Pope
calls on Filipino Church to combat inequality and injustice
(Vatican Radio) Celebrating Mass in Manila's Cathedral on
Friday, Pope Francis urged Catholics in the Philippines to
be ambassadors for Christ and ministers of reconciliation, proclaiming the Good
News of God's infinite love, mercy and compassion. Speaking to bishops,
priests, religious and seminarians gathered in the Cathedral, the Pope
said the Church in the Philippines is called to acknowledge and combat the
causes of the deeply rooted inequality and injustice which mar the face of
Filipino society, plainly contradicting the teaching of Christ.
As Filipinos prepare to mark the fifth century of the arrival of
the Church in the Asian nation, the Pope said Catholics must build on that
legacy of the past by building a society inspired by the Gospel message of
charity, forgiveness and solidarity in the service of the common good.
below the full text of Pope Francis' homily
for the Mass in Manila's Cathedral
Mass with Bishops, Priests and Religious in Manila's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
16 January 2015
“Do you love me?…
Tend my sheep” (Jn 21:15-17). Jesus’ words to Peter in today’s Gospel are
the first words I speak to you, dear brother bishops and priests, men and women
religious, and young seminarians. These words remind us of something
essential. All pastoral ministry is born of love. All consecrated
life is a sign of Christ’s reconciling love. Like Saint Therese, in the
variety of our vocations, each of us is called, in some way, to be love in the
heart of the Church.
I greet all of you with great affection. And I ask you to bring my
affection to all your elderly and infirm brothers and sisters, and to all those
who cannot join us today. As the Church in the Philippines looks to the
fifth centenary of its evangelization, we feel gratitude for the legacy left by
so many bishops, priests and religious of past generations. They labored
not only to preach the Gospel and build up the Church in this country, but also
to forge a society inspired by the Gospel message of charity, forgiveness and
solidarity in the service of the common good. Today you carry on that
work of love. Like them, you are called to build bridges, to pasture
Christ’s flock, and to prepare fresh paths for the Gospel in Asia at the dawn
of a new age.
“The love of Christ impels us” (2 Cor 5:14). In today’s first reading
Saint Paul tells us that the love we are called to proclaim is a reconciling
love, flowing from the heart of the crucified Savior. We are called to be
“ambassadors for Christ” (2 Cor 5:20). Ours is a ministry of
reconciliation. We proclaim the Good News of God’s infinite love, mercy
and compassion. We proclaim the joy of the Gospel. For the Gospel
is the promise of God’s grace, which alone can bring wholeness and healing to
our broken world. It can inspire the building of a truly just and
redeemed social order.
To be an ambassador for Christ means above all to invite everyone to a renewed
personal encounter with the Lord Jesus (Evangelii Gaudium, 3). This
invitation must be at the core of your commemoration of the evangelization of
the Philippines. But the Gospel is also a summons to conversion, to an
examination of our consciences, as individuals and as a people. As the
Bishops of the Philippines have rightly taught, the Church in the Philippines
is called to acknowledge and combat the causes of the deeply rooted inequality
and injustice which mar the face of Filipino society, plainly contradicting the
teaching of Christ. The Gospel calls individual Christians to live lives
of honesty, integrity and concern for the common good. But it also calls
Christian communities to create “circles of integrity”, networks of solidarity
which can expand to embrace and transform society by their prophetic witness.
As ambassadors for Christ, we, bishops, priests and religious, ought to be the
first to welcome his reconciling grace into our hearts. Saint Paul makes
clear what this means. It means rejecting worldly perspectives and seeing
all things anew in the light of Christ. It means being the first to
examine our consciences, to acknowledge our failings and sins, and to embrace
the path of constant conversion. How can we proclaim the newness and
liberating power of the Cross to others, if we ourselves refuse to allow the
word of God to shake our complacency, our fear of change, our petty compromises
with the ways of this world, our “spiritual worldliness” (cf. Evangelii
Gaudium, 93)?
For us priests and consecrated persons, conversion to the newness of the Gospel
entails a daily encounter with the Lord in prayer. The saints teach us
that this is the source of all apostolic zeal! For religious, living the
newness of the Gospel also means finding ever anew in community life and community
apostolates the incentive for an ever closer union with the Lord in perfect
charity. For all of us, it means living lives that reflect the poverty of
Christ, whose entire life was focused on doing the will of the Father and
serving others. The great danger to this, of course, is a certain
materialism which can creep into our lives and compromise the witness we
offer. Only by becoming poor ourselves, by stripping away our
complacency, will we be able to identify with the least of our brothers and
sisters. We will see things in a new light and thus respond with honesty
and integrity to the challenge of proclaiming the radicalism of the Gospel in a
society which has grown comfortable with social exclusion, polarization and
scandalous inequality.
Here I would like to address a special word to the young priests, religious and
seminarians among us. I ask you to share the joy and enthusiasm of your
love for Christ and the Church with everyone, but especially with your
peers. Be present to young people who may be confused and despondent, yet
continue to see the Church as their friend on the journey and a source of
hope. Be present to those who, living in the midst of a society burdened
by poverty and corruption, are broken in spirit, tempted to give up, to leave
school and to live on the streets. Proclaim the beauty and truth of the
Christian message to a society which is tempted by confusing presentations of
sexuality, marriage and the family. As you know, these realities are
increasingly under attack from powerful forces which threaten to disfigure
God’s plan for creation and betray the very values which have inspired and
shaped all that is best in your culture.
Filipino culture has, in fact, been shaped by the imagination of faith.
Filipinos everywhere are known for their love of God, their fervent piety and
their warm devotion to Our Lady and her rosary. This great heritage
contains a powerful missionary potential. It is the way in which your
people has inculturated the Gospel and continues to embrace its message (cf.
Evangelii Gaudium, 122). In your efforts to prepare for the fifth
centenary, build on this solid foundation.
Christ died for all so that, having died in him, we might live no longer for
ourselves but for him (cf. 2 Cor 5:15). Dear brother bishops, priests and
religious: I ask Mary, Mother of the Church, to obtain for all of you an
outpouring of zeal, so that you may spend yourselves in selfless service to our
brothers and sisters. In this way, may the reconciling love of Christ
penetrate ever more fully into the fabric of Filipino society and, through you,
to the farthest reaches of the world.
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