All reconciled in Jesus Christ
Placed under the theme "All reconciled in Jesus
Christ", the visit of Pope Francis to the Democratic Republic of Congo,
initially planned for July 2022, has just ended this morning, 03 February 2023.
Arriving in Kinshasa on 31 January 2023, the Pope was welcomed by a jubilant
people, long impatient to meet the Bishop of Rome and eager for words of
consolation and comfort. Despite the scorching heat of this late January,
thousands of men and women are there, amassed along the route to be taken by
Pope Francis, from the international airport of Ndjili to the Palace of the
Nation. This is where the country's civil and political authorities are waiting
for him. From everywhere, one hears what has become a refrain of all meetings
with the Pope: "Boyei bolamu Santu Papa" (Welcome Holy Father).
All reconciled in Jesus Christ, that is, in Him who is the
Truth and the Life. Reconciliation, in fact, cannot take place without truth.
And Pope Francis is not afraid to get dirty in order to speak the truth to all
his interlocutors: governments, young people, priests, religious, seminarians,
young people in formation, bishops.
From the beginning of his interventions, the Pope speaks out
against the foreign powers and multinationals that exploit wealth, destroy life
and sow war in Africa in general and in the Democratic Republic of Congo in
particular. He launches his heartfelt cry, as long contained: "Stop
suffocating the Democratic Republic of Congo, Stop suffocating Africa". He
reminds the Congolese leaders of their irrevocable responsibility to work for
the development of the nation, for the protection of the population and of
nature. Pope Francis invites the Congolese people to cultivate peace and
reconciliation. This invitation was
made during the mass of 01 February 2023, celebrated in the Congolese rite at
the Ndolo airfield. To cultivate this peace, three keys are fundamental:
forgiveness, community and mission.
At the Stade des
Martyrs, on the morning of February 2, 2023, Pope Francis addressed young
people, urging them to reject the corruption that is destroying Congolese
society. And to leave them, as a precious testament, the symbolism of
the five fingers of the hand. The thumb indicates prayer as the sure foundation
of an authentic Christian and human life. As for the index finger, it is evoked
to represent community: "My friends," says the Pope, "do not let
your youth be wasted by solitude and closure...always think of yourselves
together and you will be happy, because community is the way to live in harmony
with yourself, to be faithful to your vocation. The central finger, the middle
finger, is evoked to underline the need for honesty in the Christian life, a
life that needs forgiveness. The ring finger is rightly evoked to underline the
importance of forgiveness. And finally, the little finger is the finger of
service: "He who serves makes himself small; like a tiny seed that seems
to disappear into the earth but instead bears fruit". On the afternoon of
2 February 2023, in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Congo, Pope Francis met
with priests, deacons, seminarians and consecrated persons. His words of
exhortation are full of fraternity, tenderness and joy. Aware of the challenges
facing consecrated persons, Pope Francis focuses on the following three:
spiritual mediocrity, worldly comfort and superficiality. It is in speaking of
the superficiality that threatens the consecrated life that the Holy Father
addresses the question of ongoing formation and its inescapable importance. He
speaks of it in the following terms: "A gift has been placed in our hands
and it would be presumptuous of us to think that we can live the mission to
which God has called us without working daily on ourselves and without forming
ourselves in a suitable way in the spiritual life and in theology. People do
not need officials of the sacred or graduates apart from the people. We are
obliged to enter into the heart of the Christian mystery, to deepen its
doctrine, to study and meditate on the Word of God; and at the same time to
remain open to the concerns of our time, to the ever more complex questions of
our time, to understand the lives and needs of people, to understand how to
take them by the hand and accompany them. Therefore, the formation of clergy is
not an option. I say this to the seminarians, but it is true for everyone:
formation is a journey to be pursued always, for life".
Also on 2 February 2023, after having met with priests,
deacons, seminarians and consecrated persons, Pope Francis received in a room
of the Apostolic Nunciature in DR Congo, in a private way, his fellow Jesuits
of the Jesuit Province of Central Africa. It was in this same room that the
victims of the violence in the east of the country told the Holy Father of
their suffering. The last official meeting takes place a few hours before the
departure of the Bishop from Rome, that is to say today, 3 February 2023. The
Pope's interlocutors are the CENCO Fathers Bishops. To them this message is
given: "Be merciful. Mercy. Always forgive. When a believer comes to
confession, he comes to ask for forgiveness, he comes to ask for the Father's
caress. And we, an accusing finger: How many times? And how did you do it? No,
not that. Forgive. Always forgive. But I don't know..., because the code tells
me...The code we have to observe, because it is important, but the heart of the
pastor goes beyond that! Take the risk. For forgiveness, take risks. Always.
Always forgive in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. And so you will sow forgiveness for the whole
society.
To the
consecrated men and women of the DR Congo - but is he not also addressing all
the consecrated men and women of our continent? - the Pope gives these words as
a real balm to our hearts: "I thank you wholeheartedly, brothers and
sisters, for what you are and what you do, for your witness to the Church and
to the world. Do not be discouraged, the Church needs you! You are
precious, important: I say this to you in the name of the whole Church. I wish
you always to be channels of the Lord's consolation and joyful witnesses of the
Gospel, prophets of peace in the midst of violence, disciples of Love, ready to
heal the wounds of the poor and of those who suffer. Thank you again for your
service and for your pastoral zeal. I bless you and carry you in my heart. And
you, please, always pray for me! May God bless Pope Francis unceasingly so that
his prophetic word may continue to awaken us, to keep in our hearts the taste
for God and in our lives the passion for humanity and the common home.