During the novelty, Cardinal Fernández criticizes “Meritocracy”, emphasizes Pope Francis's work ethic

Vatican City // On May 1, celebrate the fair, the festival of St. Joseph and Italy Working Day, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández praised Pope Francis' commitment to work and human dignity and criticized what he described as “inhumanity” of meritocracy.

Cardinal Fernández, an Argentine who appointed Pope Francis for the doctrine of faith as the prefect of the Dicastery, and wrote the controversial document Fiducia SupplicansChair of the fair on the sixth day of the Novel In the voting right of the Roman Pope Francis at 5 p.m. in the Vatican basilica.

“We cannot ignore the fact that we are also doing Pope Francis so that the workers' day celebrates,” said Cardinal Fernández, an Argentine prelate and prefect of the diktrum for the doctrine of faith.

He quoted the late Pope and remembered: “I will never tire of referring to the dignity of work. Someone claimed that I suggested a life without effort or I despise the culture of work.” He continued: “In fact, some dishonest people said that Pope Francis defended the lazy, the drones, the delinquents.”

Cardinal Fernández reported on the own refutation of Pope Francis against these allegations: “Imagine that this can be said by me, a descendant of the Piedmonteser, that did not come to this country, but with the great desire to roll up their sleeves and build a future for their families.”

“It is clear that they had annoyed him,” said the cardinal about the managing directors that the Pope asked. “Because Pope Francis expresses and nourishes work, it enables him to develop his skills, increase relationships, and enables him to feel like an employee of God.”

Fernández added: “Behind this love for work is a strong conviction of Pope Francis: the infinite value of every person, an immense one that must never be lost.”

A criticism of the wrong “meritocracy”

Cardinal Fernández turned to the concept of meritocracy and repeated the concern of Pope Francis how it can be misused.

“Now pay attention,” he quoted Pope Francis. “Another thing is a wrong conversation about” meritocracy “. One thing is to evaluate a person's merits and reward their efforts.

He opposite a privileged man with a working poor father and remembered a street worker whom he once saw in Buenos Aires. “As soon as I asked him,” but how many hours do you work? ' He replied: “Between 12 and 15 hours a day.

“And yet,” remembered Cardinal Fernández, “a well -dressed person who came by, said to him:” Get a job, lazy! “These words seemed terribly cruel and in vain.”

The cardinal asked: “Are the less talented people not humans? Do the weak do not have the same dignity as we do? Do those who are born with fewer opportunities only limit themselves to survival?”

Pope Francis, the worker

“Allow me to present Pope Francis as a worker,” said Cardinal Fernández. “He not only talked about the value of work, but also in his life someone who lived his mission with great effort, passion and commitment.”

He described the tireless ethics of the late Pope: “He never took a few days off. In Buenos Aires, in summer, if you didn't find a priest, you definitely found him. He never went for dinner, theater, a walk or a film.”

Cardinal Fernández concluded from his spiritual life with the link between Pope Francis. “What I want to show is to what extent he understood that his work was his mission … it was the expression of his concern for the well -being of others.”

He concluded: “Let us ask St. Joseph to give our dear Pope Francis in heaven a strong hug.”