Pope Francis: A nation which mistreats its elderly, is a nation without a future

[sandensea]

Pope Francis on Monday released a video message accompanying his prayer intention for the month of December: “For the elderly.”

“A nation which mistreats its elderly, is a nation without a future,” Francis warned in his short video message.

“The elderly have wisdom. We have entrusted them with the responsibility of passing down their life experiences - family histories, the stories of their communities and their peoples.”

“Let us keep in mind our elders, so that sustained by families and institutions, may with their wisdom and experience collaborate in the education of new generations.”

It has become the custom of Pope Francis to release a video message detailing his new prayer intention each month. The monthly videos are promoted by the Worldwide Prayer Network of the Apostleship of Prayer, an organisation dedicated to spreading the Pope’s prayer intentions for the challenges facing humanity.

Francis' message to the elderly resonated strongly in his native Argentina, where Congress is set to pass a change in the formula used to pay retirement benefits that would cut cost-of-living increases by half.

The bill is sponsored by the right-wing Mauricio Macri administration, with whom Pope Francis has often been at odds.

Critics charge that the proposed changes would undermine the nation's 7 million retirees at a time when inflation remains at 25%. The Macri administration had already terminated the 'Remediar' free prescription program in March.

At: http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/12/04/pope_francis_prayer_intention_for_december/1352744

[Judi Lynn]

1. The fascist overlords have snatched the government back from the people, clearly.

They are regressing the country directly to the state it was in during the Dirty War headed by the military dictatorship the current President has publicly praised.

So sad to hear he has made so many deep, crippling injuries to the welfare of the elderly, the young, and the poor in such a short time.

Glad Pope Francis has been speaking out against this brutality conducted by criminals who've managed to arrange to be protected by the countries' militaries while they carry out their filthy wars against the helpless. They are able to fend off dissent while they stuff their pockets, rape, and loot the planet, murder people, destroy the flora, fauna, air, and water.

It's good Pope Francis has a bigger pulpit now than he did when he lived in Argentina during the Dirty War, which was supported by the U.S. Gov't. and advised by Henry Kissinger.

Thank you, sandensea.

Nice video.

[sandensea]

2. As a jazz fan, I enjoyed it immensely.

And no doubt about it: Francis had Macri's "pension reform" bill currently making its way through the House (it already passed the Senate) in mind when he made this.

The bill, as you can imagine, is strongly supported by the IMF. "It'll save public coffers $5 billion a year," they claim.

What they neglect to mention is that Macri is giving most of that back to employers in the form of a payroll tax cut. More trickle-down.

The termination of the Remediar program was the worst though. I'd like to see his STD-ridden, 87 year-old father go without.

Thanks again for the feedback, Judi. Thank goodness we have AARP to go to bat for our seniors here in the U.S. (Argentina, with its 7 million retirees, has no such advocacy group - nothing on AARP's scale anyway).