(Vatican Radio) As Pope Francis’ apostolic journey to Latin America begins to unfold, the week-long programme that takes the Pope from Ecuador to Bolivia to Paraguay will offer countless occasions for information, reflection, inspiration.
Meanwhile we look ahead, speaking to people on the ground and to others who have been to the places the Pope is scheduled to visit.
Like Monsignor Peter Fleetwood, a priest from the Liverpool Archdiocese who has travelled extensively in Latin America and who says the Pope’s respect and regard for the poor and the marginalized and his desire to be with “real people” is an enormously important aspect of his message and his pontificate as well as being a central theme of this journey …
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Remembering his own journey to Paraguay in the 1990s, Monsignor Fleetwood recounts a series of experiences in a nation that he describes as having a “popular, or democratic culture”.
“They’re not very impressed by people waving money around: they just like ordinariness, being down to earth – I think that’s a lot of what Pope Francis likes to bring with him as a Latin American to wherever he goes” he says.
Commenting on the fact that the Pope has chosen to travel to Latin America starting with the “peripheries” (as the three nations he is visiting are amongst the poorest), Monsignor Fleetwood points out that “where he goes, people who have previously felt ‘nobody in his position has ever spoken to me before’, suddenly think: ‘I matter to that man, my family matters, my country matters’”.
Although these people may feel they are not very significant in the global picture, Mons. Fleetwood says, the Pope makes them feel they do matter because they are children of God.
He is saying to the people who await him: “You are never forgotten, you are always remembered, you may not see your name in lights when it comes to the rich countries of the world, but as far as the Pope’s concerned: you are there and you are in my prayers.”
“It means a lot if you are living far from the so-called center of things if the man in charge turns left on the way into town and goes to a little shanty town and says he wants to meet the real people – good for him!” Mons. Fleetwood says.
(from Vatican Radio)…
It was a multitude, certainly several
hundred thousand people at least, lining the streets of Quito to cheer their
welcome, amid a shower of flower petals, to Pope Francis on his return to Latin
America. This trip, which after WYD in Rio de Janeiro — an appointment which
had been fixed by his predecessor — is Bergoglio’s first choice in America,
where he will visit Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay.
Immediately upon arriving, after a long flight, the Pope was welcomed at
the airport by Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa with a moving speech where he
calls their guest a “moral giant” for the international scene and expressed
several points in which their concerns
converged. The Pope then added emphasis to that “consonance”, who presented
himself as a witness of God’s mercy and of faith in Jesus Christ. In
the Gospel — Bergoglio said — one can find the key to meeting contemporary
challenges: respecting differences and fostering dialogue. With particular concern for the most
vulnerable of our brothers and sisters, to fragile minorities, who are the
“debt still outstanding in Latin America”, he added. And in these efforts, he
said addressing the President, “you can always count on the commitment and cooperation
of the Church to serve the Ecuadorian people who move forward with great
dignity”. In the Andes which span the country peak of
Chimborazo, geographically located “closest to the sun” and the moon, the Pope
recalled. And as his predecessor had done before him, Pope Francis observed:
“We Christians identify Christ with the sun, and the moon with the Church”. As
the moon does not have its own light but is illuminated by the by the Sun, so
is the Church by Christ. And if she moves away or hides from Him, “she will be
in darkness and no longer able to offer witness”, he warned. Thus, in order to be a reflection of the light
and love of the Lord, the Pope concluded, the people of Ecuador must “never
lose the ability to thank God for what he has done and is doing”. He continued:
“May you never lose the ability to protect what is small and simple, to care
for your children and for your elderly, who are the living memory of your
people, to have confidence in the young, and to be constantly struck by the nobility
of your people and the singular beauty of your country”, which, “according to
the president, is nothing short of paradise”. This last line, he added,
alluding to the need to protect it. G.M.V….
The keys to confronting
“contemporary challenges and to building “a better future for everyone” are in
the Gospel. This was Pope Francis’ message on his arrival in Ecuador, the first
leg of this visit in Latin America which will be followed by Bolivia and
Paraguay. In his address at the welcome ceremony at the Quito
Airport — where the papal flight arrived
on Sunday afternoon, 5 July, at 10 pm Italy time — the Pontiff assured President Correa of the Church’s cooperation in
building a society based on respecting differences, on dialogue and participation
in the life of the country with particular attention to the poor and
marginalized minorities. Then Francis launched an appeal to protect what is
small and simple, to care for the children and the elderly, calling also a
better tomorrow for young people and for the protection of the country’s natural beauty. From his first moments in Ecuador, the Pope experienced
the overwhelming enthusiasm of the
people who were lined along the streets that led from the airport to the
Apostolic Nunciature in Quito — the
residence where Francis spent the rest of the day. The people of Ecuador are preparing to participate in the Mass on
Monday morning in the De Los Samanes Park in Guayaquil. After lunch in the
community of the Jesuit College, the Pope will return to the capital to meet
the President and visit the city’s cathedral. The Pope’s address…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis arrived in Quito, Ecuador, on Sunday, at the start of a three-pronged tour of Latin America that will see him also in Bolivia and Paraguay. Below, please find the full text of the Holy Father’s prepared remarks at the welcome ceremony, in their official English translation.
