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Dili (Agenzia Fides) - The Timorese leg of his apostolic journey to Asia and Oceania is coming to an end. But before flying to Singapore, the Pope, as expected, had fun with the local youth. Dances, songs and applause greeted the Pontiff who, surprised by so much enthusiasm (about three thousand boys and girls present), decided to leave aside the speech prepared for the occasion. He addressed the young people in Spanish, asking them questions and giving them advice on how to approach life. Here are the main passages:
What do young people do? "Love one another" [a young person replied]. To love, young people have a great capacity to love. But there is one thing that young people of different nationalities and religions always do. Do you know what young people always do? Young people make noise.
Do not stop smiling. And you, young people, you are the majority of the population of this land, and your presence fills this land with life, hope and future. Do not lose the enthusiasm of faith.
But do you know what makes a young person fall? Vices. Be careful, because those who are called sellers of happiness come to sell you drugs, they sell you many things that give you happiness for half an hour, nothing more.
A young man must dream. And how does a father dream? Does he drink alcohol? No, if we do that, we will have nightmares. I invite you to dream big. A young man who does not dream is a pensioner of life.
Young people are halfway on the path of life. Between the young child and the adult. And you, do you know what is one of the most beautiful riches of a society? They are the elderly, the grandparents. You, the young, are one wealth and the other is the elderly. The two treasures of a people are children and the elderly.
In this smiling country, you have a wonderful history: that of heroism, faith, martyrdom and above all forgiveness and reconciliation. This theme leads me to recommend three things to you: freedom, commitment, fraternity.
In the Tetum language, there is a saying: "ukun rasik-an", that is to say, having the ability to govern oneself. A young person who does not govern himself is a slave, he is not free. And what can a young person be a slave to? Sin, the mobile phone, believing oneself to be all-powerful, arrogance.
A young person must understand that being free is not doing what one wants, he has responsibilities. One of the responsibilities he has is to learn how to take care of the common house.
Is it good for young people to have different ideas? To argue with others? Or to respect each other? If I am of this religion and you are of that religion, we argue. That is not the way it is, it must be respected. Is hatred a good attitude? Love and service are the right attitudes. There is one thing that I do not know if it happens in this country, but in other countries it happens, and that is bullying. Is there bullying here? Bullying is an attitude whereby the weak are taken advantage of. Is there bullying in East Timor? Please, no more bullying from now on.
Dear young people, be heirs to the beautiful history that preceded you. Carry it forward. Have courage. And if you quarrel, reconcile. We must love each other beyond all ethnic or religious differences.
Thank you for your joy and your smile. I gave you two pieces of advice. What was the first? Create confusion. The second? Respect your elders. OK? All together: first, create confusion; second, respect your elders. God bless you. (F.B.) (Agenzia Fides, 11/9/2024)
