Acta Francisci Pp. 1035

with countless possibilities beckons, yet so many others seem disoriented

and aimless, trapped in a hopeless maze of violence, abuse and despair.

Their problems are our problems. We cannot avoid them. We need to face

them together, to talk about them and to seek effective solutions rather

than getting bogged down in discussions. At the risk of oversimplifying, we

might say that we live in a culture which pressures young people not to

start a family, because they lack possibilities for the future. Yet this same

culture presents others with so many options that they too are dissuaded

from starting a family.

A nation can be considered great when it defends liberty as Lincoln did,

when it fosters a culture which enables people to "dream" of full rights for

all their brothers and sisters, as Martin Luther King sought to do; when

it strives for justice and the cause of the oppressed, as Dorothy Day did

by her tireless work, the fruit of a faith which becomes dialogue and sows

peace in the contemplative style of Thomas Merton.

In these remarks I have sought to present some of the richness of your

cultural heritage, of the spirit of the American people. It is my desire that

this spirit continue to develop and grow, so that as many young people

as possible can inherit and dwell in a land which has inspired so many

people to dream.

IV

Dum Summus Pontifex visitat Sedem Organizationis Nationum Unitarum,

Novi Eboraci.*

Señor Presidente,

Señoras y Señores: Buenos días.

Una vez más, siguiendo una tradición de la que me siento honrado, el

Secretario General de las Naciones Unidas ha invitado al Papa a dirigirse

a esta honorable Asamblea de las Naciones. En nombre propio y en el de

toda la comunidad católica, Señor Ban Ki-moon, quiero expresarle el más

sincero y cordial agradecimiento. Agradezco también sus amables palabras.

* Die 25 Septembris 2015.