Dear friends, good morning!

I am pleased to welcome you on the occasion of the first Human Economic Forum, which is taking place in Rome these days. Your meeting, dealing with important economic and social issues, is focused on the theme of human sustainability.

The pursuit of a sustainable and integral human development is critical for ensuring and promoting the universal common good. For this reason, it is essential to place the human person at the heart of all our concerns and activities. Constant attention needs to be shown for the dignity and integral development of concrete persons in efforts to combat poverty, restore dignity to the excluded, and care for our common home (cf. Laudato Si’, 139).

Human promotion projects are effective to the extent that they are supported by self-sustaining and long-term economic systems. It is commendable, then, that in your analysis of the current situation, your Forum has adopted a global vision. The involvement of expert speakers from different cultures and religions encourages an appreciation of, and sensitivity for, all human needs.

I encourage you in your efforts, which are based on an acknowledgment of the sacredness of human life and are committed to the building of a better world. I thank you for your visit and I bless you and your work. And I would ask you, please, to remember me in your prayers. Thank you!