Speaking to a group of students on Feb. 17 at Roma Tre University in Rome, the Holy Father said, “It is necessary to tone it down a bit, to talk less and listen more.” He was speaking of remedies for violence in the world today, and suggested that people need to open their hearts and minds, and truly listen to other’s opinions and ideas. There needs to be dialogue. The tendency to “depersonalize” others is a contributing factor to violence in our world today, he theorized. Pope Francis told the students: “Where there is no dialogue, there is violence.”

The law of love conquers the law of vengeance

During his Angelus address on Feb. 19, Pope Francis reflected on the Gospel of Matthew in which Jesus responds to the saying “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” with the words, “When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one as well.” He said, “Christ shows the path of true justice, through the law of love that overcomes that of retaliation.” The Holy Father went on to say that Jesus is teaching us the difference between justice and vengeance: “We are allowed to ask for justice; it is our duty to practice justice. On the other hand, we are forbidden to revenge ourselves or to encourage vengeance in any way, insofar as it is an expression of hatred or of violence.”

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“A youthful heart does not tolerate injustice and cannot bow to a 'throw-away culture,' nor give in to the globalization of indifference.” -  February 17, 2017