On February 5, Pope Francis addressed members of the National Association of Italian Municipalities in Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace (photographs, full text).

“The peripheries must not only be helped, they must be transformed into laboratories for a different economy and a different society,” the Pope said. “Indeed, when we deal with the faces of the people, it is not enough to give them a food parcel. Their dignity demands work, and therefore a project in which each person is valued for what they can offer others. Work is truly the balm of dignity!”