At the end-of-year Te Deum, the Pope is “Grateful to the Romans who love the city not with words but with deeds, despite tight economic circumstances, many people do not pity themselves”.
The Pope expressed gratitude to the many Romans "who love their city not with words but with deeds", on the occasion of the traditional end-of-year vespers in St. Peter's, stressing that, though not few "find themselves in tight economic circumstances", the "majority" of the people who live in Rome "do not pity themselves, nor harbor resentments and grudges, but strive to do their share every day".
In the atmosphere marked by the traditional Te Deum hymn of thanksgiving to God, the Bishop of Rome has also broadened his gaze beyond the City, denouncing that even 2017,"that God had given us intact and healthy", we humans have "in so many ways wounded and wasted it away" with "deeds of death", "lies and injustices", with "wars" but also with "all the small and great offenses to life, truth, fraternity, which cause multiple forms of human, social and environmental degradation".
Jorge Mario Bergoglio began by quoting a passage from the Letter to the Galatians in which Saint Paul writes that "when the fullness of time came, God sent his Son" to explain that the celebration "breathes the atmosphere of the fullness of time" not because "this is the last evening of the calendar year, but because faith makes us contemplate and feel that Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, has given fullness to us".
"In this atmosphere, created by the Holy Spirit, we elevate to God our thanksgiving for the year that is ending, recognizing that all good is His gift," Francis said. Even this time of the year 2017, which God had given us intact and healthy - continued the Pope, who, as reported yesterday by the Vatican, wanted to spread the image of a Japanese child victim of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki as a warning against the war - we humans have in many ways ruined and wounded it with deeds of death, lies and injustices. Wars are the red-handed sign of this recurring and absurd pride. But there are also all the small and large offenses to life, truth, fraternity, which cause multiple forms of human, social and environmental degradation. We want and must take on our responsibility before God, our brothers and sisters and creation.
This evening, however - the Pope continued - "the grace of Jesus prevails and his reflection in Mary prevails. And so, gratitude prevails, which, as Bishop of Rome, I feel when thinking about the people who live with an open heart in this city. I feel - Jorge Mario Bergoglio said - a sense of sympathy and gratitude for all those people who every day contribute with small but precious and concrete gestures to the good of Rome: they try to do their duty to the best of their ability, they move with criteria and prudence, respect public places and report things that are not right, are attentive to the elderly or the ones in need, and so on. These, along with thousand of other behaviours, concretely express love for the city. No speeches, no advertising, but a civic education practiced in everyday life. They cooperate silently for the common good.
Alike, I feel a great esteem for parents, teachers and all the educators who, try to train children and young people in a civic sense, in an ethic of responsibility, educating them to feel a sense of belonging, to take care of, and take an interest in the reality that surrounds them. These people, even if they don't make the headlines, are most of the people who live in Rome. And many of them find themselves in economic tightness; yet they don't pity themselves, nor harbor resentments and grudges, but they strive to do their share every day to improve things a little bit. Today, in thanking to God, I invite you to express also the gratitude for all these crafters of the common good, who - Pope Francis concluded - love their city not with words but with deeds".
After the celebration in the basilica, the Pope, as usual, went to visit the nativity scene in St. Peter's Square offered this year by the territorial abbey of Montevergine.
