During his weekly General Audience, Pope Francis recalls his recent Apostolic Journey to Asia and Oceania, and praises the living and joyful faith and witness of the Churches in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Singapore.
“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.”
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.”
With thanks to Vatican News