（2023.8.３By Deborah Castellano Lubov）
ポルトガル訪問中の教皇フランシスコは3日午前、リスボン市内のポルトガル・カトリック大学で学生たちと、続いて、郊外のカスカイスにある教育ネットワーク「スコラス・オクレンテス」の支部で若者たちと集いを持たれた。このうちポルトガル・カトリック大学の学生たちとの集いでは、彼らに「神のいない世界に未来はありません」と注意され、自らの選択を通じて信仰を信頼できるものにするよう勧められた。
（以下、英語原文のまま）
The Holy Father’s admonition came during his meeting with the students on the premises of the Universidade Catòlica Portuguesa, on the second day of his Apostolic Journey to Portugal for the occasion of the 37th World Youth Day.
The Pope also encouraged them to embrace their faith and take risks to change the world, promoting human fraternity on all levels.
At the encounter, the Holy Father listened to the testimonies of refugee students, welcomed by the University, and of students involved in the implementation of the Pope’s 2015 encyclical on the environment Laudato si‘, in the Global Compact on Education, and in the Economy of Francescoinitiative.
Make faith credible through choices
“An authentic integral ecology,” the Pope said in his remarks, “is not possible without God,” “there can be no future in a world without God,” and he invited them to give credibility to their faith through the choices they make in life.
“I would say: make your faith credible through your choices.”
“For unless faith gives rise to convincing lifestyles,” the Pope said, it will not be a “leaven” in the world. It is not enough for us Christians to be convinced he explained, saying “We must also be convincing.”
Our actions, the Holy Father exhorted, are called to reflect, joyfully and radically, the beauty of the Gospel.
Furthermore, he stressed, “Christianity cannot be lived as a fortress surrounded by high walls, one that raises the ramparts against the world.”
He thanked a student, Beatriz, for her moving testimony, in which she said it is precisely “within the field of culture” that she feels called to live the Beatitudes.
Be amazed by the Beauty of Christ
In every age, the Pope recalled, one of the most important tasks for Christians is to recover the meaning of incarnation.
Without the incarnation, he warned, Christianity becomes ideology.
“It is the incarnation that enables us to be amazed by the beauty of Christ revealed through every brother and sister, every man and woman.”
In this regard, Pope Francis said it is significant that they named their new academic chair, dedicated to the “Economy of Francesco,” after Saint Clare.
Recalling the Saint, the Pope elaborated on how “the contribution of women is indeed essential.”
“In the Bible, we see how the economy of the family is entrusted largely to women. They are the real heads of the household, possessed of a wisdom aimed not merely at profit, but also at care, coexistence, and the physical and spiritual wellbeing of all, including the poor and the stranger,” he said.
“Women are possessed of a wisdom aimed not merely at profit, but also at care, coexistence, and the spiritual wellbeing of all.”
Experience the ‘Global Compact on Education’
The Pope went on to recall that the Global Compact on Education, with its seven overarching principles, encompasses many key issues, to which he urged the students to dedicate their attention, from caring for our common home to the full participation of women and the need for innovative ways of understanding economics, politics, growth and progress.
“I encourage you to study the Global Compact and to become enthusiastic about its contents,” he said.
Recalling that one of its points addresses the need to educate about acceptance and inclusion, the Pope underscored: “We cannot pretend that we have not heard the words of Jesus in Chapter 25 of Matthew’s Gospel: ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me.’
Dramatic urgency of protecting environment
Pope Francis appealed to the young people to protect the environment.
“We must recognise the dramatic urgency of caring for the common home.”
“Do not forget,” the Pope admonished, “happy mediums are only a small delay in the disaster. Instead, it is a matter of taking on what unfortunately continues to be postponed: the need to redefine what we call progress and evolution.”
“Because, in the name of progress, there has been too much regression. Study well what I am telling you: in the name of progress, too much regress has been made,” he said.
Third World War in pieces
The Holy Father, who had met with Ukrainian young pilgrims prior to the encounter, also pointed to the wars plaguing the world.
“We are seeing a third world war in pieces.”
“But, he said, “we embrace the risk of thinking that we are not in agony, but in childbirth; not at the end, but at the beginning of a great spectacle,” he said. “It takes courage to think this.”
Pope Francis urged the university students to not be paralyzed by fear, and to, rather, transform their fears into dreams.
＊以下は バチカン放送日本語課のまとめ
ポルトガル・カトリック大学は、1967年に創立され、1971年に政府から認可された同大学は、ポルトガルにおける最初の私立大学となった。
この日、大学構内の広場で行われた教皇との集いには、学生や教員およそ6500人が参加。同大総長の挨拶に続き、学生の代表らが、大学生活や、今日の世界の問題に対する関心や思いを、環境・経済・教育などの観点から語った。
教皇は学生たちに、「探し求め、リスクを負いなさい」と励ましをおくり、現代が抱える膨大な問題と、そのための苦しみのうめきは、死に瀕したうめきではなく、生み出すためのうめき、終わりではなく、始まりのしるしと考えるべき、と勇気づけられた。
そして、教皇は学生たちに「命のダンス」を振り付ける者となり、人間を中心に据えた新しい舞台の主役となって欲しい、と願われた。また、教皇は、大学は一部の限られたエリートを作るシステムではないと述べ、知識を「責任」として受け取らないならば、学んだことは虚しいものになる、と注意を促された。
そして、学位は自身の幸せを築くためだけではなく、正義と受容に満ちた、真の意味で発展した社会に貢献するための委任状だと捉えなくてはならない、と教皇は話された。
特に環境問題について、教皇は人類が共に暮らす家＝地球に対するいたわりは急務であるとしながらも、深い回心と、経済・政治の基礎への人間学的ビジョンを持った改革がない限り、それは不可能であると強調。地球の苦しみと共に、貧しい人々の苦しみにも耳を傾ける、統合的なエコロジーの必要をアピールされた。
教皇は若者たちに、自らの生き方の選択を通して信仰を信頼しうるものとするように希望され、説得力ある生き方を産まない信仰は、世界のパン種を膨らませることはできない、と語られた。
カトリック系大学とは、専門の知識を取得しつつ、自らを知り、自分の道を識別する中で人間として成熟する場所であると述べた教皇は、中世の巡礼者たちがサンティアゴへの道を歩む中で交わしたとされる挨拶「Ultreia（より先へ）」「et Suseia（より高きへ）」を、学生たちへの励ましの言葉とされた。
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