This morning, before the usual general audience he grants every Wednesday, the Supreme Pontiff received in the Paul VI Hall of the Vatican seven militants of European left-wing forces and eight Catholics, participants in this initiative, to whom he wished ‘wisdom and courage in their work for a more just and peaceful world’.

According to a note from the Holy See Press Office, in addressing the members of the delegation, the Pope said that ‘today, in a world divided by wars and polarization, we run the risk of losing the ability to dream’. He then asked them ‘not to stop, not to give up, not to stop dreaming of a better world.

In fact, it is in the imagination that intelligence, intuition, experience and historical memory meet to create, venture and take risks.

The Dialop initiative, which integrates intellectuals, academics, politicians, activists and students from several European countries, was born in 2014, following a meeting between Francis and the Greek politician Alexis Tsipras, then president of the Coalition of the Radical Left Syriza, who was later prime minister of his country between 2015 and 2019.

This initial meeting was attended by Walter Baier, president of the Party of the European Left, and Franz Kronreif, of the Focolare Movement, of the Catholic Church, who this Wednesday were also present at the new appointment prior to the papal audience.

The Bishop of Rome recommended them to assume three attitudes, concerning the courage to break the mold, the attention to the weak and the promotion of legality.

Regarding the breaking of molds ‘to open up during the talks to new ways’, he pointed out that ‘in an era marked at various levels by conflicts and divisions, let us not lose sight of what can still be done to reverse the trend’ and noted that ‘in the face of rigid approaches that separate, let us cultivate debate and listening with an open heart’. ef/abo/ro/ort