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“Suffering from overcrowding and violence in prison”
“Prison is a harsh reality, and problems such as overcrowding, the lack of structures and resources, episodes of violence generate a lot of suffering there”, said Pope Francis while meeting around 80 inmates. “However – he added – it can also become a place of moral and material rebirth, in which the dignity of women and men is not ‘put in isolation’, but promoted through mutual respect and care for talents and abilities, perhaps remaining dormant or imprisoned by the events of life, but which can re-emerge for the good of all and which deserve attention and trust”. “No one takes away the dignity of the person, no one”, he continued, speaking off the cuff.
“We all have mistakes to make up for, even me”
“Let us not forget that we all have mistakes to be forgiven for and wounds to heal, I too, and that we can all become healed which brings healing, forgiven which brings forgiveness, reborn which brings rebirth. Dear friends, let us renew today, you and I, together, our trust in the future”, said Bergoglio. “Dear sisters, today we will all leave this courtyard richer. Perhaps the one who will leave richer will be me”.
The first time of a Pope at the Biennale
Pope Francis visited the Vatican pavilion for the 60th Art Biennale, set up right in the Giudecca prison inside the church of Santa Maria Maddalena delle Convertite. The artistic installation, entitled “With my eyes”, was illustrated to the Pontiff by Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education and curator of the Pavilion. The Minister of Justice, Carlo Nordio, was also present at the meeting. It is the first time that a Pope visits an exhibition at the Venice Biennale.
The invitation to young people: “Go against the current, exit the hypnotic world of social media”
Pope Francis then reached the square in front of the Basilica della Salute by motorboat for the meeting with the young people. “We live immersed in man-made products, which make us lose our amazement at the beauty that surrounds us, yet creation invites us to be creators of beauty in our turn, to do something that wasn’t there before. Life asks to be given, not managed; to get out of the hypnotic world of social media that anesthetizes the soul. Guys, don’t be professionals of compulsive typing, but creators of news!”, the Pope said in his speech.
Then the invitation to “go against the grain” and always live guided by a “style of gratuitousness, which takes us away from the nihilistic logic of ‘I do to get’ and ‘I work to earn'”. Be creative with gratuitousness, give life to a symphony of gratuitousness in a world that seeks profit! Then you will be revolutionaries. Go, give of yourselves without fear!”, was the message to the young generations.
The Pope prays for peace: “May the desire for dialogue grow”
Even from Venice, Pope Francis returned to pray for Ukraine, the Middle East and other areas at war. He did it during the recitation of the Regina Caeli in Piazza San Marco. “I think of the tormented Ukraine – said the Pontiff -, of Palestine and Israel and of the many populations who suffer due to wars and violence. May the God of peace enlighten the heart so that the desire for dialogue and reconciliation remains in everyone”.
“Venice is a sign of beauty accessible to all”
“If today we look at this city of Venice, we admire its enchanting beauty, but we are also worried about the many problems that threaten it”, said the Pope in the homily of the mass in St. Mark’s Square. “Venice, which has always been a place of meeting and cultural exchange, is called to be a sign of beauty accessible to all, starting from the least, a sign of brotherhood and care for our common home. Venice that makes brothers”, he concluded.
