Pope Francis at TED Vancouver talks about tenderness, humility and power

Papa Francesco al Ted. Durante la conferenza che si è tenuta il 25 aprile a Vancouver, ha tenuto un talk e lanciato un messaggio fatto di “tenerezza”. Da vedere.

Pope Francis held a talk at TED, the conference that launched one of the world’s most famous formats in which famous or not so famous people, all considered innovative and original, speak in front of audiences all over the world. Francis unexpectedly intervened in the TED held in Vancouver, Canada on the 25th of April, with an almost 18-minute long video-message from the Vatican City. A forward-looking and groundbreaking speech whose message is summarised in five key words.

Read more: full speech in English

Interdependence

“We all need each other, none of us is an island, an autonomous and independent ‘I,’ separated from the other, and we can only build the future by standing together, including everyone. We don’t think about it often, but everything is connected, and we need to restore our connections to a healthy state.

Solidarity

Only by educating people to a true solidarity will we be able to overcome the ‘culture of waste,’ which doesn’t concern only food and goods but, first and foremost, the people who are cast aside by our techno-economic systems which, without even realizing it, are now putting products at their core, instead of people.

Humanity

The story of the Good Samaritan is the story of today’s humanity. People’s paths are riddled with suffering, as everything is centered around money, and things, instead of people. And often there is this habit, by people who call themselves “respectable,” of not taking care of the others, thus leaving behind thousands of human beings, or entire populations, on the side of the road.

Tenderness

“What is tenderness? It is a movement that starts from our heart and reaches the eyes, the ears and the hands. Tenderness means to use our eyes to see the other, our ears to hear the other, to listen to the children, the poor, those who are afraid of the future. To listen also to the silent cry of our common home, of our sick and polluted Earth. Tenderness means to use our hands and our heart to comfort the other, to take care of those in need.

Power

“Tenderness is the path of choice for the strongest, most courageous men and women. Tenderness is not weakness; it is fortitude. It is the path of solidarity, the path of humility. […] The more powerful you are, the more your actions will have an impact on people, the more responsible you are to act humbly. If you don’t, your power will ruin you, and you will ruin the other. There is a saying in Argentina: ‘Power is like drinking gin on an empty stomach.’ You feel dizzy, you get drunk, you lose your balance, and you will end up hurting yourself and those around you, if you don’t connect your power with humility and tenderness.”

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