Three flashes about the Pope’s pilgrimage to Asia and Oceania.
First flash in Jakarta: At a time when tunnels are associated with images of war, terrorism, violence and death, Pope Francis blessed, together with the Grand Imam of Jakarta, this underground tunnel that connects the great mosque with the Catholic cathedral, as a sign and seed of hope. The gestures of friendship and affection exchanged between the Bishop of Rome and the Imam struck a chord with many in the world’s largest Muslim country.
Second flash in Vanimo (Papua New Guinea): the Pope visited three missionaries of Argentinian origin and their people, bringing with him a ton of aid and gifts, bringing encouragement and hope to this people living in precariousness surrounded by an overflowing nature.
Third flash in East Timor: the Pope’s embrace of the disabled children cared for by the nuns of the Irmãs Alma school: gestures, glances, a few profoundly evangelical words to remind us that these children in need of everything, by letting themselves be cared for, teach us to let ourselves be cared for by God. The question of why the little ones suffer is a knife that wounds, a wound that does not heal. Francis’ answer was closeness and embrace.
