By Elise Harris
Vatican City, Oct 19, 2017 / 10:00 am
Pope Francis told a group of students studying finance Thursday not to let themselves get taken in by the charm of money, but to instead work toward building a better future based on justice and the common good.
"It is essential that, until now and in your future professional life, you will learn to be free from the allure of money, from the slavery in which money closes those who worship it," the Pope said Oct. 19.
It's also essential that students "acquire the strength and the courage not to blindly obey the invisible hand of the market," he said, and encouraged them to take advantage of their study time, learning "to become promoters and defenders of a growth in equity, to become craftsman of a just and adequate administration of our common home, which is the world."
Pope Francis spoke to students enrolled in the Chartreux Institute of Lyon. Established in 1825, the school is a private Carthusian educational institution linked to the French state school system.
The institute takes students from grade school all the way through high school, and also offers courses in higher education, with a specialization in the fields of finance, business, and accounting.
In his speech, Pope Francis said he was glad to learn that alongside their education in finances, students also receive a solid foundation in "human, philosophical and spiritual" studies.
To take courses in Rome, he said, allows the students to be immersed in the history "which has so strongly marked European nations."
"Admiring what the genius of men and the hopes they cultivated were able to accomplish, also you must have it at heart to leave your mark in history," he said, stressing in off-the-cuff comments that "you have the ability to decide your future."
Francis told the students to take responsibility not only for the world, but "for the life of every man," and urged them remember that "every injustice against a poor man is an open wound, and belittles your own dignity."
Even though the world will expect them to strive for success above all else, the Pope told them to put the time and the means into going forward on "the path of brotherhood," so that they will be able "to build bridges between men rather than walls, to add your stones to the building of a more just and human society."
Noting how his audience was composed of both Christians and non-Christians, Pope Francis urged the Christians to stay united with the Lord in prayer, and to learn "to entrust everything to God, and so not give in to the temptation of discouragement and desperation."
For those who are not Christians, the Pope greeted them with "respect and affection," telling them to keep they eyes focused on others.
He closed his speech by encouraging all of the students "to work for the good, to become humble seeds of a new world," and prayed that they would be able to "cultivate the culture of encounter and sharing within the single human family.
