Before a group of Christian volunteers working around the globe, Pope Francis put aside his prepared remarks and spoke to them off the cuff, telling that the value of volunteerism is in encountering others.
POPE FRANCIS
Volunteering is the labor of going out to help others, that's it. There is no volunteering from a desk or volunteering in front of a television, no. Volunteering is always going out.
The Pope said that volunteering promotes a mindset of solidarity that combats the culture of confrontation that manifests itself in conflicts around the world.
POPE FRANCIS
We are living in a society of confrontation. Wars are a great confrontation and no one can doubt that we are living the third world war in a century, conflict after conflict...And we don't ever learn, on a global level but also on a personal level.
The Federation of International Christian Volunteer Organizations works with 27,000 volunteers in 80 countries on projects ranging from agricultural development to defending human rights.
JM
