Pope Francis praised craftsmanship, as well as creativity and work that beautifies the world thanks to the gifts and talents that God grants to people.
He did so during an audience with participants in the assembly of the National Confederation of Crafts and Small and Medium Enterprises, held this morning in the Vatican.
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From the Clementine room of the Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father expressed his affection for craftsmanship because it “clearly expresses the value of human work” and is a “praise for creativity.”
He highlighted that making is always the fruit of “a thought and a movement towards others” and that artisans are “collaborators in the creative work of God.” For this reason, he added, “we need your talent to give meaning to human activity and to put it at the service of projects that promote the common good.”
Alluding to the parable of the talents, Pope Francis assured that “the quantity does not matter, but the effort to make the gifts received yield” from God.
For the Pontiff, this parable is an invitation “to a healthy and positive ‘complicity’ with God, who makes us sharers in his goods and counts on us, with our responsibility.”
“If we want to grow in life, it is necessary to abandon fear and have confidence. “Sometimes, especially when difficulties increase, we are tempted to think that the Lord is more of a referee or a ruthless supervisor than the one who encourages us to take charge of our lives,” he continued.
However, he recalled that the Gospel “always calls us to look with faith; not to think that what we achieve is only the result of our abilities or merits. It is also the result of our personal history and of so many people who taught us to advance in life, starting with our parents.”
Therefore, he specified that the work carried out is “the result of a history that made us capable” of doing it. “You too, if you are passionate about your work – and if you sometimes, rightly, complain because it is not sufficiently valued – it is because you are aware of the value of what God has placed in your hands, not only for you, but for everyone.”
Along these lines, he stressed that “we all need to put aside the fear that paralyzes and destroys creativity.”
This, he assured, can be achieved with daily work, “feeling as participants in a great project of God, capable of surprising us with his gifts. Behind our riches there is not only skill, but also a Providence that takes us by the hand and guides us.”
“Craftwork can express all this, if it is accompanied day after day by the awareness that God never abandons us, that we are masterpieces of his hands, and that is why we are capable of creating original works,” said the Pontiff.
The Holy Father thus praised artisanal work because it “beautifies the world,” something necessary in a time marked by wars and violence. “Beautifying the world is building peace,” he stated.
In conclusion, he recalled that God “generously distributes his talents, so that they are put at the service of life and not buried in the sterility of death and destruction, as happens with wars fomented by the enemy of God.”
Finally, he asked that “San José artisan” always inspire artisans to live their work “with creativity and passion.”
Almudena Martínez-Bordiú
I am a graduate in Journalism and Advertising from the CEU San Pablo University in Madrid. Specialized in religious information in Spain since 2015. I have been a senior correspondent for ACI Prensa and EWTN Noticias in the Vatican for two years and I am currently a European correspondent based in Spain.