Pope Francis greeted young people from a boat on the Grand Canal of Venice as he made his way to the Basilica of St. Mary of Health, where the Holy Father told the crowd of 1,500 to resist negative thoughts.
“You have to be aware of one’s own value. Remember that for God, you are not a digital profile but a son,” Pope Francis said. “You are not a digital profile but a son who has a Father in Heaven and who, therefore, you are a son of Heaven. And it is not easy, but that is the secret. Yes, the secret of great achievements is perseverance.”
From perseverance to hope, that was the message Francis brought to the inmates of a women’s prison.
“Don’t close the window, please; always look to the horizon; always look to the future with hope,” Pope Francis said.
The main reason for the Pope’s visit to Venice was the Art Biennale, an international exhibition.
He met with some artists at Venice’s Church of Santa Maria Maddalena.
The Holy Father celebrated Mass in St. Mark’s Square in the heart of Venice, where he spoke about the many challenges the floating city faces, including climate change, which affects the lagoon’s waters, the fragility of the buildings, and properly managing tourism.
“Venice is one and the same with the waters on which it sits,” Pope Francis said. “Without the care and safeguarding of this natural scenery, it could even cease to exist.”
The city of Venice was on the verge of being placed on a UN agency’s list of endangered monuments.
Since the 1950s, the city has lost hundreds of thousands of its residents, many driven away by excessive tourism.