Pray for peace, deepen your resolve to achieve it –Pope Francis

“And so ‘No’ to an economy of exclusion, ‘No’ to an economy of selfishness, without ethics, ‘No’ to the spirit of materialism. ‘No’, ‘No’, ‘No’. And a ‘yes’ to a personal encounter with Jesus whom we want to carry always with us. ‘Yes’ to the cry of the poor, the needy and the lonely and ‘yes’ to the world that eagerly waits for us”.

With these words Oswald Cardinal Gracias, the Archbishop of Bombay and President of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences seemed to summarise how well the Church in Asia had absorbed the words of Pope Francis during his visit to South Korea. It is as if Cardinal Gracias had gone round asking each of the 10 million youth, who participated in the five days Daejeon experience, for their impressions on the papal visit. Cardinal Gracias goes on, “we leave the place with memories of Daejeon and Korea. We are grateful to you Most Holy Father for having been a true, loving and gracious father to us”.

The last few days of Pope Francis’ visit to South Korea have been remarkable. During the visit, he has said many wonderful things. Nevertheless, as Vatican Radio’s correspondent, Sean Lovett, who was among those who travelled with Pope Francis to Korea said in one of his reports to us, the word “peace”, was the one most often repeated in the local articles and media stories reporting on Pope Francis’ visit. This is in part, because the Pope himself used the word, “peace” most frequently in his speeches. It is also because for South Korea peace is at the heart of a nation still officially at war with its neighbour – North Korea.

But come to think of it, the whole world and not Korea alone needs peace. The Guardian UK newspaper last week quoted Dominique Shorten who is the head of emergency fundraising at Save the Children. Shorten says, “we have four emergency appeals open at the moment – Syria, Gaza, South Sudan and (Central African Republic) CAR – which is unprecedented, particularly as they’re all focused on conflict”.To this list one could easily add the conflict ignited by the Islamic State in Iraq, conflicts in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Congo DR, Somalia and Libya. The list could actually still go on. One is then justified in asking as did the Guardian UK last week, “Gaza, Ebola, Iraq…are we approaching disaster overload?” The answer is both yes and no.

Yes, because the more the world seems to hear of these disasters, the more the world’s sensibilities and empathy seem blunted. No, because as Pope Francis has reminded us again and again in Korea and elsewhere we simply cannot give up on peace. Surely, Pope Francis did not only have in mind Korean youth when he said, “I think it is especially important for us to reflect on the need to give our young people the gift of peace”. Speaking to diplomats and Government officials accredited to South Korea, Pope Francis said, “Korea’s quest for peace is a cause close to our hearts, for it affects the stability of the entire area and indeed of our whole war-weary world”.

During this whole apostolic trip, Pope Francis seems to be keenly aware of the hurdles that lie in the way of peace. He told his audience, “the quest for peace also represents a challenge for each of us and in a particular way for those of you dedicated to the pursuit of the common good of the human family through the patient work of diplomacy. It is the perennial challenge of breaking down the walls of distrust and hatred by promoting a culture of reconciliation and solidarity. For diplomacy, as the art of the possible, is based on the firm and persevering conviction that peace can be won through quiet listening and dialogue, rather than by mutual recriminations, fruitless criticisms and displays of force”.

Pope Francis continues by saying “peace is not simply the absence of war, but “the work of justice” and justice, as a virtue, calls for the discipline of forbearance; it demands that we not forget past injustices but overcome them through forgiveness, tolerance and cooperation. It demands the willingness to discern and attain mutually beneficial goals, building foundations of mutual respect, understanding and reconciliation. May all of us dedicate these days to peace, to praying for it and deepening our resolve to achieve it”.

In the end that is what many took away from the visit of Pope Francis to South Korea -a message of peace. As aptly said by Cardinal Gracias to Pope Francis on the last day of the 6th Asian Youth Day, “we have been awakened from the soporific slumber that engulfed us. In this slumber our eyes were closed to the joy of the Gospel, our minds clouded from seeing the beautiful vision of the Kingdom of God and our hearts dulled to experience the warmth of Jesus’ love for us. But now after these five days in Daejeon we have rekindled our passion for the Gospel, revitalized our youthful spirit, and understood more deeply our baptismal consecration and the meaning of true discipleship”.

 (Fr. Paul Samasumo)  e-mail: engafrica@vatiradio.va