GENERAL AUDIENCE POPE FRANCIS
Paul VI Audience
Hall
Wednesday, 21 January 2015
Wednesday, 21 January 2015
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| photo from www.cnn.com |
Dear
Brothers and Sisters, Good morning.
Today I will focus on the Apostolic
Journey to Sri Lanka and the Philippines, which I made last week. After my visit to Korea a few months ago, I again returned to
Asia, that continent rich in cultural and spiritual traditions. The Journey was
above all a joyful encounter with the ecclesial communities which, in those
countries, bear witness to Christ: I confirmed them in their faith and
missionary spirit. I will forever carry in my heart the memory of the festive
welcome from the crowds — in some cases the size of an ocean — which
accompanied those salient moments of the Journey. Furthermore, I encouraged
interreligious dialogue at the service of peace, as well as the journey of
those peoples towards unity and social development, especially with families
and young people playing a prominent role.
The culminating moment of my stay in
Sri Lanka was the canonization of the great missionary Joseph Vaz.
This holy priest administered the Sacraments, often in secret, to the faithful,
but he helped all those in need from every religion and social condition,
without distinction. His example of holiness and love for neighbour continues
to inspire the Church in Sri Lanka in her apostolate of charity and education.
I pointed to St Joseph Vaz as a model for all Christians, called today to offer
the saving truth of the Gospel in a multireligious context, with respect for
others, with perseverance and with humility.
Sri Lanka is a country of great natural
beauty, whose people are seeking to rebuild unity after a long and dramatic
civil conflict. Inmy meeting with Government Authorities I stressed the importance of dialogue,
respect for human dignity, the need to involve everyone in order to find
appropriate solutions to further reconciliation and the common good.
The different religions have a crucial
role to play in this regard. My encounter with religious leaders was a confirmation of the good
relations that already exist between the various communities. In this context,
I wanted to encourage the cooperation already undertaken by the followers of
different religious traditions, in order to also heal, with the balm of
forgiveness, those who are still afflicted by the suffering of the last years.
The theme of reconciliation also marked my visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu,
deeply venerated by the Tamil and Sinhalese peoples and a centre of pilgrimage
for members of other religions. In that holy place we asked Mary, our Mother,
to obtain for all the people of Sri Lanka the gift of unity and peace.
From Sri Lanka I flew to the
Philippines, where the Church is preparing to celebrate the fifth centenary of the Gospel’s arrival.
It is the foremost Catholic country in Asia, and the Filipino people are well
known for their deep faith, their religiosity and enthusiasm, even in the
diaspora. In my meeting with the nation’s Authorities,
as well as in moments of prayer and during the crowdedconcluding Mass, I stressed the continual
fruitfulness of the Gospel and its capacity to inspire a society worthy of man,
in which there is room for the dignity of each and for the aspirations of the
Filipino people.
The main scope of my visit, and the
motive for which I chose to go to the Philippines — this was the main reason —
was to be able to express my closeness to our
brothers and sisters who suffered the devastation of Typhoon Yolanda. I went to Tacloban, in the
region most seriously hit, where I paid homage to the faith and resilience of
the local population. In Tacloban, unfortunately, adverse weather conditions
claimed yet another innocent victim: the young volunteer Kristel, struck and
killed by a structure that collapsed in the wind. I then thanked those who,
from every part of the world, responded to their adversity with a generous
outpouring of aid. The power of God’s love, revealed in the mystery of the
Cross, was made evident in the spirit of solidarity demonstrated by the many
acts of charity and sacrifice that marked those dark days.
The encounters with families and young people, in Manila, were
salient moments of my visit to the Philippines. Healthy families are
essential to the life of a society. It gives consolation and hope to see so
many large families that welcome children as a gift from God. They know that
every child is a blessing. I have heard it said by some that families with many
children and the birth of many children are among the causes of poverty. That
opinion seems simplistic to me. I can say, we can all say, that the main cause
of poverty is an economic system that has canceled the person from the centre and
set money in its place; an economic system that excludes, always excludes:
excludes children, the elderly, young people, the unemployed... and that
creates the throw-away culture we live in. We are accustomed to seeing people
discarded. This is the main cause of poverty, not large families. Looking to
the figure of St Joseph, who protected the life of the “Santo Niño”, much
venerated in that land, I recalled that we need to protect families who are
being threatened in different ways so that they can bear witness to the beauty
of the family in God’s plan. We also need to defend the family from new
ideological colonizations that threaten its identity and mission.
It was a joy for me to be with the young people of the Philippines, to listen
to their hopes and their anxieties. I wanted to offer them my encouragement in
their effort to contribute to the renewal of society, especially through
service to the poor and safeguarding the environment.
Care for the poor is an
essential element of our Christian life and witness — I stressed this too
during my visit; it entails the rejection of every form of corruption, for
corruption robs the poor. It calls for a culture of honesty.
I thank the Lord for this pastoral
visit to Sri Lanka and the Philippines. I ask Him to bless these two Countries
for ever and to strengthen the fidelity of Christians to the Gospel message of
our redemption, reconciliation and communion with Christ.
Special Greetings
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims
and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, including the various groups from
the United Kingdom, Switzerland, New Zealand, Japan and the United States of
America. Upon you and your families I invoke grace and peace in the Lord Jesus.
God bless you all!
I address a special thought to young people, the sick and newlyweds. The Week of Prayer for
Christian Unity, which we are celebrating, offers us the opportunity to reflect
on our belonging to Christ and to the Church. Dear young people, pray that all
Christians be one family; dear sick people, offer up your suffering for the cause of unity in
the Church; and you, dear newlyweds, experience the freedom of the gift of love, which is
the kind that God bears for humanity.
Appeal
I would now like to invite you to pray
together for the victims of events in these last days in beloved Niger.
Brutality directed at Christians, children and churches. Let us invoke the Lord
for the gift of reconciliation and peace so that religious sentiment may never
become an occasion for violence, suppression and destruction. War must not be
waged in the name of God! I hope that as soon as possible a climate of mutual
respect and peaceful coexistence may be reestablished for the good of all. Let
us pray to Our Lady for the people of Niger (Hail Mary...).
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