Blessed are the young peacemakers.
Peace and youth walk together. At a time when peace is unstable and precarious, “young people do not want war, but they want peace. Young people must have wings to dream of a better world and to protest against war” (Pope Francis at a meeting organized by Scholas ). The times we live in make us think that a deep and compact adherence to the value of peace, its meaning, its reality is needed. Young people are the first to understand the value of peace among peoples. They overcome barriers, build bridges, unite efforts for a “common home” world. The future of peace and the future of humanity do not, therefore, seem to be in the wings of those who dream and want a better world. In order to guarantee a real possibility of peace and dialogue between peoples, civilizations and cultures, young people have no doubts: it is necessary to invest and be more committed in the defense and promotion of justice, respect for dignity and human rights everywhere. from the earth. However, in matters of war – a civilizational paradox – it is not young people who decide, although they are the ones who advance to the battlefronts. The state of siege in which we find ourselves asks for more: it is too harsh and dramatic to (continue) to be true. It limits, causes suffering, corrupts hopes, destroys futures. Therefore, offer solutions to old problems. Walking towards a new humanity committed to a happy life for all. Witnessing the beauty of harmony, the joy of encounters, the audacity of shared peace, these are everyday tasks and a guarantee of the better world we want. War takes on a young face in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Ethiopia. It calls for reconciliation, dialogue, abandonment of arms, firmness against injustice and desertion of the humanitarian tragedy that wars cause. The war calls for an end. Young people demand the end of war because they are, once again, blessed, because they are peacemakers, because they are certain that in this way “they will be called children of God” (Mt 5,9).
