Pope Francis commended the fruits of his recent apostolic trip in Latin America to Our Lady of Guadalupe during last weekend’s Sunday Angelus, as he thanked the people of Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay for their warm and affectionate welcome, and for their enthusiasm.
He also offered thanks to the authorities of the three countries for their collaboration, and for all the clergy, from the bishops to men and women religious, who accompanied him during his stay.
“With these brothers and sisters, I praised the Lord for the wonders that He has worked in the People of God on their path in those lands, and for the faith that has inspired and continues to inspire their life and culture. And we have also praised Him for the natural beauty with which He enriched these lands.
“The Latin American continent has great human and spiritual potential, and safeguards deeply rooted Christian values, but also experiences serious social and economic problems.
“To contribute to their solution, the Church is committed to mobilising the spiritual and moral forces of Her communities, collaborating with all members of society. Faced with the great challenges that announcing the Gospel entails, I invited them to draw from Christ the Lord the grace that saves and gives strength to the effort of Christian witness, and to further spread the Word of God, so that the strong religiosity of the people may always bear faithful witness to the Gospel,” the Pope said.
During his return flight from Paraguay to Rome, the Pope answered questions from the journalists who accompanied him on his apostolic trip to Latin America. Some of the questions and answers are summarised below.
Question: Holy Father, In your address to popular movements in Bolivia, you spoke about the new colonialism and the idolatry of money that subjugates the economy, and the imposition of austerity measures that continually “tighten the belt” of the poor. For some weeks now in Europe, there is the situation in Greece, which risks leaving the Euro zone. What do you think about what is happening in Greece, and which also affects all of Europe?
Answer: I am near to this situation, as it is a phenomenon present throughout the world, all over the world: also in the East, in the Philippines, in India, in Thailand. There are movements that are organised among themselves, not as a form of protest but in order to keep going and to be able to live. And they are movements that have momentum, and these people – there are many of them – do not feel represented by union, as they say that the unions are now corporations and do not fight – I am simplifying somewhat – for the rights of the poor. And the Church cannot be indifferent to this. The Church has a social doctrine and is in dialogue with these movements, and does so well. You have seen the enthusiasm of feeling that the Church – they say – is not distant from us, the Church has a doctrine that helps us to fight for this. It is a dialogue. The Church does not choose an anarchic path. No, we are not anarchists. These people work, they try to work hard even with waste, with what is left over; they are real workers.
Then, regarding Greece and the international system, I do not understand it well… but it would certainly be all too simple to say that the blame lies only on one side. If the Greek government has advanced this situation of international debt, it, too, bears responsibility. With the new Greek government, there have been steps in the right direction, towards revision. I hope, and it is the only thing I can say to you, as I do not know the situation well, that a way will be found to solve the Greek problem, and also a path of supervision so that other countries do not experience the same problem, and that this may help us to go ahead, as the path of loans and debts never ends. I was told, about a year or so ago, that there was a United Nations project… whereby a country can declare itself bankrupt – which is not the same as being in default – but it is a project I heard about and I do not know how it ended or whether or not it was true. If a company can declare bankruptcy, why can’t a country do it, so that we can then go to the aid of others?
Then, with regard to the new colonialisms, evidently these are a question of values. The colonialism of consumerism, for example. The habit of consumerism is the result of a process of colonisation, as it leads to a habit that is not one’s own and causes a personality imbalance. Consumerism also upsets the balance of the domestic economy and of social justice, as well as physical and mental health, for instance.
Question: Seeing how well the mediation went between Cuba and the US, do you think it would it be possible to do something similar between other delicate situations in other countries on the Latin American continent? I’m thinking of Venezuela and Colombia.
Answer: The process between Cuba and the United States was not mediation. It did not have the character of mediation. There was a wish that came… And then, to tell you the truth, three months went by, and I only prayed about the matter… what could I do with these two who had been like this for more than 50 years. Then the Lord made me think of a cardinal. He went there and talked; then knew nothing more and months went by. One day, the Secretary of State, who is here, told me, “Tomorrow we will have the second meeting with the two teams”… “Yes, yes, they are talking, the two groups are talking…”. It happened by itself. It was not a mediation. It was the good will of the two countries, and the merit is theirs, the merit is theirs for doing this. We did hardly anything, only small things. And, in mid-December, it was announced… Now, I am concerned that the peace process in Colombia must not come to a halt. I have to say this, and I hope that the process goes ahead. In this sense, we are always willing to help, in many ways. It would be a bad thing if it did not go ahead. In Venezuela, the Episcopal Conference is working to make peace there, too. But there, too, there is no mediation.
Question: Holy Father, in summary, what message did you want to give to the Latin American Church in these days? And what role can the Latin American Church have, also as a sign to the world?
Answer: The Latin American Church has a great asset: it is a young Church… with a certain freshness, also some informalities; it is not very formal. In addition, it has a rich body of theological research. I wanted to encourage this young Church and I believe that this Church can offer us much. One thing that really struck me was that in all three countries, in the streets, there were many fathers and mothers with their children… I have never seen so many children!
It is a people – and also a Church – that has a lesson for us, for Europe, where the declining birth-rate is worrying, and there are few policies for helping large families. France has a good policy for helping large families and it has achieved a birth-rate of more than two per cent but, in others, it remains at zero per cent… The greatest asset of this people and of this Church is that it is a living Church. I believe we can learn from this and correct it as, otherwise, if we no longer have children… It is what touches me most about this tendency to cast aside: children are discarded, the elderly are discarded and, through the lack of work, the young, too, are discarded. These new nations of young people give us greater strength.
For the Church, I would say that a young Church – with many problems, because it has problems – I think that this is the message I find: do not be afraid of this youth and this freshness of the Church. It can also be a somewhat undisciplined Church but, with time, it will become disciplined, and it offers us much that is good.
Courtesy Vatican Information Service