Brussels, 9th of April 2025
On the 29th of March FAFCE President Vincenzo Bassi intervened at a conference ‘2nd careers: challenges and opportunities’, organised by the Catholic University of Porto Alumni Office and various Alumni Associations.
FAFCE President spoke about the “epochal change”, as Pope Francis says. This implies more responsibilities of the civil society, which can contribute to the common good trough the critical spirit to which the creativity is linked, as : “society is a faciendum… something we must create.”
Moreover, he said that one’s profession is the instrument through which we fulfill ourselves as persons, but this cannot succeed without generosity. For that, we need to participate in the common good, as this “responsibility falls on civil society”, and does not only belong to the State or the Church.
He also reminded the important role that associations play “in creating a place where people can meet, as well as in helping to understand the economic, social, and political situation, and also in solving material problems”. Speaking about alumni associations, he highlighted that although they aim to create relationships after university, in these times of “epochal change”, they must do more — “creating and maintaining relationships as a tool to minimize loneliness”, which is currently one of the most severe diseases of our societies.
FAFCE has long been speaking out that the problem of loneliness could be addressed through networks of families, which also help us approach the demographic issue. Children are more easily born when parents are part of a community of families with children.
FAFCE would like to warmly thank the Catholic University of Porto for this opportunity to speak to young adults and bring attention to the important phenomena shaping today’s societies.
