Vatican City, Sep 11, 2019 / 05:30 am (CNA).- Upon his return to the Vatican after a six-day trip to Africa, Pope Francis said Wednesday that he hopes the “seeds of peace” sown during his apostolic journey will bear fruit in Mozambique, Madagascar, and Mauritius.
“I thank God who allowed me to make this journey as a pilgrim of peace and hope,” Pope Francis said in St. Peter’s Square Sept. 11.
“The hope of the world is Christ, and his Gospel is the most powerful leaven of fraternity, freedom, justice and peace for all people. With my visit, in the footsteps of holy missionaries, I tried to bring this leaven, the leaven of Jesus, to the Mozambican, Malagasy and Mauritian populations,” he said.
Pope Francis said that the Church will continue to support the peace process in Mozambique, which advanced in August, and he thanked the Catholic community of Saint’Egidio for their continued contributions to this dialogue.
“In Mozambique I went to spread seeds of hope, peace and reconciliation in a land that has suffered so much in the recent past due to a long armed conflict, and that last spring was hit by two cyclones that caused very serious damage,” the pope said.
Mozambique fought a civil war from 1977 to 1992 between Frelimo, a socialist party that has ruled the country since it gained independence in 1975, and Renamo, an anti-communist organization. Renamo began a new insurgency in 2013, a conflict that only came to an end in August with the signing of a peace agreement in Serra da Gorongosa.
“The Church continues to accompany the peace process, which has taken a step forward on August 1st with a new agreement between the parties,” the pope said.
“Let us give thanks to God, and ask him that the seeds sown during this apostolic journey will bear abundant fruit for the people of Mozambique, Madagascar and Mauritius,” he said.
The pope reflected that there was much joy amid the rain during the Mass he celebrated in Maputo, Mozambique.
“My visit to Mozambique culminated in Mass, celebrated in the stadium in the rain, but we were all happy. The songs, the religious dances … so much happiness. The rain didn’t matter,” Francis said.
“And there resounded the appeal of the Lord Jesus: ‘Love your enemies’, the seed of true revolution, that of love, which extinguishes violence and generates fraternity,” he added.
After three days in Mozambique, Pope Francis traveled to Madagascar, where he visited the country’s “City of Friendship,” a town built through the leadership of an Argentine priest who sought solidarity with the poorest of the poor.
Pope Francis reflected that Madagascar is a country rich in natural resources and natural beauty, but marked by much poverty.
“I hope that, inspired by its traditional spirit of solidarity, the Malagasy people can overcome adversity and build a future of development by combining respect for the environment and social justice,” he said.
In his meeting with bishops in Madagascar, Pope Francis said that they renewed together a commitment to care for the poor and to be “sowers of peace and hope.”
Pope Francis ended his six-day trip to Africa on the island nation of Mauritius. “I chose it because it is a place of integration between different ethnic groups and cultures,” Pope Francis said, noting the different immigrants from India and other countries who have come to call the tourist destination home over the past two centuries.
Mauritius obtained its independence on March 12, 1968, after more than 200 years of colonization by the French and the British following years of Dutch and Portuguese settlements.
The country is made up of many different ethnic groups, primarily Indo-Mauritian, Creole, Sino-Mauritian, and Franco-Mauritian. The primary religion on the island is Hinduism, followed by Catholicism and Islam.
“There is strong inter-religious dialogue, and also friendship between the heads of different religious denominations. Something that would seem strange to us, but they thus experience the friendship that is natural,” Francis reflected.
The pope said that in Mauritius he found a beautiful bouquet of flowers upon entering the chancery. It was sent as a gift from the grand imam as a sign of brotherhood.
Francis said that he was also impressed to see Muslims and Catholics working together in an HIV treatment clinic in Mozambique run by the Community of Sant’Egidio, a lay movement centered on peace and helping the poor.
On his return flight to Rome, Pope Francis said during an in-flight press conference that he was touched by how the African people in the crowds lifted up their children for him to see.
“Africa is full of life,” Pope Francis said. “It is the treasure of the poor, the child.”
