Last September 10, we listened to Pope Francis' call to rediscover mercy as a sign of the identity of the People of God. The common thread of his words showed how Mother Church educates with the works of mercy, not mainly with theoretical classes but through concrete actions of service in favor of the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, the poor, the imprisoned.

The Pope concluded by recalling gratuitousness as a basic attitude for those who actively participate in these actions with a disinterested and magnanimous attitude, without expecting any thanks or payment, while asking: how much have we paid for our redemption? Nothing. Everything is free. Doing good without expecting anything in return.

For years now, in the university environment where I work, I have been witnessing the efforts of teachers to promote values of solidarity among students through concrete assistance activities (accompanying the sick, helping the disabled to rest, contributing to food bank campaigns...). In this sense, I share the conclusions of the latest report of the Queen Sofia Foundation ("Young people and values") in which the same young people consider themselves to be 2.14 more supportive than in 2006, and 2.45 less selfish than then. The value figures basically coincide in seeing themselves as two points more generous and committed than they were eight years ago.

Now, taking advantage of this "pull in the trends", I think that we are in a favorable moment to multiply among young university students the proposals of participation in the works of mercy, and without abandoning the welfare initiatives, to put a special emphasis on those projects that they themselves prepare, accompanied by the academic staff, in the design of solidarity programs related to their academic specialties.

These initiatives and projects have existed in schools and Schools for years: projects for the creation of wells and irrigation systems in Africa; designs of low-cost solar panels for places that lack electricity network : programs of update of academic staff in schools in developing countries development, given by the university students themselves, wherever they are needed....
Christians who work in the university environment have numerous opportunities to continue to promote the works of mercy from the perspective of a professionalization of merciful solidarity, which proposes in its teaching programs from the beginning to favor professionals in solidarity.

Faced with the possible fear that professionalism could distort the disinterested essence of the solidarity approach, we have the background that the Social Doctrine of the Church offers, for example in its "Compendium". Its teachings, together with the proposals on the Economics of gratuitousness of "Caritas in Veritate", constitute joyful realities in concrete financial and entrepreneurial initiatives.

The logic of gratuitousness, structured by a high academic and professional qualification, is one of the sources that from the university can bring new energies to the dream of the Church: an effective civilization of love.