Pope to celebrate Paraguay's indigenous Guaranì culture

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis arrives in the Paraguayan capital, Asuncion on Friday for the third and final phase of his pastoral visit to Latin America. Over the following two days he will meet with civil and religious leaders, with young people, with slum dwellers in one of the poorest parts of the city and with patients and staff at a children’s hospital.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Pope will celebrate Mass at the Marian shrine of Caacupé and in a park where up to a million and a half people are expected to attend the liturgy, with prayers in both Spanish and the local indigenous language, Guaranì.

Father Alberto Luna is provincial of the Society of Jesus in Paraguay: ahead of the Pope’s arrival in Asuncion, he talked to Linda Bordoni, our correspondent for this papal journey, about his expectations and about the significance of the Guaranì language and culture…..

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Fr Alberto says the Jesuits are enthusiastically looking waiting for the Pope and his message because, as an Argentinian Jesuit, “he knows Paraguay and our people”. When he was a bishop in Buenos Aires, Fr Alberto continues, he met many Paraguayans living there so he appreciates the language, the culture and the faith of the people. “We hope he’ll encourage us to live our faith with a special commitment for the poor and to change our ways of life”, he adds, “we need that”.

Speaking about the importance of Guaranì culture, Fr Alberto says it is “our native language, our roots, it expresses our feelings” in the best way. Pope Francis understands that and encourages us to appreciate our language. Today, he says, the language is in danger because of globalization, so “we need to defend it and I think the Pope will give us a pride about our language”. He says some of the prayers and readings will be in Guaranì but he would like to see more of its use in the liturgies.