Christians should respond to crises and poverty with hope, says Cardinal Bergoglio

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Aug 8, 2004 / 22:00 pm

During the celebration of the feast of St. Cajetan, venerated in Argentina as the patron of food and work, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, called on Argentineans to not lose hope in the face of injustice and poverty.

Thousands of faithful stood in line on the eve of the feast of St. Cajetan to enter the shrine at midnight, to pray for work and to give thanks for bread on the table.

For the last 20 years, the first person to enter the temple has been Delia Noris Lencina who, draped in an Argentinean flag, crawls on her knees to the image of St. Cajetan.

“There is so much injustice, suffering and violence.  And yet the Lord puts bread on our table and He gives us renewed strength to carry on and He sends us out again to our jobs, our families and our country: we still have far to go.  There is so much to be done!” exclaimed Cardinal Bergoglio during the Mass on Saturday.

The Cardinal encouraged young people with a phrase taken from Pope John Paul II’s book: “Get up! Let’s go!  Let us go confident in Christ.”

He also encouraged Argentineans to “partake of the Bread which gives us the strength to work for our families, which restores our dignity and our desire to continue struggling and to fulfill our mission.”

“Get up and eat of this Bread which we share as companions on the journey and which makes us feel as brothers and sisters, the people of our country, the people of God,” he concluded.