Below is a translation of Pope Francis’ official speech :
Dear brothers and sisters, good afternoon.
Here there are cardinals, bishops, priests, nuns, lay people and children, but we are all brothers and sisters. The titles of Pope, cardinal and bishop are not so important, we are all brothers and sisters. Each one has his or her own task to help the people of God grow.
I greet the Cardinal, the Bishops, the priests and deacons, the consecrated men and women, the seminarians and the catechists present. I thank the President of the Episcopal Conference for his words, as well as the brothers and sisters who have shared their testimonies with us.
As already mentioned, the motto chosen for this Apostolic Visitation is “Faith, Fraternity, Compassion.” I think that these are three virtues that express well both your journey as a Church and your character as a people, ethnically and culturally diverse, but at the same time characterized by an innate tendency towards unity and peaceful coexistence, as witnessed by the traditional principles of Pancasila. Therefore, I would like to reflect with you on these three words.
The first is faith. Indonesia is a large country, with abundant natural resources, especially in flora, fauna, energy resources and raw materials, among others. If we consider it superficially, such great wealth could become a cause of pride or arrogance, but, if we look at it with an open mind and heart, this wealth can instead remind us of God, of his presence in the cosmos and in our lives, as Sacred Scripture teaches us (cf. Gen 1; Sir 42:15-43:33). It is the Lord, in fact, who gives us all this. There is not a centimetre of the wonderful Indonesian territory, not a moment of the life of each of its millions of inhabitants that is not his gift, a sign of his free and provident love as a Father. And looking at all this with the humble eyes of children helps us to believe, to recognise ourselves as small and loved (cf. Ps 8), and to cultivate feelings of gratitude and responsibility.
Agnes spoke to us about this, in relation to our relationship with creation and with our brothers and sisters, especially those most in need, to live with a personal and community style characterized by respect, civility and humanity; with Franciscan sobriety and charity.
After faith, the second word of the motto is fraternity. A poetess of the last century used a very beautiful expression to describe this attitude; she wrote that being brothers means loving one another while recognizing that we are “different like two drops of water”[1]. And that is exactly the case. No two drops of water are alike, nor are there two brothers, not even twins, completely identical. Living fraternity, then, means welcoming one another while recognizing that we are equal in diversity.
This is also a value valued in the tradition of the Indonesian Church, and is manifested in the openness with which the Church relates to the different realities that compose and surround it, in the cultural, ethnic, social and religious spheres, valuing the contribution of all and generously offering its own in each context. This aspect is important, because announcing the Gospel does not mean imposing or contrasting one’s own faith with that of others, but rather giving and sharing the joy of the encounter with Christ (cf. 1 Pet 3:15-17), always with great respect and fraternal affection for each person. And in this I invite you to always remain like this: open and friendly to all – “holding hands”, as Fr Maxi said – prophets of communion in a world where, however, there seems to be an ever-increasing tendency to divide, impose and provoke one another (cf. Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 67).
And on this point, I want to tell you something: do you know who is the most divisive being in the world? The great divider, the one who always divides, but it is Jesus who unites. The devil is the one who divides, so be careful!
It is important that we try to reach out to everyone, as Sister Rina reminded us, with the desire to be able to translate into Bahasa Indonesia not only the texts of the Word of God, but also the teachings of the Church, so that they reach as many people as possible. Nicholas also pointed this out, describing the mission of the catechist with the image of a “bridge” that unites. This struck me, and made me think of the wonderful spectacle that would be, in the great Indonesian archipelago, the presence of thousands of “bridges of the heart” that unite all the islands, and even more, of millions of such “bridges” that unite all the people who inhabit them. There is another beautiful image of fraternity: an immense embroidery of threads of love that cross the sea, overcome barriers and embrace all kinds of diversity, making everyone “one heart and one soul” (Acts 4:32). It is the language of the heart, do not forget it!
