behalf.
You have come in a great number to this meeting - and I am sorry that some have not been able to be accommodated here inside - on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of John Paul II's visit to Terni.
Today, we remember him especially for the love that he had for the world of labor. We can almost hear him repeat the first words which he said upon arriving in Terni 30 years ago: "The principal purpose of this visit - which takes place on the feast day of St. Joseph - is to bring a word of encouragement to all workers and to express my solidarity with them, my friendship, and my affection" (Address to authorities, Terni, March 19, 1981).
I make those sentiments mine, and in my heart, I embrace all of you and your families. On the day I was elected, I, too, presented myself with conviction as a 'humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord", and today, together with you, I wish to remind all workers to entrust themselves to the protection of St. Joseph the worker.
Terni is distinguished by the presence of one of the largest steel industries in Italy, which has contributed to the growth of significant workers' reality. It has been an experience marked by good times, but also by difficult moments as those we are living through these days.
The crisis of the industrial sector has been a difficult trial for the life of your city, which now has to rethink its future. And all this concerns your life as workers and that of your families. In the words of your bishop, I heard the echo of the concerns that you carry in your hearts.
I know that the diocesan Church makes them her concerns and feels the responsibility of being close to you in order to communicate the hope that is in the Gospel and the strength to build a society that is more just and more worthy of man.
And this is done by starting from the source, from the Eucharist. In his first pastoral letter entitled 'The Eucharist saves the world', your bishop has indicated to you this spring from which to draw and to which to return always, in order to live the joy of the faith and the passion for making the world a better place.
Thus, the Sunday Eucharist has become the fulcrum of the diocese's pastoral activity. It is a choice that has already borne fruit: participation in Sunday Mass has grown, and from this, the diocese draws a greater commitment for the course your land will take.
Indeed, from the Eucharist, in which Christ makes himself present in his supreme act of love for all of us, we learn to live as Christians in society, to make it more welcoming, more fraternal, more attentive to the needs of everyone, especially the weakest, more rich in love.
St. Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr, defined Christians as those 'who live according to Sunday' (iuxta domenicum viventes), namely, those who live according to the Eucharist.
To live in a eucharistic way means to live as one Body, one family, a society held together by love. The exhortation to be 'eucharistic' is not a simple moral invitation addressed to single individuals, but is so much more: it is an exhortation to participate in the dynamism of Jesus himself who offers his life for others so that all may be one.
The subject of work that so preoccupies you now, with all its problems, especially that of unemployment, fits into this context. It is important to keep in mind that work is one of the fundamental elements of the human being as well as of society.
The difficult or precarious conditions of work make the conditions of society itself difficult and precarious, those conditions necesssaary for an life ordered according to the demands of the common good.
In the encyclical Caritas in veritate - as Mons. Paglia recalled - I exhorted not to stop 'pursuing as a priority the objective of access to work for all and keeping it" (No. 32).
I also wish to bring up the problem of safety at work. I know that you have had to face this tragic reality many times. Every effort must be made to break the chain of deaths and work accidents.
And what can we say about the uncertainty of work, especially for the younger people? It is something that creates anguish in many families.
Your bishop has also referred to be difficult situation of the chemical industry in your city, as well as in the steel industry itself.
I feel particularly close to you, and place in God's hands all of your anxieties and concerns, with the wish that, through the logic of free giving and of solidarity, you may overcome these difficulties and be assured of work that is safe, dignified and stable.
Work, dear friends, can help us be closer to God and to others. Jesus himself was a laborer - indeed, he spent most of his earthly life in Nazareth, working in Joseph's carpentry shop. The evangelist Matthew records that the people of Nazareth spoke of Jesus as 'the carpenter's son' (Mt 13,55), and John Paul II in Terni spoke of the 'gospel of work', saying "it had been written, above all, because of the fact that the Son of God, in becoming man, worked with his hands. Indeed, his work, which was actual physical labor, occupied the greater part of his life on this earth, before he entered into the work of redeeming man and the world" (Address to laborers, Terni, March 19, 1981).
This in itself speaks to us of the dignity of labor, the specific dignity of human labor which played a role in the mystery of redemption. It is important to understand it in this Christian perspective.
Often, however, it is merely seen as an instrument for profit, if not, as in many parts of the world, as a means of exploitation that is an offense to human dignity itself.
I wish to speak, too, about the problem of working on Sundays. Unfortunately, in our society, the rhythm of consumption threatens to rob us of the sense of holiday and of Sunday as the day for the Lord and for the community.
Dear workers, dear friends, I wish to end my brief remarks by telling you that the Church supports, comforts and encourages every direct effort to guarantee work that is safe, dignified and stable for everyone.
The Pope is close to you, to your families, your children, your young people and your aged, and in his heart he takes you all before God.
May the Lord bless you, your work and your future. Thank you.
The Pope gets a hardhat
and a football jersey
Apparently, the first hat was merely to try out for size:
...because afterwards, he is wearing one with his name written on the side:
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 27/03/2011 15:57] |