Communicating with Silence: Pope Francis's Lesson to the Wordspeople of Nothing

COMMUNICATE WITH SILENCE –

The journey of Pope Francesco in Poland, and in particular in Auschwitz Birkenau on the occasion of the opening of the XXXI Youth Day, still fresh from the news, it's already in historyFor the intensity, the uniqueness, the greatness of a Pontiff who manages to surprise with every detail of his pastoral mission.

In Krakow, before a huge crowd of young people, in both public speeches and at Mass, Pope Francis spoke, and not a little, in his own tones, almost a constant challenge to his interlocutor. He addressed young people with strong words, inviting them not to waste their lives, and instead to strive to "change the world"., where the virus of injustice is growing visibly across the planet.

With scathing, but sincere and authentic words, Pope Bergoglio He urged young people to "play as starters, not as substitutes," to not imagine that "happiness is on a couch," to never give up, even when faced with the mystery of a God we don't know, with the elements of rationality, where one truly faces evil. The Evil of yesterday, the absolute and unrepeatable Evil of the extermination of the Jews, like the Evil of today, an Evil still mysterious in its scope, fueled by Islamist terrorism (a war, not a religion, but a war nonetheless).

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WHAT SILENCE COMMUNICATES –

After the words, In the pastoral visit of Pope Francis the moment has come silence. Or rather: of a silence that, in its mysticism, in its essential spirituality, is worth more, much more, than any verbal message.I saw images of the Pope during his visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, thanks to the excellent footage broadcast by TV2000, the television station of the Italian Episcopal Conference. I confess that I was moved, and even more so, troubled. One cannot remain indifferent in the face of a Pope who advances into the epicenter of horror, almost dragging his body, with a lost gaze, as a sign of desolation and horror, staggering under the blows of something that after so much time still has intact its dimension of pain and inexplicable tragedy.A Pope who chooses silence, only silence and nothing but silence, to communicate his message to all of us, especially young people, the depth of which in this case lies entirely in the gesture, and in the absolute absence of any noise.

TO LEARN MORE: Silence, please, this is how Finland promotes tourism. And it reminds us of the health risks of excessive noise.

SILENCE AS A FORM OF COMMUNICATION –

Looking at it, the words that a Benedictine monk told me came to mind, one of the most spiritually and humanly intense characters I have ever met in my life, Don Bernardino Cozzarini, when I asked him to explain, for my book Don't waste, the value of silence, in contrast to the abuse of words (pure waste) and of windbagsListen to part of this explanation: "We all need silence to discover the other, whether human or divine. It's a necessary language. When two people truly love each other, they can convey their love even just by looking into each other's eyes, bringing their faces close. They don't speak. But that mysterious communication, made precisely of glances, generates life, a desire to be together, to share a part of the journey. With the divine, it's the same thing." Pope Francis has done nothing else, with his silence in the face of the most inhuman horror, than seek and research authentic love, made of forgiveness, mercy, sharing, respect, and above all the ability to recognize the other.. And don't hurt him, ever, for any reason.

(Cover image source: Handle)

TO KNOW MORE: The monk who teaches the value of silence in the book Don't waste