Reverend Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D. Bishop | Archdiocese of Louisville

By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis expressed growing concern about the world being left for future generations during a meeting with representatives of popular movements and grassroots organizations on September 20 at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

“This isn’t pessimism,” the pope said to around two dozen attendees. He voiced fears that adults are leaving behind “a world discouraged, inferior, violent, marked by the plundering of nature, alienated by dehumanized modes of communication,” and lacking political, social, and economic paradigms to lead the way.

Pope Francis emphasized that collective action could change this trajectory. He prayed that “the cry of the excluded” would “awaken the slumbering consciences of so many political leaders who are ultimately the ones who must enforce economic, social and cultural rights.”

The meeting included representatives from Europe, North and South America, Africa, and Asia. These groups organize informal workers who collect and recycle trash, assist people living in informal settlements on city outskirts, promote environmental care, support subsistence farmers, and rescue migrants at sea.

Cardinal Michael Czerny underscored that justice must be deeply rooted within individuals as urgently as hunger or thirst. "To raise our voices for the voiceless," he said Christians must emulate Jesus by being humble and in solidarity with those who suffer.

Pope Francis highlighted how injustices keeping many people poor fuel violence and war. Gloria Morales-Palos from Christ the King Parish in San Diego echoed these concerns. She stated her fear that this generation of American children might not fare better than their parents due to a harsh political environment affecting Latinos and outdated immigration laws.

Addressing criticism for not speaking up for the middle class more often, Pope Francis apologized but noted that “it was Jesus who put the poor at the center.” He called for millionaires to pay more taxes because their wealth derives from goods created by God for everyone’s benefit.

The pope criticized viewing wealth as meritocratic when it often comes from inheritance or exploitation. "The blind competition to have more money is not a creative force," he said. "It destroys creation and people's lives."

He condemned attitudes where individuals look down on others to feel superior: "This is how the silence of indifference is exercised." Such indifference leads to social division and violence.

Ultimately, Pope Francis concluded that love is key to hope. The fight for social justice, respect for human life’s sacredness, and care for creation must all be driven by love.