And we come to the third word: compassion, which is closely linked to fraternity. As we know, compassion does not consist in giving alms to brothers and sisters in need, looking down on them from the “tower” of one’s own security and privileges, but on the contrary, in drawing close to one another, stripping ourselves of everything that might prevent us from bending down to enter into real contact with those who have fallen, and thus lifting them up and restoring hope (cf. Encyclical Letter Fratelli tutti, 70). And not only that, it also means embracing their dreams and their desires for redemption and justice, caring for them, being their promoters and collaborators, involving others as well, extending the “network” and the borders in a great communicative dynamism of charity (cf. ibid., 203). This does not mean being a communist, but it means charity, it means love.
There are those who fear compassion, because they consider it a weakness. On the other hand, they exalt, as if it were a virtue, the cunning of those who serve their own interests, keeping themselves distant from others, not letting themselves be “touched” by anything or anyone, believing that this way they are more lucid and free to achieve their goals.
I remember with sadness a very rich man from Buenos Aires, who always had the habit of accumulating, and accumulating, more and more money. He died leaving a large inheritance. People joked saying: “Poor man, they couldn’t close his coffin!” He wanted to take everything, but he took nothing. It may make us laugh, but do not forget that the devil comes through the pockets, always! Clinging to riches as security is a wrong way of seeing reality. What moves the world is not the calculations of self-interest, which usually end up destroying creation and dividing communities, but charity offered to others. This is what makes us move forward: charity that gives itself. Compassion does not cloud the true vision of life. On the contrary, it makes us see things better, in the light of love, and see them more clearly with the eyes of the heart. I would like to repeat it: please, be careful, and do not forget that the devil comes through the pockets!
In this regard, it seems to me that the portal of this cathedral, in its architecture, sums up very well what we have said, in a Marian key. In fact, it is supported, in the centre of the pointed arch, by a column on which is placed a statue of the Virgin Mary. Thus it shows us the Mother of God first of all as a model of faith, while symbolically supporting, with her little “yes” (cf. Lk 1:38), the entire building of the Church. Her fragile body, leaning on the column, on the rock that is Christ, seems to bear with Him the weight of the entire construction, as if to say that this work, the fruit of man’s work and ingenuity, cannot stand alone. Mary then appears as an image of fraternity, in the gesture of welcoming, in the middle of the main portico, all those who wish to enter. And, finally, Mary is also an icon of compassion, in her watchfulness and protection of the people of God who, with their joys and sorrows, their toils and hopes, gather in the house of the Father.
Dear brothers and sisters, I would like to conclude this reflection by recalling what Saint John Paul II said when he visited this place a few decades ago, addressing priests and religious in particular. He quoted the verse from the Psalm: “Laetentur insulae multae” – “Let you countless islands rejoice” (Ps 96:1) and invited his listeners to do so “by bearing witness to the joy of the Resurrection and by giving their […] life, so that even the most distant islands may “rejoice” in listening to the Gospel, of which you are preachers, teachers and witnesses” (Meeting with the Bishops, Clergy and Religious of Indonesia, Jakarta, 10 October 1989).
I also renew this exhortation and encourage you to continue your mission strengthened in faith, open to all in fraternity and close to each one in compassion. Strong in faith, open to welcoming everyone. How beautiful is that parable in the Gospel in which the wedding guests did not want to come! What did the Lord do? Did he become bitter? No, he sent his servants and told them to go to the crossroads to invite everyone. In that same beautiful style, go forward with fraternity, with compassion and with unity. I think of the many islands here, so many islands, and the Lord says to you, good people, “to all, to all.” In fact, the Lord says “good and bad!”, to all!
I renew this exhortation and encourage you to continue your mission: strong in faith, open to all in fraternity and close to others in compassion. Faith, fraternity and compassion. I leave you with these three words, and you can reflect on them later: Faith, fraternity and compassion. I bless you and thank you for so many good things that you do every day in all these beautiful islands. I will pray for you and I ask you, please, to pray for me. Be careful of one thing: pray for, not against! Thank you!