Pope at Audience: I saw living and joyful faith in Asia and Oceania
By Deborah Castellano Lubov
"The Church is much larger and more alive!"
Pope Francis offered this reminder during his Wednesday General Audience in St. Peter's Square, as he reflected on his recent Apostolic Journey to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore, marking his 45th abroad.
In his remarks, the Pope thanked God for the gift of this Journey, where, he marveled, he "encountered many large and vibrant Christian communities."
In Paul VI's footsteps
The Holy Father recalled that among the Popes of the modern era, Pope St. John XXIII was the first to leave the Vatican to travel, by train, to Assisi and Loreto, but Pope St. Paul VI was the first to venture out "by plane."
He recalled that in 1970, Paul VI became the first Pope to fly "towards the rising sun," visiting the Philippines and Australia extensively, while also stopping in several Asian countries and the Samoa Islands.
"I tried to follow his example, but with a few more years on me than he had at the time, I limited my visit to four countries: Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Singapore," the Pope said.
"I thank the Lord," he continued, "who granted me the opportunity to do as an old Pope what I would have wanted to do as a young Jesuit!
The Pope acknowledged that the Church remains too Eurocentric or, "as it’s said, 'Western,'" noting that it is so much greater than any one geographical region.
Having spent time with communities and hearing testimonies of priests, nuns, laypeople, and catechists, the Pope praised these Churches that grow "not by proselytizing," "but by attraction."
Indonesia
The Holy Father recalled that in Indonesia, Christians are about 10%, and Catholics about 3%, of the population.
"But what I encountered is a lively, dynamic Church, capable of living and transmitting the Gospel in that country, which has a very noble culture inclined to harmonize differences, and at the same time has the largest Muslim presence in the world."
"'Faith, fraternity, compassion' was the motto of the visit to Indonesia," he said. "Through these words, the Gospel enters every day, in a concrete way, into the lives of those people, embracing and offering them the grace of Jesus, who died and rose again."
The Pope said that these words are "like a bridge," and "like the underpass that connects Jakarta Cathedral to the largest mosque in Asia."
"There," he applauded, "I saw that fraternity is the future," to work toward peace and against war.
Papua New Guinea
Turning to Papua New Guinea, the Pope said he found there the "beauty of a missionary Church."
On the archipelago stretching out toward the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, he recalled the missionaries and catechists.
"My heart was gladdened to be with today's missionaries and catechists for a while; and I was moved to hear the songs and music of the young people: in them, I saw a new future, without tribal violence, without dependencies, without economic or ideological colonialisms; a future of fraternity and care for the wonderful natural environment."
Papua New Guinea, he said, can serve as a "laboratory" for this model of integral development, inspired by the "leaven" of the Gospel.
Timor-Leste
Turning to Timor-Leste, the most Catholic country in Asia, the Pope acknowledged that, like Pope St. John Paul II had done, he reaffirmed the fruitful relationship between faith and culture.
"But above all," he said, "I was struck by the beauty of those people: a people tested but joyful, a people wise in suffering. A people that not only brings forth many children but teaches them to smile."
"I will never forget the smiles of the children," the Pope said.
The Holy Father expressed his delight in seeing so many children, and suggested he breathed "spring air" as he witnessed there the youth of the country's very active Church.
Singapore
Finally, the Pope turned to the highly modern economic hub of Singapore.
While Christians there are a minority, he commended that they form a living Church, committed to generating harmony and fraternity among different ethnicities, cultures, and religions.
"Even in wealthy Singapore," there are the "little ones,'" he noted, "who follow the Gospel and become salt and light, witnesses of a hope greater than that which economic gains can guarantee."
The Holy Father concluded by thanking God for the Journey and extending his Apostolic Blessing upon all those he visited.
During the General Audience, Pope Francis also offered a special greeting. He announced to the faithful gathered that two readers would be getting married next Saturday and exclaimed that "it is beautiful to see when love brings us forward to make a new family: that is why I wanted to present these two, to thank the Lord."
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