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If true, this is very bad news.
The writing was not only on the wall it was emblazoned across the media by his being rendered impotent by the Pontiff. Beginning with the Pontiff’s dismissal of Cdl Mueller’s trusted, orthodox Staff, muzzling him. The idea that AL must be read in continuity with tradition is counter to the Pontiff’s purpose in AL and ongoing implementation by a nod and wink to the German and other Bishops Conferences. He’s a good man. I regret he didn’t stand up directly to the Pontiff and get fired with not only honor. But with the courage to set an example for the Church.
Apparently, he doesn’t…
http://www.catholicworldreport.com/2017/07/02/cardinal-mller-theres-no-problem-between-me-pope-francis/
Well, well..,all of you die-hard Francis defenders have what to say???
The Holy Spirit and the Deposit of Faith…we will soon see if the Catholic Church is the true Church.
The Deposit of the Faith has not been abrogated and never will be. Our Catholic Faith is assured by Christ’s words. The Pontiff has not officially touched or changed one word. Devious covert implementation of any policy contrary to that Deposit is manifest error, non binding, absolutely necessary to reject. Which it will be by the Faithful. With Christ we may suffer awhile. With him steadfast in the Catholic Faith we will rise to eternal life.
….that the pope is exercising his rightful prerogative??
Bruno Forte would be bad as the head of the CDF; I don’t know anything about Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, SJ. O’Malley didn’t impress me as the Archbishop of Boston and I have no reason to think that he will act as the voice that Pope Francis needs.
Pope Francis and any further perversions of pastoral teaching (for example, anything that may result from the rumored commission on Humanae Vitae) are a problem for Latin Catholics only if they hold to a strong ultramontanist view of the papacy.
Francis-Kirk is fake Catholicism.
Francis hires people like James Martin to teach immorality to our children, while F confection the facade of “orthodoxy.”
Double-talking and dog-whistling all day, every day.
An unworthy shepherd.
I wouldn’t leave my children alone in a room with him or any man who he appoints – they are not trustworthy.
Cardinal Mueller is a great man, who stood by the faith when the Pope undermined him at every turn. He tried to correct Amoris Laetitia, but the Pope rejected his counsel. He tried to save AL from itself, but the Pope rejected him. His job was not to stand up and oppose the Pope publicly, as some contend. His job was to try and steer a dangerous Pope in the right direction, without undermining the Papacy itself. Now Mueller will be free to speak out more clearly.
Two very troubling items – Many have said that the Pope was out to undermine the legacy and magisterium of JP II. Now we hear that he is removing JP II’s name from the John Paul II Institute for the Family. If true, this is a heinous act of a very tiny man. It is perhaps conclusive evidence of an irrational dislike for JP II and his thought. It shows a pettiness and arrogance that many have seen in this man.
Second, Archbishop Paglia recently told the parents of a severely disabled and dying baby to essentially forget about it and let their baby die. They had raised 1.4 million dollars to take their baby to America to try one last treatment as a last ditch attempt to save his life. Not only would the vaunted British healthcare system not pay for it, they refused to let the parents take their baby to America to even try to treat the baby. This is heartlessness in spades. Paglia cynically quoted JP II out of context, and claimed that the parents should let their baby die rather than try one last treatment. This is evidence of extreme sickness in the Vatican. The whole Vatican seems to be rejecting Catholicism.
The Vatican is embarrassed by and therefore rejects many things Catholic.
The Vatican under this pontiff is not a defender of the Faith.
Muller should not be surprised at his removal. No thinking Catholic should be surprised, al all.
All things pertaining to John Paul II are inimical to His Holiness and moreover Poland is being reminded that their resistance to his new pastoral teaching has caused him great offence
“Now Mueller will be free to speak out more clearly.”
Yep. And here’s what he has to say… (Warning: Content is HIGHLY disappointing to ideologues.)
http://www.catholicworldreport.com/2017/07/02/cardinal-mller-theres-no-problem-between-me-pope-francis/