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Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - "The first reflection that comes to mind after this journey is that we are still too Eurocentric or, as they say, 'Western' in relation to the Church," said Pope Francis, returning to St. Peter's Square for the General Audience, interrupting the cycle of catechesis on the Holy Spirit and summing up his long Apostolic Journey to Asia and Oceania, affirming the beauty and the need for a "missionary and open Church" that grows not "through proselytism" but "through attraction, as Benedict XVI wisely said".
After the usual journey in the "Popemobile", Pope Francis recalls from the square in front of the Vatican Basilica the journey of Paul VI, "the first Pope to fly to the rising sun", who in 1970 "visited the Philippines and Australia in detail, but also stopped in various Asian countries and the Samoa Islands. A memorable journey!"
"I too have tried to follow his example," the Pope continued, "but since I am a few years older than him, I limited myself to four countries: Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. "I thank the Lord for allowing me to do as an old Pope what I would have wanted to do as a young Jesuit, because I wanted to go there as a missionary!"
"A first reflection that comes to mind after this trip is that we are still too Eurocentric or, as they say, 'Western' in relation to the Church. But in reality the Church is much bigger, much bigger than Rome and Europe, much bigger! And also - if I may say so - much more alive, in these countries! Churches that do not engage in proselytism, but grow through 'attraction', as Benedict XVI wisely said," the Pope said.
The Pope looks back at all the stops on his nearly 12-day journey, “which is called apostolic because it is not a tourist trip,” he says, “but a journey to bring the word of the Lord, to make the Lord known,” starting with Indonesia, where the proportion of Christians is around 10% and that of Catholics 3%: “What I found, however, was a living, dynamic Church, capable of living and transmitting the Gospel in a country that has a very noble culture, that tends to harmonize diversity, and that at the same time has the largest presence of Muslims in the world.” In Indonesia, Francis added, “I saw that fraternity is the future, it is the answer to anti-civilization, to the diabolical plots of hatred and war.”
With regard to Papua New Guinea, the Bishop of Rome recalls "the beauty of a missionary Church." The protagonists there were and are, in a special way, the missionaries and catechists." "I was moved," the Pope confesses, "listening to the songs and music of the young people: in them I saw a new future, without tribal violence, without dependence, without economic or ideological colonialism; a future of fraternity and care for the wonderful natural environment."
But "the human and social power of promotion that lies in the Christian message is particularly evident in the history of East Timor. There, the Church shared the process of independence with all people, always aiming at peace and reconciliation." But, the Pope stresses, "this is not an ideologization of faith, no, it is a faith that becomes culture and at the same time enlightens, purifies and elevates it." "That is why," notes Pope Francis, "I have taken up again the fruitful relationship between faith and culture, which John Paul II had already focused on during his visit." "In East Timor, I saw the youthfulness of the Church: families, children, young people, many seminarians and candidates for the consecrated life. I would say without exaggeration that I sniffed 'spring air' there!" said the Pope.
In Singapore, the last stop of the trip, Christians are also "a minority, but they form a living Church that works for harmony and fraternity between the different ethnic groups, cultures and religions. Even in wealthy Singapore, there are the “little ones” who follow the Gospel and become salt and light, witnesses of a hope that is greater than that guaranteed by economic gains.” (F.B.) (Agenzia Fides, 18/9/2024)
