{"id":3325,"date":"2014-12-03T17:34:41","date_gmt":"2014-12-04T00:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithfuldemocrats\/?p=3325"},"modified":"2014-12-03T17:34:41","modified_gmt":"2014-12-04T00:34:41","slug":"pope-francis-philadelphia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithfuldemocrats\/2014\/12\/pope-francis-philadelphia\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis to visit Philadelphia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"World<\/a>
World Meeting of Families website<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Last month, Pope Francis<\/a> announced he\u2019s coming to Philadelphia in September 2015 for the World Meeting of Families<\/a>. Regardless of religious affiliation, it\u2019s an exciting time for the City of Brotherly Love. Yet despite the elation surrounding the visit, it\u2019s perhaps prudent to understand the struggles Philadelphia faces and how the pope\u2019s visit is a rare opportunity to highlight populist, progressive solutions that can and should be taken to strengthen the family unit and society at large.<\/p>\n

Philadelphia, like many other cities, struggles with poverty and violence. For many, there seems to be a resignation that such a depressed situation will be a permanent reality. I refuse to be one of those people. Pope Francis is the main reason for my optimism. Before his papacy, there were few international leaders who spoke with such passion about the dispossessed. Now, because of his leadership, inequality has come to the forefront of the international debate.<\/p>\n

Pope Francis is being called a progressive\u2014and rightfully so. To clarify though, it\u2019s not the kind of progressive we\u2019re accustom to here in the United States. Pope\u2019s Francis\u2019s refreshing approach to leading the papacy has opened the door for an honest, open discussion on a variety of issues. We may not always agree, but the fact that Pope Francis wants to have a discussion makes his papacy truly progressive.<\/p>\n

Last year, Pope Francis said one of the most serious evils that afflict the world is youth unemployment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot resign ourselves to losing a whole generation of young people who don\u2019t have the strong dignity of work,\u201d Pope Francis said last July.<\/p>\n

Here in the United States, 15% of young Americans have no job<\/a>. Compounding the situation was the fact that the recovery following the great recession created more low-wage jobs than better paying ones. Thus, for many already with jobs, there are more ladders to climb in order to reach the middle class.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s difficult for progressives to connect with broader audience about student loan debt when three fifths of Americans don\u2019t even have a bachelor\u2019s degree<\/a>. For decades, a destructive view has become embedded within society that the only way to succeed is to get a college education. With more than 40% of recent college graduates underemployed<\/a> last year, it\u2019s become apparent millennials are among the first causalities of that myth.<\/p>\n

We Catholics also can\u2019t ignore the ongoing unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, highlighting the frustration in the Black community over economic and political grievances. The violence in Ferguson will continue to happen elsewhere because too often we share a state, county, and city, but not an actual community in which everyone has the opportunity to grow and prosper.\u00a0We need to take action. Pope Francis states in the Evangelii Gaudium, \u201cUntil exclusion and inequality in society and between peoples are reversed, it will be impossible to eliminate violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Pope Francis visits Philadelphia, I hope his inspirational words are followed by meaningful action. This action must come collectively from each of us if we\u2019re to encourage the development of happy, healthy families and a society that promotes the dignity of all life. Otherwise, the pope\u2019s visit is just a visit and we learned nothing in the final analysis.<\/p>\n

Stephen Seufert is the State Director of Keystone Catholics, a new social justice advocacy organization in Pennsylvania dedicated to promoting the common good.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last month, Pope Francis announced he\u2019s coming to Philadelphia in September 2015 for the World Meeting of Families. Regardless of religious affiliation, it\u2019s an exciting time for the City of Brotherly Love. 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