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Dili (Agenzia Fides) - This morning the Pope's plane landed in Dili from Papua New Guinea. After a brief stop at the Apostolic Nunciature, in the afternoon the Pope went to the "Nicolau Lobato" Presidential Palace for the traditional welcoming ceremony, where he paid a courtesy visit to the President of the Republic, José Manuel Ramos-Horta. In attendance were 29 children dressed in traditional clothing, three of whom presented the Pope with flowers and the traditional cloth, the Tais. Afterwards the Pope and the Head of State met for a private conversation, while the staff of the Secretariat of State and the religious authorities met with the Prime Minister. After the signing of the guest book and the official photo, the meeting with the Authorities, Civil Society and the Diplomatic Corps took place in the hall of the Presidential Palace. The main passages of the Pope's speech are reproduced below:
In this place Asia and Oceania touch each other. In a certain sense, they also encounter Europe, which, though geographically distant, seems closer due to the role it has had in this area over the past five centuries – I do not want to talk about the Dutch pirates! Indeed, the first Dominican missionaries arrived here from Portugal in the sixteenth century, bringing with them the Catholic faith and the Portuguese language. Today, both Portuguese and Tetum are the two official languages of the country.
Christianity, born in Asia, arrived at these far reaches of the continent through European missionaries, testifying to its universal vocation and ability to harmonize with even the most diverse cultures, which find a new coalescence that is both higher and profound when encountering the Gospel.
Christianity enculturates, it takes on the cultures and therein the various Eastern rites of the various peoples, for one of the important aspects of Christianity is the inculturation of the faith. At the same time, it evangelizes cultures. This binomial, inculturation of faith and evangelization of culture, is important for Christian life. It is not an ideological faith, but a faith rooted in culture.
This land has gone through a painful period in the recent past. It has experienced upheaval and violence, which often occur when a people looks toward full independence only to have its quest for autonomy denied or thwarted.
From the date independence was declared until it was definitively restored, Timor-Leste endured its greatest suffering and trial. It suffered. The country, however, has been able to rise again, finding a path to peace and the beginning of a new phase of development, of improved living conditions and of appreciation on all levels of the unspoiled splendour of this land and its natural and human resources.
We give thanks to God, since you never lost hope while going through such a dramatic period of your history, and after dark and difficult days, a dawn of peace and freedom has finally dawned.
Your rootedness in the faith has greatly helped in reaching these important goals. I would say that you are a people that has suffered, but are wise through suffering.
In this regard, I wish in particular to recall and commend your assiduous efforts to achieve full reconciliation with your brothers and sisters in Indonesia, an attitude that found its first and purest source in the teachings of the Gospel. You remained firm in hope even amid affliction and, thanks to the character of your people and your faith, you have turned sorrow into joy!
May the Lord grant that in other conflicts in various parts of the world the desire for peace will prevail, because unity is always superior to conflict; the peace of unity is always superior to conflict. This also requires a certain purification of memory, in order to heal wounds, to overcome hatred with reconciliation and confrontation with cooperation.
It is good to speak of “the politics of the outstretched hand”, which is very wise rather than foolish, for when the outstretched hand senses betrayal, it knows how to resist, it knows how to move things forward.
Another praiseworthy event took place when, on the twentieth anniversary of the country’s independence, you incorporated as a national document the Declaration on Human Fraternity. You have done this so that – as the Declaration itself calls for – it can be adopted and included in school curricula. Indeed, this is fundamental.
Now, a new horizon has opened before you, cleared of dark clouds, but with new challenges to face and new problems to solve. That is why I want to say: may the faith, which has enlightened and sustained you in the past, continue to inspire your present and future: Que a vossa fè seja a vossa cultura! That is to say, may it inspire principles, projects and choices in conformity with the Gospel.
Of the various current issues, I think of the phenomenon of emigration, which is always an indication of an insufficient or inadequate appreciation of resources; as well as the difficulty to provide everyone with a job that offers a fair salary and guarantees families an income corresponding to their basic needs. And this is not always an external phenomenon. In Italy, for example, there is emigration from the south to the north and we have a whole region in the south that is becoming depopulated.
I think too of the poverty present in so many rural areas, and the subsequent need for collective and wide-ranging action involving manifold efforts and leaders from all sectors – civil, religious and social – to remedy it and to offer viable alternatives to emigration.
Moreover, I think of what can be considered social scourges, such as the excessive use of alcohol by young people. Please take good care of this; give young people ideals to get them out of these traps! There is also the phenomenon of joining certain gangs, which are trained in martial arts; but instead of using this knowledge in the service of the defenceless, they use it as an opportunity to showcase the fleeting and harmful power of violence.
Let us not forget, too, that these children and adolescents have their dignity violated, a phenomenon that is emerging across the world. In response, we are all called to do everything possible to prevent every kind of abuse and guarantee a healthy and peaceful childhood for all young people.
In order to solve these problems, and to achieve the optimal management of the country’s natural resources – primarily oil and gas reserves, which could offer unprecedented possibilities for development – it is essential to prepare properly and provide appropriate training to those who will be called upon to be the country’s leaders in the not-too-distant future.
The Church offers her social doctrine as the foundation for such a formative process. It constitutes an indispensable and trustworthy pillar on which to build various approaches. The Church’s social doctrine is not an ideology, instead it is based on fraternity. It is a doctrine that must promote; it promotes the development of peoples, especially the poorest.
You are a young people. I am not referring to your culture and history, which are rather ancient, but to the fact that about sixty-five percent of Timor-Leste’s population is under the age of thirty. I think of two countries in Europe where the average age is forty-six and forty-eight. Yet among you, sixty-five percent are under thirty years old, so we can think that the average age will be around thirty, or a little less. This is a richness.
This statistic tells us that the first area for you to invest in is education. Keep moving forward. Invest in education, in education within the family and education at school, in an education that puts children and young people at the centre and promotes their dignity.
The enthusiasm, freshness, forward-looking perspective, courage and resourcefulness, all typical of the young, combined with the experience and wisdom of the elderly, form a providential mixture of knowledge and a great impetus toward the future. Together, youthful enthusiasm and wisdom are a great resource that do not allow for passivity, still less for pessimism.
Please trust in the wisdom of the people. The people have their wisdom; trust in that wisdom.
(F.B.) (Agenzia Fides, 9/9/2024)
