Pope Francis says quest for the common good is paramount

 

Pope Francis says quest for the common good is paramount

Speaking to participants in the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontefice Foundation's 30th anniversary celebration, Pope Francis emphasizes the significance of placing "community" at the center of all socioeconomic development.

Pope Francis commended members of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontefice Foundation for their unwavering dedication to preserving the individual as the center of their work and mission and reaffirmed his view that "no one is saved alone."

He addressed Foundation delegates in the Vatican, urging them to keep "thinking and acting in terms of community," creating space for others, and working toward "a future where everyone can find their place and have their space in the world."

acting in a communal manner

In order to commemorate its 30th anniversary, the Centesimus Annus Foundation is hosting a conference titled "Memory to build the Future: Thinking and Acting in Terms of Community."

Recalling the establishment of the Foundation that owes its name and birth to Pope St.

 John Paul II's encyclical Centesimus Annus which was written on the centenary of Leo XIII's historic Rerum Novarum, the Holy Father said it has placed itself on a path that has led it to study and disseminate the Social Doctrine of the Church, "trying to show that it is not just theory, but can become a virtuous way of life with which to make societies worthy of man grow."

In these thirty years for you, the importance of the individual, the common good, solidarity, and subsidiarity have been translated into practical activities and have affected the thoughts and deeds of so many people.

The Pope expressed his gratitude to everyone in attendance for their years of worthwhile labor, especially for accepting and reiterating the contributions he had "tried to make to the development of the Social Doctrine in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium."

He made an appeal to those in attendance who work in the economic field to continue in their commitment to establishing the conditions for a better future for all, explaining his intention to warn against the danger of "living the economy in an unhealthy way" by pointing out that the current economy "kills" and by "denouncing an economic model that produces waste and fosters what can be called the "globalization of indifference"".

You are aware of how advantageous it may be for everyone to have a perspective on reality that puts the individual at the center, respects the worth of the worker, and works to benefit everyone, he said.

What is Pope Francis doing now?

Popes are typically compensated well; his current salary is $32,000 per month, but he refused to accept any of it.

Pope Francis instead made the decision to either give this money to the church, endow a foundation, place it in trust, or pass it on to a family member.