**************************************
Mr President,
Distinguished Government Authorities,
My Brother Bishops,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends,
I thank God for having allowed me to return to Latin America and to be here with you today in this beautiful land of Ecuador. I feel joy and gratitude as I see the warm welcome you have offered me. It is a sign of the hospitality which so well defines the people of this noble nation.
I thank you, Mr President, for your kind words, and I express my cordial good wishes for the exercise of your office. I greet the distinguished government authorities, my brother bishops, the faithful of the Church in this country, and all those who today have opened to me their hearts, their homes, their nation. To all of you, I express my affection and sincere appreciation.
I have visited Ecuador on a number of occasions for pastoral reasons. Today too I have come as a witness of God’s mercy and of faith in Jesus Christ. For centuries that faith has shaped the identity of this people and borne much good fruit, including the outstanding figures of Saint Mariana de Jesus, Saint Miguel Febres, Saint Narcisa de Jesús and Blessed Mercedes de Jesús Molina, beatified in Guayaquil thirty years ago, during the visit of Pope Saint John Paul II. These, and others like them, lived their faith with intensity and enthusiasm, and by their works of mercy they contributed in a variety of ways to improving the Ecuadorian society of their day.
In our own time too, we can find in the Gospel a key to meeting contemporary challenges, respecting differences, fostering dialogue and full participation, so that the growth in progress and development already registered will ensure a better future for everyone, with particular concern for the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters. In these efforts, Mr President, you can always count on the commitment and cooperation of the Church.
Dear friends, I begin my visit filled with excitement and hope for the days ahead. In Ecuador is the point closest to outer space: it is the peak of Chimborazo, which for that reason is called the place “closest to the sun”, the moon and the stars. We Christians identify Christ with the sun, and the moon with the Church, the community of the faithful. No one, save Jesus Christ, possesses his or her own light. May the coming days make all of us ever more clearly aware of how close is the sun which “dawns upon us from on high”. May each of us be a true reflection of his light and his love.
From this place, I wish to embrace all of Ecuador. From the peak of Chimborazo to the Pacific coast; from the Amazon rainforest to the Galapagos Islands, may you never lose the ability to thank God for what he has done and is doing for you. May you never lose the ability to protect what is small and simple, to care for your children and your elderly, to have confidence in the young, and to be constantly struck by the nobility of your people and the singular beauty of your country.
May the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to which Ecuador has been consecrated, grant you every grace and blessing. Thank you.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis is en route to Ecuador, the first stage of a three-country tour in Latin America that will also see him in Bolivia and Paraguay – three “sister nations” as the Holy Father described them in the video message broadcast in the three countries simultaneously ahead of the visit. The Holy Father’s flight departed Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci airport (Fiumicino) shortly after 9:30 AM Rome Time on Sunday morning, and is scheduled to last 13 hours.
Click below to hear our report
Two years have passed since the Pope’s trip to Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day in 2013. Now, Pope Francis returns to South America for his 9th international voyage. “I want to be a witness to the joy of the Gospel,” said the Holy Father ahead of his departure, expressing the desire to bring the tenderness of God to those most in need of it: children, the elderly, the sick, prisoners, the poor, indeed every victim of this “throw-away culture.”
The itinerary includes more than 24 thousand kilometers of travel over the course of the week, along with radical changes in altitude and temperature as well: in just seven days Pope Francis will experience temperatures ranging from 3° to 40° Centigrade, and altitudes from sea level to over 4 thousand meters, as he travels from the Atlantic to the Andes and in between.
Pope Francis is to spend 48 hours in each country, with each individual leg of the journey including events such as an audience with each President, a “sit-down” with the bishops, an encounter with civil society representatives, and a meeting with men and women religious.
Each country also has scheduled special events and visits: to a home for the aged run by the Sisters of Mother Teresa in Ecuador; a prison (one of the largest in Latin America) and a meeting with members of the World Meeting of Popular Movements in Bolivia; a children’s hospital and a slum area in Paraguay.
There is a Marian key to the voyage, as well: Pope Francis is to pray before the “Virgen Dolorosa” in Quito and before another major shrine to Our Lady 40 km from Asuncion.
Underlying all, however, is the twofold theme of the joy of the Gospel, and reconciliation and renewal.
(from Vatican Radio)…