A new embrace between generations

The response to the culture of waste and the generation gap is dialogue between the young and older people: this is Pope Francis’ idea at the base of the  project Sharing The Wisdom Of Time, published in a book edited by Father Antonio Spadaro and presented at the Istituto Augustinianum in Rome. In order to be happy “in the market of competition and appearances, it is necessary” explained the Pope to “open along the way”. In fact, the Pope reminds us that competition stays still, doesn’t get involved but only makes calculations, while in developing our personality we get our hands dirty and we stretch out our arms in order to embrace.

Monsignor Jose Domingo Ullao Mendieta, Archbishop of Panama, where the next World Youth Day will be held, explained how “the existence of intergenerational relations implies that the community has a collective memory”.  He then observed that the rise of individualism does not seem to have questioned “the existence of family groups” or “intergenerational bonds”, as they are still today “driving forces of solidarity”.

The Director of the magazine, La Civiltà Cattolica, Father Antonio Spadaro defined the book as a “choral tale, given that it materialised from 250 interviews with elderly people in more than thirty countries thanks to no-profit organisations such as  Unbound and the Jesuit Refugee Service. “Older people” – added the Director of La Civiltà Cattolica, who, in the book. talks to the Pope about the interviews – “talk to young people about the major themes of existence, on the importance of work, the ability to fight and not give up in the face of difficulty, love, death and hope”.