In his homily, the pope recalled the power of parents who, in the face of persecution, have given strength to their children. In particular, he highlighted the role of mothers.
POPE FRANCIS
'The people of God continued on by the strength of so many valiant women who have been able to give their children faith, and only they - mothers - can convey faith in a native dialect. Let the Lord always give us grace in the Church to have memory, not to forget the native language of fathers, and to have courageous women.'
Pope Francis said mothers are the best remedy against 'ideological colonization,' which takes away freedom, erases collective memory and indoctrinates young people.
EXCERPTS FROM PAPAL HOMILY
(Source: Vatican Radio)
'Freedom is taken away, history, people’s memory is deconstructed, and an educational system is imposed on young people. Everyone: Everyone does this. Even with kid gloves on, so: I know a country, a nation that asks for a loan, '(and the answer is) I will give you the loan, but [in return] you, in your schools, have to teach this, and this, and this,'; books that have erased all that God has created and how he has created it. They erase the differences, eliminate history: from today you have to start thinking in this way. Those who do not think like this are cast aside, even persecuted.'
'Preserving memory: the memory of salvation, the memory of God's people, that memory that strengthened the faith of a people persecuted by this ideological-cultural colonization. Memory is the one thing that helps us triumph over every perverse education system. To remember. Remembering the values, remembering the History, remembering the things we learned. And then, there are Mothers.'
'The people of God continued on by the strength of so many valiant women who have been able to give their children faith, and only they - mothers - can convey faith in a native dialect. Let the Lord always give us grace in the Church to have memory, not to forget the native language of fathers, and to have courageous women. '
