Vatican: On Saint Matthew’s Day, Pope Francis asks to fight corruption

On the day of Saint Matthew, Patron of the Italian Financial Guard, a military body that celebrates 250 years of foundation, Pope Francis encouraged them to fight corruption and promote legality, through a “new humanism.”

This was indicated by the Holy Father when he received this Saturday, September 21, in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican, 300 soldiers from the Financial Guard, which serves financial and tax surveillance; and that also carries out various tasks such as rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean Sea and providing humanitarian aid in the face of natural disasters.

“His patron is Saint Matthew – today is his feast –, apostle and evangelist. He, in fact, had been a ‘publican’, that is, a tax collector, a profession doubly despised in the time of Jesus, for being subservient to imperial power and for being corrupt. (…) Matthew represented a utilitarian and unscrupulous mentality, dedicated only to the ‘god of money,’” Pope Francis highlighted, according to the Vatican Press Office.

“Even today, a similar logic affects social life, causing imbalance and marginalization: from food waste – which is a scandal, food waste is a scandal! – to the exclusion of citizens from the enjoyment of some of their rights.”

“The State can also be a victim of this system; even those States that have enormous resources but remain isolated financially or from the global market. How do you explain hunger in the world today, when there is so much waste in developed societies? “This is terrible,” the Holy Father continued.

Regarding the work of the Financial Guard, Pope Francis highlighted that it is “your concrete and daily way of serving the common good, of being close to the people, of fighting against corruption and promoting legality. “That corruption that happens under the table.”

The Pope also indicated that “the word corrupt ‘recalls the broken heart, the broken heart, stained by something, ruined. (…) Corruption reveals antisocial behavior so strong that it dissolves the validity of relationships and the pillars on which a society is founded.'”

For this reason, Francisco specified, the answer, the alternative is not only in the rules but in a ‘new humanism'”, to which the Guard can contribute with the training, for the common good, of young people who want to join this body. military.

Returning to Saint Matthew, Pope Francis explained that “in a certain way, he went from the logic of profit to that of equity. But, in the school of Jesus, he also surpassed equity and justice and learned about gratuitousness, the gift of self that generates solidarity, sharing, and inclusion. “Freedom is not only a financial dimension but also a human one.”

The Holy Father then highlighted the work of the Guard in the face of “the plague of drug trafficking, of the merchants of death. Your service does not end in the protection of the victims but includes the attempt to help the rebirth of those who make mistakes, acting with respect and moral integrity you can touch consciences by showing the possibility of a different life.”

To conclude, Pope Francis recalled a head of state who once told him that if children and the elderly smile, then “things are not so bad” and encouraged the Financial Guard to continue its solidarity work “as a path for peace and hope for a better future.”